The Tale of Silyan has been named Best Feature by the International Documentary Association at the 41st Annual IDA Documentary Awards. The film also won Best Cinematography for Jean Dakar. Elsewhere, Brittany Shyne earned Best Director for Seeds, while Apocalypse in the Tropics took home two awards for Best Writing and Best Production.
Winners in bold below.
Best Feature Documentary
- Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix | Director: Petra Costa | Producers: Alessandra Orofino, Petra Costa)
- Life After (United States | Multitude Films | Director: Reid Davenport | Producer: Colleen Cassingham)
- Seeds (United States | Director: Brittany Shyne | Producers: Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Brittany Shyne)
- Songs of Slow Burning Earth (Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark | EPF Media | Director: Olha Zhurba | Producer: Darya Bassel)
- The Tale of Silyan (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National Geographic | Director: Tamara Kotevska | Producers: Tamara Kotevska, Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski)
Special Mentions
- Come See Me in the Good Light (United States | Apple | Director: Ryan White | Producers: Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen)
- Cover-Up (United States | Netflix | Director: Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus | Producers: Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus)
- Deaf President Now! (United States | Apple | Directors: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim | Producers: Amanda Rohlke, Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King, Nyle DiMarco, Michael Harte, Wayne Betts Jr.)
- Mothers of Chibok (United States, Nigeria | Director: Joel’ Kachi Benson | Producers: Jamie Patricof, Katie McNeill, Rachel Halilej, Joel’ Kachi Benson, Samira Mohammed, Adeyinka Oduniyi)
- ORWELL: 2+2=5 (United States | NEON | Director: Raoul Peck | Producers: Alex Gibney, Raoul Peck, George Chignell, Nick Shumaker)
- YANUNI (Austria, Brazil, United States | Director: Richard Ladkani | Producers: Anita Ladkani, Richard Ladkani, Juma Xipaia, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson, Phillip Watson)
Best Short Documentary
- Correct Me If I’m Wrong (Germany, United States | Director: Hao Zhou | Producer: Tyler Hill)
- If a Walnut Falls (China, Hong Kong | Director: Bohao Liu | Producer: Bohao Liu)
- Looking for a Donkey (Mexico, Venezuela | Director: Juan Vicente Manrique | Producers: Juan Vicente Manrique, María Benítez)
- Mama Micra (Germany | interfilm Berlin | Director: Rebecca Blöcher | Co-director: Frédéric Schuld | Producer: Fabian Driehorst)
- Their Eyes (France, United States | The New York Times Op-Docs | Director: Nicolas Gourault | Producers: Yannick Beauquis and Quentin Brayer)
Special Mentions
- All The Empty Rooms (United States | Netflix | Director: Joshua Seftel | Producers: Joshua Seftel, Conall Jones, James Costa, Trevor Burgess)
- The Candy Factory (United States | The New Yorker | Directors: Cory Jacobs and Jason Schmidt | Producers: Cory Jacobs and Jason Schmidt)
- Landscapes of Longing (India, United States | Directors: Alisha Tejpal, Mireya Martinez, Anoushka Mirchandani | Producers: Alisha Tejpal, Mireya Martinez)
- perfectly a strangeness (Canda, Chile | Premium Films | Director: Alison McAlpine | Producer: Alison McAlpine)
- Please Step Aside! (Germany | Raha Films | Director: Raha Faridi | Producer: Raha Faridi)
- Voices From The Abyss (Mexico | EPF Media | Directors: Irving Serrano & Víctor Rejón | Producer: Ramón Llaven Zavala)
Best Director
- Petra Costa, Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix)
- Reid Davenport, Life After (United States | Multitude Films)
- Brittany Shyne, Seeds (United States)
- Olha Zhurba, