American Documentary

Overview

New York, N.Y. -- November 15th, 2021 -- The International Documentary Association revealed yesterday the full list of nominees for the 37th edition of its annual IDA Documentary Awards. Each American Documentary series received a nomination in the IDA Awards’ series categories as both POV and America ReFramed were named among the contenders for ‘Best Curated Series,’ while POV Shorts received a nod for ‘Best Short-Form Series.’ POV season 34 filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo was awarded the Emerging Filmmaker Award, which is presented to a filmmaker who by virtue of their early work shows extraordinary promise in exploring the possibilities of the nonfiction art form. Aldarondo’s latest film, Landfall, broadcast on POV on July 12th.

POV films also received a total of 9 nominations, including ‘Best Feature’ nominations for Not Going Quietly and North by Current, a ‘Best Director’ nomination for Nicholas Bruckman, director of Not Going Quietly, ‘Best Short’ nominations for Águilas and A Broken House, ‘Best Writing’ nominations for North by Current and Not Going Quietly, a ‘Best Music Score’ nomination for The Neutral Ground, and a ‘David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award Nomination’ for the short subject documentary Seahorse.

“We are so excited for our series, our staff and our filmmakers,” said American Documentary executive director Erika Dilday. “This is the first time all three of AmDoc’s series have been nominated, which is a testament to our continued growth as an organization and our commitment to exploring new ways of sharing life-changing stories with the public.”

Currently in their 34th and 9th seasons, respectively, POV and America ReFramed highlight the best in independent documentary feature-length filmmaking. America ReFramed’s latest season affirms its mission to illuminate the changing contours of the United States; recent broadcasts include Blood Memory, recipient of a 2021 National Native Media award, and Hamtramck, USA, a documentary exploring life and democracy in America's first Muslim-majority city. POV’s next title, Unapologetic, is set to air on PBS on December 27th. POV last won this award for its 30th season in 2018.

This is POV Shorts’ second IDA Documentary Awards nomination in as many years after winning the award last year. Now in its 4th season, POV Shorts features a lineup of award-winning documentary shorts, including IDA nominees Águilas and A Broken House. The POV Shorts season continues on November 22nd with the broadcast and streaming premiere of Dreaming Life, two films about self acceptance and finding joy: Another Hayride and To The Future, With Love. Additional episodes will debut on November 29th, December 6th, 13th, and 27th.

Nominees

Best Feature

Not Going Quietly directed by Nicholas Bruckman

North by Current directed by Angelo Madsen Minax

Best Director

Nicholas Bruckman, Not Going Quietly

Best Short

A Broken House directed by Jimmy Goldblum

Águilas directed Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Maite Zubiaurre

Best Curated Series

POV

America ReFramed

Best Short Form Curated Series

POV Shorts

Best Music Score

The Neutral Ground directed by CJ Hunt

Best Writing

Not Going Quietly directed by Nicholas Bruckman

North by Current directed by Angelo Madsen Minax

David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award

Seahorse directed by Nehle Dehnenkamp

About POV

Produced by American Documentary, POV is the longest-running independent documentary showcase on American television. Since 1988, POV has presented films on PBS that capture the full spectrum of the human experience, with a long commitment to centering women and people of color in front of, and behind, the camera. The series is known for introducing generations of viewers to groundbreaking works like Tongues Untied, American Promise and Minding The Gap and innovative filmmakers including Jonathan Demme, Laura Poitras and Nanfu Wang. In 2018, POV Shorts launched as one of the first PBS series dedicated to bold and timely short-form documentaries. All POV programs are broadcast nationally on PBS, POV.org and the PBS Video app.

POV goes “beyond the broadcast” to bring powerful nonfiction storytelling to viewers wherever they are. Free educational resources accompany every film and a community network of thousands of partners nationwide work with POV to spark dialogue around today’s most pressing issues. POV continues to explore the future of documentary through innovative productions with partners such as The New York Times and The National Film Board of Canada and on platforms including Snapchat and Instagram.

POV films and projects have won 45 Emmy Awards, 26 George Foster Peabody Awards, 15 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards and the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award. Learn more at pbs.org/pov and follow @povdocs on social media. 

About American Documentary

American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company dedicated to creating, identifying and presenting contemporary stories that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream media outlets. AmDoc is a catalyst for public culture, developing collaborative strategic engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, online and in community settings. These activities are designed to trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities and community participation.

Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, the Open Society Foundations, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Wyncote Foundation, Reva & David Logan Foundation, Perspective Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding comes from Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Bertha Foundation, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Charitable Trust, Park Foundation, Sage Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Chris and Nancy Plaut, Abby Pucker, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.