IDA Documentary Awards Unveils 2023 Shortlists for Best Features, Shorts

Beatrice Verhoeven
·5 min read
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The International Documentary Association (IDA) on Tuesday announced its best feature and short shortlists for the 2023 IDA Documentary Awards.

The ceremony will be held during the week of Dec. 11 in Los Angeles — venue information is set to follow. Starting Nov. 7, IDA members will be able to view each of the shortlisted films on IDA Virtual Cinema, and up to 10 nominees from each category will be selected. The nominees will be announced on Nov. 21.

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“The 39th IDA Documentary Awards continues the tradition of celebrating the best of international nonfiction media of the year,” said Ken Ikeda, IDA’s interim executive director. “This year’s best feature documentary and best short documentary shortlists reflect important work from twenty-one countries. We are excited to celebrate the work of our community and present winners this December in Los Angeles.”

280 documentary filmmakers, curators, critics and industry experts from 40 countries selected the shortlists. IDA received 669 total submissions from 48 countries.

See below for the full shortlists.

Best Feature Documentary Shortlist

Against the Tide (India | BBC Storyville | Director: Sarvnik Kaur | Producer: Koval Bhatia, Sarvnik Kaur)

ANHELL69 (Colombia | Square Eyes | Director: Theo Montoya | Producers: Bianca Oana, David Hurst, Theo Montoya, Juan Pablo Castrillon, Balthasar Busmann, Maximilian Haslberger)

Anonymous Sister (United States | Long Shot Factory | Director: Jamie Boyle | Producers: Marilyn Ness, Elizabeth Westrate, Jamie Boyle)

Apolonia, Apolonia (Denmark | HBO Max | Director: Lea Glob | Producer: Sidsel Lønvig Siersted)

Bobi Wine: The People’s President (Uganda | National Geographic Documentary Films | Directors: Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp | Producers:  Christopher Sharp, John Battsek)

De Humani Corporis Fabrica (France | Grasshopper Film | Directors: Verena Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor | Producers: Valentina Novati, Charles Gillibert, Pauline Gygax, Max Karli, Verena Paravel, Lucien Castaing-Taylor)

Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (United States | HBO Documentary Films | Directors: Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster | Producers: Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster, Tommy Oliver)

In The Rearview (Poland | Cinephil | Director: Maciek Hamela | Producer: Maciek Hamela, Piotr Grawender)

Milisuthando (South Africa | Director: Milisuthando Bongela | Producer: Marion Isaacs, Viviana Gomez, Sonia Barrera, Milisuthando Bongela, Hankyeol Lee)

Motherland (Sweden | Lightdox | Director: Alexander Mihalkovich & Hanna Badziaka | Producer: Mario Adamson, Ashley J. Smith, Alexander Mihalkovich, Anita Norfolk)

Nathan-ism (United States | Director: Elan Golod | Producer: Elan Golod, Melanie Vi Levy)

Q (United States | Director: Jude Chehab | Producer: Jude Chehab, Fahd Ahmed)

Rewind & Play (France | Grasshopper Film | Director: Alain Gomis | Producers: Anouk Khélifa, Arnaud Dommerc)

The Mother of All Lies (Morocco | Arizona Distribution | Director: Asmae El Moudir | Producer: Asmae El Moudir)

Twice Colonized (Canada | EyeSteelFilm | Director: Lin Alluna | Producers: Aaju Peter, Emile Hertling Péronard, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Stacey Aglok Macdonald, Bob Moore)

unseen (United States | POV | Director: Set Hernandez | Producers: Set Hernandez, Day Al-Mohamed, Félix Endara, Dorian Gomez-Pestaña)

While We Watched (United Kingdom, India | POV, BRITDOC Films | Director: Vinay Shukla | Producers: Vinay Shukla, Khushboo Ranka, Luke W Moody)

Best Short Documentary Shortlist

Away (Hungary | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director/Producer: Ruslan Fedotov)

