“Orwell: 2+2=5” led all movies with seven nominations for the 2025 Critics Alternative Documentary Awards, which introduced its nominees on Tuesday morning.
The documentary by Raoul Peck (director of the Oscar nominated James Baldwin doc “I Am Not Your Negro”) explores the life, profession and prescience of British author George Orwell and his well-known novel “1984,” which depicted a dystopian society’s whole elimination of free thought and expression. Neon launched the documentary in theaters earlier this month.
Netflix’s acclaimed “The Excellent Neighbor,” assembled from police body-cam footage, scored the second-most total nominations, with six. Ukrainian doc “2000 Meters to Andriivka” acquired 5 nominations.
Different nominees within the Greatest Documentary Characteristic class are “The Alabama Resolution,” “Apocalypse within the Tropics,” “Cowl-Up,” “Deaf President Now!,” Orwell: 2+2=5,” “Pee-wee as Himself,” “Riefenstahl,” and “The Story of Silyan.”
“The nominated movies and collection this yr remind us how documentary storytelling can illuminate fact, encourage empathy and deepen our understanding of the world,” Christopher Campbell, Critics Alternative Affiliation’s VP, Documentary, stated. “We’re thrilled to acknowledge the filmmakers whose imaginative and prescient and dedication hold the artwork type evolving.”
As a result of the Critics Alternative Documentary Awards don’t separate movie and tv documentaries into completely different classes, the nominations are a combination of nonfiction movies that acquired theatrical releases and ones that went straight to broadcast or streaming platforms.
The nominations are made by committees of members from the Critics Alternative Affiliation. Over the 9 years of the CCDA’s existence, 56% of the Oscar nominees for Greatest Documentary Characteristic have first acquired Critics Alternative Documentary Award nominations for Greatest Documentary Characteristic, a modest stage of settlement contemplating that the CCDA nominate between 10 and 16 movies in its prime class and the Oscars solely nominate 5.
Because the Oscar’s documentary lineup has grown extra worldwide in recent times, the Critics Alternative has change into an more and more poor predictor of Academy Award nominees. Just one Critics Alternative Documentary Characteristic acquired an Oscar nom final yr (“Sugarcane”) and solely two movies pulled off the double in 2023 (“20 Days in Mariupol,” “The Everlasting Reminiscence”) and 2022 (“Fireplace of Love,” “Navalny”).
However the Critics Alternative and the Oscars have agreed on the yr’s finest doc twice, with “O.J.: Made in America” in 2016 and “Summer season of Soul” in 2021. Final yr’s Oscar winner, “No Different Land,” was not a nominee on the Critics Alternative.
The Critics Alternative Documentary Awards will happen on Sunday, Nov. 9, 2025 at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan. Actor, author and producer Aasif Mandvi will host.
As beforehand introduced, honorary awards will likely be offered to famed director Ken Burns and filmmaking staff Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady.
Take a look at the total checklist of nominees under:
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Options / The Related Press)
The Alabama Resolution (HBO Max)
Apocalypse within the Tropics (Netflix)
Cowl-Up (Netflix)
Deaf President Now! (Apple TV)
Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
Pee-wee as Himself (HBO Max)
The Excellent Neighbor (Netflix)
Riefenstahl (Kino Lorber)
The Story of Silyan (Nationwide Geographic)
BEST DIRECTOR
Mstyslav Chernov – 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Options / The Related Press)
Petra Costa – Apocalypse within the Tropics (Netflix)
Nyle DiMarco & Davis Guggenheim – Deaf President Now! (Apple TV)
Geeta Gandbhir – The Excellent Neighbor (Netflix)
Andrew Jarecki & Charlotte Kaufman – The Alabama Resolution (HBO Max)
Raoul Peck – Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Artwork for Everyone (Tremolo Productions)
Grand Theft Hamlet (Mubi)
My Mother Jayne: A Movie by Mariska Hargitay (HBO Max)
Seeds (Inside Movies)
Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Misplaced (Apple TV)
Unusual Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror (Margot Station)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ben Bernard – Architecton (A24)
Jean Dakar – The Story of Silyan (Nationwide Geographic)
Elizabeth Lo – Mistress Dispeller (Oscilloscope)
Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo & Tor Edvin Eliassen – Folktales (Magnolia Photos)
Brittany Shyne – Seeds (Inside Movies)
Toby Robust, Doug Anderson (Underwater Pictures) – Ocean with David Attenborough (Nationwide Geographic)
BEST EDITING
Michael Harte – Deaf President Now! (Apple TV)
James Lester and Oz Rodríguez, John MacDonald (Music Montage) – Women & Gents… 50 Years of SNL Music (NBC)
Viridiana Lieberman – The Excellent Neighbor (Netflix)
Web page Marsella – The Alabama Resolution (HBO Max)
Michelle Mizner – 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Options / The Related Press)
Alexandra Strauss – Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
BEST SCORE
Alexei Aigui – Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
Kris Bowers – The Eyes of Ghana (Breakwater Studios / Larger Floor Media)
Laura Heinzinger – The Excellent Neighbor (Netflix)
Claudia Sarne – Love + Conflict (Nationwide Geographic)
Sam Slater – 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Options / The Related Press)
Paweł Szymański – Trains (EPF Media / Drygas Movie Manufacturing)
BEST NARRATION
2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Options / The Related Press)
Written by Mstyslav Chernov
Carried out by Mstyslav Chernov
The American Revolution (PBS)
Written by Geoffrey C. Ward
Carried out by Peter Coyote
The Americas (NBC)
Writers TBD
Carried out by Tom Hanks
Apocalypse within the Tropics (Netflix)
Written by Petra Costa
Carried out by Petra Costa
Octopus! (Prime Video)
Written by Gabriel Bisset-Smith
Carried out by Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
Written by George Orwell, Tailored by Raoul Peck
Carried out by Damian Lewis
BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY
One to One: John & Yoko (Magnolia Photos)
Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
The Excellent Neighbor (Netflix)
Riefenstahl (Kino Lorber)
Trains (EPF Media / Drygas Movie Manufacturing)
WTO/99 (Foghorn Options)
BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY
The American Revolution (PBS)
Cowl-Up (Netflix)
Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Consider in Freedom Can not Relaxation 1977-2015 (HBO Max)
Hurricane Katrina: Race Towards Time (Nationwide Geographic)
Quantity One on the Name Sheet (Apple TV)
Riefenstahl (Kino Lorber)
BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY
John Sweet: I Like Me (Prime Video)
Love + Conflict (Nationwide Geographic)
Mr. Scorsese (Apple TV)
My Mother Jayne: A Movie by Mariska Hargitay (HBO Max)
Pee-wee as Himself (HBO Max)
Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Misplaced (Apple TV)
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Changing into Led Zeppelin (Sony Photos Classics)
Billy Joel: And So It Goes (HBO Max)
Bono: Tales of Give up (Apple TV)
It’s By no means Over, Jeff Buckley (Magnolia Photos)
Women & Gents… 50 Years of SNL Music (NBC)
Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) (Hulu)
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
The Alabama Resolution (HBO Max)
Apocalypse within the Tropics (Netflix)
Deaf President Now! (Apple TV)
The Librarians (Impartial Lens)
My Undesirable Mates: Half I – Final Air in Moscow (Marminchilla)
Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY
The Americas (NBC)
Checkpoint Zoo (Abramorama)
The Final Rhinos: A New Hope (Nationwide Geographic)
Ocean with David Attenborough (Nationwide Geographic)
Octopus! (Prime Video)
Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey (Netflix)
BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (Netflix)
America’s Workforce: The Gambler and His Cowboys (Netflix)
Massive Goals: Little League World Sequence 2024 (ESPN Movies)
Full Court docket Press (ESPN+)
Southpaw: The Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott (ESPN)
We Beat the Dream Workforce (HBO Max)
BEST TRUE CRIME DOCUMENTARY
The Alabama Resolution (HBO Max)
Gone Women: The Lengthy Island Serial Killer (Netflix)
The Excellent Neighbor (Netflix)
Predators (MTV Documentary Movies / Paramount+)
Unknown Quantity: The Excessive Faculty Catfish (Netflix)
The Yogurt Store Murders (HBO Max)
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
All of the Empty Rooms (Netflix)
Classroom 4 (PBS)
The Satan is Busy (HBO Max)
Exodus (Park County)
Fiddler on the Moon: Judaism in House (Ironbound Movies)
Sallie’s Ashes (Robi Inventive)
Saving Superman (Switchboard)
Shanti Rides Shotgun (Voyager)
BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
The American Revolution (PBS)
Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Consider in Freedom Can not Relaxation 1977-2015 (HBO Max)
Gone Women: The Lengthy Island Serial Killer (Netflix)
Hurricane Katrina: Race Towards Time (Nationwide Geographic)
Magic Metropolis: An American Fantasy (Starz)
Mr. Scorsese (Apple TV)
SNL50: Past Saturday Night time (Peacock)
The Yogurt Store Murders (HBO Max)
BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
30 for 30 (ESPN Movies)
American Masters (PBS)
The Reluctant Traveler (Apple TV)
Solo Touring with Tracee Ellis Ross (Roku Channel)
Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller (Nationwide Geographic)
Trainwreck (Netflix)
