Awards season is heating up, and the International Documentary Association just dropped its nominations for the 41st IDA Documentary Awards — with several Sundance Institute–supported films taking center stage.
Apocalypse in the Tropics leads the surge with four nominations, while Brittany Shyne’s Seeds, which took home the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, lands three — and earns Shyne the Emerging Filmmaker Award. Other Festival favorite Selena y Los Dinos, which was celebrated at the 2025 Fest, continues its winning streak with major recognition.
With more than 550 submissions from 85 countries, this year’s IDAs spotlight the global reach and power of documentary filmmaking. Below, find all of the Institute-supported films nominated for IDAs, and keep a look out for the winners, which will be announced December 6 in Los Angeles.
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Best Feature Documentary
Apocalypse in the Tropics — Catalyst
Life After — 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Feature Film Program (Producers Lab)
Seeds — 2025 Sundance Film Festival, winner of U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
Best Director
Petra Costa, Apocalypse in the Tropics
Reid Davenport, Life After — Feature Film Program (Producers Lab)
Brittany Shyne, Seeds — 2025 Sundance Film Festival, winner of U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary
Best Editing
My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow — Catalyst
Best Original Music Score
Free Leonard Peltier — 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Best Production
Apocalypse in the Tropics
Life After
Seeds
The Alabama Solution — 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Best Writing
Apocalypse in the Tropics
SALLY — 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Best Music Documentary
Move Ya Body: The Birth of House — 2025 Sundance Film Festival
One to One: John & Yoko — 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Selena y Los Dinos — 2025 Sundance Film Festival, winner of the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Archival Storytelling
SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) — 2025 Sundance Film Festival