Belle River (Canada | Spira, The New Yorker | Director: Guillaume Fournier | Producers: Samuel Matteau, Yannick Nolin)

Between Earth & Sky (United States | POV Shorts | Director: Andrew Nadkarni | Producers: Andrew Nadkarni, Swetha Regunathan, Katie Schiller)

Birdsong (Lao People’s Democratic Republic | The Guardian | Director: Omi Zola Gupta, Sparsh Ahuja | Producers: Sparsh Ahuja, Omi Zola Gupta, Dorn Bouttasing)

Clean (United Kingdom | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Miranda Stern | Producer: Reece Cargan)

Eat Flowers (United States | Reluminati Media | Director: River Finlay | Producer: River Finlay, Sashka Rothchild)

Ebony (United States | Director/Producer: Sean-Josahi Brown)

Freshwater (United States | The New York Times Op-Docs, POV Shorts | Director: Dream Hampton | Producers: Ill Weaver, Dream Hampton)

Hardly Working (Austria | The New York Times Op-Docs | Directors: Total Refusal, Susanna Flock, Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner, Michael Stumpf | Producers: Total Refusal, Susanna Flock, Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner, Michael Stumpf)

How to Carry Water (United States | Multitude Films | Director: Sasha Wortzel | Producers: Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney, Anya Rous)

How We Get Free (United States | HBO Documentary Films, The New York Times | Directors: Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha Knowles | Producers: Kathleen Lingo, Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney)

Incident  (United States | Hypnotic Pictures | Director: Bill Morrison | Producers: Bill Morrison, Jamie Kalven)

Jack and Sam (United States | Blue Bus Productions | Director: Jordan Matthew Horowitz | Producers: Jordan Matthew Horowitz, Andrew Carlberg)

Liturgy of Anti-Tank Obstacles (United States | The New Yorker, Condé Nast Entertainment | Director: Dmytro Sukholytkyy Sobchuk | Producer: Daniel Lombroso)

Mãri hi – The Tree of Dream (Brazil | Aruac Filmes | Director: Morzaniel Ɨramari | Producers: Eryk Rocha, Gabriela Carneiro da Cunha)

Marungka Tjalatjunu (Dipped in Black) (Australia | Other Pictures | Directors: Derik Lynch, Matthew Thorne | Producers: Matthew Thorne, Patrick Graham)

Mighty Penguins (United States | It Was All a Dream Productions | Directors: Louis Myles, Ahmed Twaij | Producers: Louis Myles, Ahmed Twaij)

Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó (Grandma & Grandma) (United States | Director: Sean Wang | Producer: Sean Wang, Sam Davis)

Neighbour Abdi (The Netherlands | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Douwe Dijkstra | Producer: Richard Valk)

Raat: Night Time in Small Town India (India | The Third Eye | Directors: Arti Ahirwar, Ashraf Hussain, Rajkumari Ahirwar, Vikas Khatri, Tabassum Ansari, Kulsum Khatoon, Khushi Bano, Parmeshwar Mandrawaliya, Santra Chaurthiya, Rajkumari Prajapati, Manisha Chanda, Anita Sen, Rani Devi, Ajfarul Shaikh | Producers: Rima Dairi Morris, Chris Collins, Jaden Pan)

Suddenly TV (Sudan | Gisa Productions | Director/Producer: Roopa Gogineni)

The Script (United States | Multitude Films | Directors: Brit Fryer, Noah Schamus | Producers: Colleen Cassingham, Jess Devaney)

The Unicorn in Snowpants Suddenly Ran Off (Germany | Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg | Director: Philipp Schaeffer | Producer: Fabian Leonhardt)

The Veiled City (United Kingdom | JSH Films | Director: Natalie Cubides-Brady | Producer: Jacob Swan Hyam)

Victoria (Mexico | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Eloisa Diez | Producer: Suleica Pineda)

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