Critics Choice Documentary Awards 2025: Orwell: 2+2=5 Leads with Seven Nominations

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) has unveiled the nominees for the Tenth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards (CCDA), celebrating a decade of honoring excellence in nonfiction filmmaking. The winners will be announced at a gala event on Sunday, November 9, 2025, at The Edison Ballroom in Manhattan, hosted by actor, writer, and producer Aasif Mandvi. The ceremony will be live-streamed on YouTube, X, Facebook, and CriticsChoice.com beginning at 7:00 PM ET.

Leading the nominations is Orwell: 2+2=5, which earned seven nominations, including Best Documentary Feature, while The Perfect Neighbor follows closely with six nominations. This year’s honorees include Ken Burns, recipient of the Critics Choice Impact Award presented by Christine Baranski, and filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, who will receive the Pennebaker Award presented by Chris Hegedus. The ceremony will mark a decade of the CCA’s dedication to recognizing filmmakers who bring truth, empathy, and vision to nonfiction storytelling.

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Nominees for the 10th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• 2000 Meters to Andriivka (Frontline Features / The Associated Press)
• The Alabama Solution (HBO Max)
• Apocalypse in the Tropics (Netflix)
• Cover-Up (Netflix)
• Deaf President Now! (Apple TV)
• Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
• Pee-wee as Himself (HBO Max)
• The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix)
• Riefenstahl (Kino Lorber)
• The Tale of Silyan (National Geographic)

BEST DIRECTOR

• Mstyslav Chernov – 2000 Meters to Andriivka
• Petra Costa – Apocalypse in the Tropics
• Nyle DiMarco & Davis Guggenheim – Deaf President Now!
• Geeta Gandbhir – The Perfect Neighbor
• Andrew Jarecki & Charlotte Kaufman – The Alabama Solution
• Raoul Peck – Orwell: 2+2=5

BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Art for Everybody
• Grand Theft Hamlet
• My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay
• Seeds
• Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost
• Strange Journey: The Story of Rocky Horror

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Ben Bernard – Architecton
• Jean Dakar – The Tale of Silyan
• Elizabeth Lo – Mistress Dispeller
• Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo & Tor Edvin Eliassen – Folktales
• Brittany Shyne – Seeds
• Toby Strong, Doug Anderson – Ocean with David Attenborough

BEST EDITING

• Michael Harte – Deaf President Now!
• James Lester & Oz Rodríguez – Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music
• Viridiana Lieberman – The Perfect Neighbor
• Page Marsella – The Alabama Solution
• Michelle Mizner – 2000 Meters to Andriivka
• Alexandra Strauss – Orwell: 2+2=5

BEST SCORE

• Alexei Aigui – Orwell: 2+2=5
• Kris Bowers – The Eyes of Ghana
• Laura Heinzinger – The Perfect Neighbor
• Claudia Sarne – Love + War
• Sam Slater – 2000 Meters to Andriivka
• Paweł Szymański – Trains

BEST NARRATION

• 2000 Meters to Andriivka – Written & Performed by Mstyslav Chernov
• The American Revolution – Written by Geoffrey C. Ward, Performed by Peter Coyote
• The Americas – Written by Michael Gunton et al., Performed by Tom Hanks
• Apocalypse in the Tropics – Written & Performed by Petra Costa
• Octopus! – Written by Gabriel Bisset-Smith, Performed by Phoebe Waller-Bridge
• Orwell: 2+2=5 – Written by George Orwell, Adapted by Raoul Peck, Performed by Damian Lewis

BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY

• One to One: John & Yoko
• Orwell: 2+2=5
• The Perfect Neighbor
• Riefenstahl
• Trains
• WTO/99

BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY

• The American Revolution
• Cover-Up
• Eyes on the Prize III
• Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time
• Number One on the Call Sheet
• Riefenstahl

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY

• John Candy: I Like Me
• Love + War
• Mr. Scorsese
• My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay
• Pee-wee as Himself
• Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost

BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY

• Becoming Led Zeppelin
• Billy Joel: And So It Goes
• Bono: Stories of Surrender
• It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
• Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music
• Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)

BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY

• The Alabama Solution
• Apocalypse in the Tropics
• Deaf President Now!
• The Librarians
• My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
• Orwell: 2+2=5

BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY

• The Americas
• Checkpoint Zoo
• The Last Rhinos: A New Hope
• Ocean with David Attenborough
• Octopus!
• Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey

BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY

• America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders
• America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys
• Big Dreams: Little League World Series 2024
• Full Court Press
• Southpaw: The Life and Legacy of Jim Abbott
• We Beat the Dream Team

BEST TRUE CRIME DOCUMENTARY

• The Alabama Solution
• Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer
• The Perfect Neighbor
• Predators
• Unknown Number: The High School Catfish
• The Yogurt Shop Murders

BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY

• All the Empty Rooms
• Classroom 4
• The Devil is Busy
• Exodus
• Fiddler on the Moon: Judaism in Space
• Sallie’s Ashes
• Saving Superman
• Shanti Rides Shotgun

BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES

• The American Revolution
• Eyes on the Prize III
• Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer
• Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time
• Magic City: An American Fantasy
• Mr. Scorsese
• SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
• The Yogurt Shop Murders

BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES

• 30 for 30
• American Masters
• The Reluctant Traveler
• Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross
• Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller
• Trainwreck

The ceremony will be live-streamed on YouTube, X, Facebook, and CriticsChoice.com beginning at 7:00 PM ET.