IDA Documentary Awards 2024: Shortlist Reveals More Love for Films Like ‘Sugarcane’

The International Documentary Association has released the shortlists for its upcoming 40th ceremony. On the list are Oscar frontrunners like "Sugarcane" and unique picks like "Brisa."

The International Documentary Association (IDA) has revealed which 20 feature-length and 20 short documentaries have made it onto the shortlists for the 40th IDA Documentary Awards.

Among the films that have a shot at becoming a nominee at the upcoming awards ceremony set to take place on December 5, 2024 at The Orpheum Theater in Downtown Los Angeles are major Best Documentary Feature contenders like “Sugarcane” and “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” as well as titles that have been harder to come by, like “Brisa” and “Kamay.”

As part of the announcement, Dominic Asmall Willsdon, IDA’s Executive Director, said via statement, “The 40th IDA Documentary Awards continues the tradition of celebrating the best of international nonfiction media of the year. We are grateful to all filmmakers who shared their work for consideration this year, representing a record amount of countries in the award’s history. The impressive shortlist for Best Features and Best Shorts reflects on the prowess of our worldwide documentary community both in their artistry and dedication to raising public awareness on some of the most important subjects we face in today’s world.”

This year, IDA received over 700 entries in all categories, from 77 countries, marking an increase of both the total number of entries, and the countries represented. IDA members will have a chance to view each shortlisted film starting on November 4, 2024 on the IDA Virtual Cinema.

The final 10 nominees from the feature and short documentary categories (selected from the shortlists) will be announced on November 19, 2024. Afterwards, the thousands of IDA members from more than 85 countries will view and vote for the Best Short and Best Feature category winners until December 1.

Additionally, the IDA Awards will be presented in the following categories with winners selected by blue-ribbon jurors consisting of 300 documentary professionals from over 40 countries: Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Writing, Best Music Score, Best Curated Series, Best Episodic Series, Best Limited Series, Best TV Feature Documentary, Best Music Documentary, Best Audio Documentary, David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award, ABC News VideoSource Award, and the Pare Lorentz Award.

IDA also previously announced that documentarians Dawn Porter (“Luther: Never Too Much”), Shiori Ito (“Black Box Diaries”), and the Israeli-Palestinian collective behind “No Other Land” have each been tapped to receive special recognition at the ceremony.

Tickets for the 2024 IDA Documentary Awards are available for purchase on the IDA website. The December 5 ceremony will also be streamed live on IDA’s social media channels.

See both shortlists below, which are in alphabetical order by film title.

Best Feature Documentary Shortlist

“Agent of Happiness” (Bhutan, Hungary | Film Movement | Director: Arun Bhattarai, Dorottya Zurbó | Producer: Noémi Veronika Szakonyi, Máté Artur Vincze, Arun Bhattarai)

“Black Box Diaries” (Japan, USA, UK | MTV Documentary Films | Director: Shiori Ito | Producer: Eric Nyari, Hanna Aqvilin, Shiori Ito)

“Brisa” (USA | Director: Nick Nanton | Producer: Nick Ruff, Katie Tschopp)

“Dahomey” (France, Senegal, Benin | MUBI | Director: Mati Diop | Producer: Eve Robin, Judith Lou Lévy, Mati Diop)

“Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” (France, South Africa, USA | Magnolia Pictures | Director: Raoul Peck | Producer: Tamara Rosenberg, Raoul Peck)

“Hollywoodgate” (USA, Germany | Fourth Act Film | Director: Ibrahim Nash’at | Producer: Shane Boris, Odessa Rae, Talal Derki)

“Igualada” (Colombia, Mexico, USA | Film Sales Corp | Director: Juan Mejía Botero | Producer: Juan E Yepes, Sonia Serna, Daniela Alatorre)

“Kamay” (Belgium, Afghanistan, Germany | CAT&Docs, Dalton Distribution | Director: Ilyas Yourish | Producer: Hanne Phlypo, Evelien De Graef, Ilyas Yourish, Karsten Stöter, Serge Gordey)

“Mediha” (USA | Director: Hasan Oswald | Producer: Hasan Oswald, Annelise Mecca, Fahrinisa Campana, Alexander Spiess, Stephen Nemeth)

“Motherboard” (UK | Autlook Film Sales | Director: Victoria Mapplebeck | Producer: Victoria Mapplebeck)

