Cinema Eye Honorsthe organization that “recognizes outstanding artistic achievement in nonfiction and documentary films and series” has launched its 19th annual celebration today with the announcement of its first round of awards, nominees and longlists for 2026.
Among today’s announcements: the 16 films on the Audience Choice Prize Longlist, the unveiling of this year’s Unforgettables Honorees, nominated in five broadcast categories (for which this writer serves on the nominating committees), and the annual Shorts List (which highlights 10 of the year’s best documentary shorts).
The annual list of unforgettables—the “on-camera collaborators” of seven of the year’s best doctors—is the first official awards of the season and often among the most poignant of the year.
These winners include Noam Shuster-Eliassi of Amber Fare’s “Coexistence, My Ass!”; Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley from Ryan White’s “Come See Me in the Good Light”; Seymour Hersh from Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus’ “Cover-Up”; Sara Shahverdi from Sara Khaki and Mohammedreza Eyni’s “Cutting Through Rocks”; Pasha Talankin from David Borenstein’s “Mr. Nobody Against Putin”; Jacinda Ardern from Michelle Walsh and Lindsey Utz “Prime Minister”; and Fatma Hassouna from Sepideh Farsi’s “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk.”
The honors for Andrea Gibson and Fatma Hassouna are both posthumous. Gibson, an American poet and activist, died in July after a battle with cancer (as depicted in the film). Hassouna, a Palestinian photojournalist and artist, was killed along with 10 family members in an Israeli airstrike in April.
Elsewhere, today’s list includes Broadcast Film and serial messages, with FX on Hulu’s “Social Studies,” from director Lauren Greenfieldleading with three nominations (Nonfiction Series, Broadcast Cinematography and Broadcast Editing). Mariska Hargitay’s “My Mom Jayne” and Matt Wolf’s “Pee-Wee as Himself” each received two nominations, as did Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius), Darius Clark Monroe’s “Dallas, 2019” and “Devisle DiMarggenheim’s!”
“Deaf president now!” also appears as one of 16 films shortlisted in Cinema Eye’s annual Audience Choice Award Longlist, where documentary fans and viewers from around the world vote to determine this year’s ten nominees and ultimately the award winner. The longlist includes many of the year’s most acclaimed and talked about documentaries, including “Apocalypse in the Tropics”; “Coexistence, My Ass!”; “Cutting Through Rocks”; “Eyes of Ghana”; “Folk Tales”; “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley”; “The Librarians”; “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore”; “Mr. Nobody Against Putin”; “Orwell: 2+2=5”; “The Perfect Neighbor”; and “The Tale of Silyan.”
The audience’s choice award is often an important harbinger of future documentaries awardsincluding the Oscar for Best Documentary. This year’s Oscar winner, “No Other Land,” was longlisted and the previous six Oscar winners were all nominated for Audience Choice. The first ballot to determine this year’s nominees will open on Tuesday, October 28.
Finally, Cinema Eye also announced the ten films on this year’s Shorts List, the organization’s annual list of semifinalists for its Nonfiction Short Film Honor. Of these ten films, six will be announced as the official nominees. Last year, four of the nominees (and the eventual winner) for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short were part of the Cinema Eye Shorts List.
Cinema Eye will return to the historic New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem for its 19th annual awards ceremony, which will be held on Thursday, January 8, 2026.
A full list of this year’s announcements and nominees follows.
Unforgettables Honorees
Noam Shuster-Eliassi
Cohabitation, My Ass!
Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley
Come and see me in the good light
Seymour Hersh
Cover Up
Sara Shahverdi
Cut through rocks
Pasha Talankin
Mr. No one against Putin
Jacinda Ardern
Prime Minister
Fatma Hassouna
Put your soul on your hand and go
Longlisted for the audience’s choice award
Apocalypse in the tropics
Directed by Petra Costa
Cohabitation, My Ass!
Directed by Amber Fares
Come see me in the good light
Directed by Ryan White
Cover Up
Directed by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus
Cut through rocks
Directed by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni
Deaf president now!
