From Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie’s moving Sugarcane to Shiori Itō’s powerful Black Box Diaries, 10 gripping films connected to the Sundance Institute have been nominated for the 40th International Documentary Awards. It’s incredible to see so many projects with ties to the Institute being recognized by an association that “supports the vital work of documentary storytellers and champions a thriving and inclusive documentary culture.”
The 10 nominated films appear in the Best Feature Documentary, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Music Score, Best Editing, and Best Music Documentary categories. Below, we highlight all of the Sundance-supported docs nominated for IDA awards. Prepare to root for these compelling works as the winners are presented on December 5 at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles.
Best Feature Documentary
Agent of Happiness — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2021 Documentary Fund and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Black Box Diaries — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2023 Edit and Story Lab and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
No Other Land — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2021 Documentary Fund and the 2023 Documentary Edit and Story Lab.
Queendom — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2022 Documentary Fund.
Seeking Mavis Beacon — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation.
Sugarcane — Supported by the 2022 Sundance Documentary Film Grant and 2022 Catalyst Forum and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary.
The Remarkable Life of Ibelin — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Best Director
Agniia Galdanova, Queendom — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2022 Documentary Fund.
Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor, and Yuval Abraham, No Other Land — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2021 Documentary Fund and the 2023 Documentary Edit and Story Lab.
Johan Grimonprez, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation.
Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, Sugarcane — Supported by the 2022 Sundance Documentary Film Grant and 2022 Catalyst Forum and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary.
Shiori Ito, Black Box Diaries — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2023 Edit and Story Lab.
Best Cinematography
Arun Bhattarai, Agent of Happiness — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2021 Documentary Fund and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Ruslan Fedotov, Queendom — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2022 Documentary Fund.
Christopher LaMarca, Emily Kassie, Sugarcane — Supported by the 2022 Sundance Documentary Film Grant and 2022 Catalyst Forum and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary.
Best Editing
Rik Chaubet, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation.
Nathan Punwar, Maya Daisy Hawke, Sugarcane — Supported by the 2022 Sundance Documentary Film Grant and 2022 Catalyst Forum and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary.
Ema Ryan Yamazaki, Black Box Diaries — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2023 Edit and Story Lab.
Best Original Music Score
Uno Helmersson, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Mali Obomsawin, Sugarcane — Supported by the 2022 Sundance Documentary Film Grant and 2022 Catalyst Forum and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary.
Víctor Hernández Stumpfhauser, Frida — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Best Writing
Johan Grimonprez, Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematic Innovation.
Jazmin Jones, Seeking Mavis Beacon — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Best Music Documentary
Songs From the Hole — Supported by Sundance Institute’s 2024 Documentary Fund.