“My Sweet Land” (USA, Jordan, France | ITVS – PBS / ARTE France / RTS | Director: Sareen Hairabedian | Producer: Azza Hourani, Sareen Hairabedian, Julie Paratian, David Rane)

“No Other Land” (Palestine, Norway, USA | Director: Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor & Yuval Abraham | Producer: Fabien Greenberg & bård Kjøge Rønning)

“Queendom” (USA, France | Greenwich Entertainment | Director: Agniia Galdanova | Producer: Igor Myakotin, Agniia Galdanova)

“Seeking Mavis Beacon” (USA | NEON | Director: Jazmin Renée Jones | Producer: Guetty Felin, Olivia McKayla Ross)

“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” (Belgium, France, Netherlands | Kino Lorber | Director: Johan Grimonprez | Producer: Daan Milius, Rémi Grellety)

“Sugarcane” (USA | National Geographic | Director: Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie | Producer: Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn)

“Tell Them You Love Me” (USA, UK | Netflix | Director: Nick August-Perna | Producer: Tamara Rosenberg, Andrea Debrito)

“The Last Journey” (Sweden, France | Nordisk Film | Director: Filip Hammar and Fredrik Wikingsson | Producer: Petra Mahl and Lars Beckung)

“The Remarkable Life of Ibelin” (USA | Netflix | Director: Benjamin Ree | Producer: Ingvil Giske)

“Water For Life / Agua Es Vida” (USA, Chile, El Salvador | Latino Public Broadcasting, Bullfrog Films | Director: Will Parrinello | Producer: Majo Calderon, Will Parrinello, Rick Tejada-Flores)

Best Short Documentary Shortlist

“A Move” (Iran, UK | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Elahe Esmaili | Producer: Hossein Behboudi Rad)

“A Movement Against the Transparency of the Stars of the Seas” (USA, Philippines | Criterion Channel | Director: Esy Casey | Producer: Esy Casey, Nur Jannah Kaalim)

“Amma ki Katha” (India | Director: Nehal Vyas | Producer: Nehal Vyas, Advik Beni)

“Bad Hostage” (USA | Director: Mimi Wilcox | Producer: Max Asaf, Mimi Wilcox)

“Enchunkunoto” (The Return) (Kenya | Director: Laissa Malih | Producer: Kavita Pillay, Adam Mazo, Tracy Rector, Taylor Hensel)

“Gaza Diaries” (Palestine, UK | BBC | Director: Namak Khoshnaw | Producer: Haya Al Badarneh, Lara Elgebaly, Mohammad Shalaby, Mary O’Reilly)

“Here We Are” (Thailand | Director: Chanasorn Chaikitiporn | Producer: Banvithit Wilawan)

“In Flanders Fields” (India, Belgium, USA | Sachin | Director: Sachin | Producer: Sachin, Victor Candeias)

“Instruments of a Beating Heart” (Japan | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Ema Ryan Yamazaki | Producer: Eric Nyari)

“Modern Goose” (Canada | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Karsten Wall | Producer: Alicia Smith)

“Nine Easy Dances” (Canada | York University | Director/Producer: Nora Rosenthal)

“Old Lesbians” (USA | The Guardian | Director/Producer: Meghan McDonough)

“Outcry: Alchemists of Rage” (USA | Director: Clare Major | Producer: Rivkah Beth Medow, Jen Rainin, Whitney Bradshaw, Clare Major)

“Squid Fleet” (USA, Canada | The New Yorker, SUDU Connexion | Director: Ed Ou and Will N. Miller | Producer: Will N. Miller, Ed Ou, Raphaela Morais, Ben Blankenship)

“Ted & Noel” (UK | Channel 4 | Director: Julia Alcamo | Producer: Dan Hodgson, Mary Pattisson)

“The Medallion” (UK, Ethiopia, USA | The New Yorker, SUDU Connexion | Director: Ruth Hunduma | Producer: Lily Usher, Tolu Stedford)

“The Passing” (USA | The New Yorker | Director/Producer: Ivete Lucas and Patrick Bresnan)

“The Poem We Sang” (Canada, Palestine, Jordan | MAD Solutions | Director: Annie Sakkab | Producer: Annie Sakkab, Paul Lee)

“The Sparkle” (Canada | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Isabelle Grignon-Francke | Producer: Patrick Francke-Sirois, Isabelle Grignon-Francke)

“Until He’s Back” (USA, Spain, Morocco | PBS POV & Scripps News | Director: Jacqueline Baylon | Producer: Jacqueline Baylon, Hailey Gavin)