Directed by Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim
Ghana’s eyes
Directed by Ben Proudfoot
Folktales
Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
It’s never over, Jeff Buckley
Directed by Amy Berg
The librarians
Directed by Kim A. Snyder
Marlee Matlin: Not alone anymore
Directed by Shoshannah Stern
Mr. No one against Putin
Directed by David Borenstein
Orwell: 2+2=5
Directed by Raoul Peck
The perfect neighbor
Directed by Geeta Gandbhir
Prime Minister
Directed by Michelle Walsh and Lindsay Utz
The Tale of Silyan
Directed by Tamara Kotevska
Nominated for broadcast film
Deaf president now!
Directed by Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim
Apple TV+
Democracy Noir
Directed by Connie Field
SWR / ARTE / DR
Riddle
Directed by Zackary Drucker
HBO | Max
My mother Jayne
Directed by Mariska Hargitay
HBO | Max
Pee-wee as himself
Directed by Matt Wolf
HBO | Max
Sly lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Directed by Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson
Hulu
Nominated Nonfiction Series
Chimpanzee crazy
Directed by Eric Goode
HBO | Max
Couples therapy
Directed by Pax Wassermann
Paramount+
Dallas, 2019
Directed by Darius Clark Monroe
PBS/Independent Lens
The Sing Sing Chronicles
Directed by Dawn Porter
MSNBC
Civics
Directed by Lauren Greenfield
FX on Hulu
Stanford Prison Experiment: Unlocking the Truth
Directed by Juliette Eisner
National Geographic
Nominated in the anthology series
Conan O’Brien must go
Executive producers Conan O’Brien and Jeff Ross
HBO | Max
Harlem Ice
Executive producers Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Robin Roberts and Geeta Gandbhir
Disney+
Omnivore
Executive producers René Redzepi, Ben Liebmann, Chris Rice, Matt Goulding, Collin Orcutt and Mateo Willis
Apple TV+
Our seas
Executive producers Jonathan Smith and James Honeyborne
Netflix
SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night
Executive producers Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers and Juaquin Cambron
Peacock
Tucci in Italy
Executive producers Stanley Tucci, Lottie Birmingham, Amanda Lyon and Simon Raikes
National Geographic
Nominated for Broadcast Editing
Deaf president now!
Edited by Michael Harte
Apple TV+
My mother Jayne
Edited by JD Marlow
HBO | Max
Pee-wee as himself
Edited by Damian Rodriguez
HBO | Max
Sly lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)
Edited by Joshua L. Pearson
Hulu
Civics
Edited by Alyse Ardell Spiegel, Helen Kearns, Catherine Bull and Charles Little II
FX on Hulu
Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos
Edited by Andy Grieve
HBO | Max
Nominated for Broadcast Film
Chef’s Table: Legends
Photographer Will Basanta
Netflix
Dallas, 2019
Photographer Christine Ng
PBS/Independent Lens
No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski
Photographer Steve Lidgerwood
National Geographic
Omnivore
Photographer Tom Elliot, Sy Turnbull and Jurgen Lisse
Apple TV+
Our seas
Director of photography Roger Munns, Roger Horrocks, Justin Maguire, Ryan Tidman and Jamie McPherson
Netflix
Civics
Photographer Bryan Donnell, Jenna Rosher and Jerry Risius
FX on Hulu
Short’s list
All the empty rooms
Directed by Joshua Seftel
Am I the thinnest person you’ve ever seen?
Directed by Eisha Marjara
Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud
Directed by Brent Renaud and Craig Renaud
Weeping Glacier
Directed by Lutz Stautner
The devil is busy
Directed by Geeta Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton
The long valley
Robert
Mother Micra
Directed by Rebecca Blöcher
totally weird
Directed by Alison McAlpine
We Were The Scenery
Directed by Christopher Radcliffe
Who loves the sun
Directed by The Throne Shakiba
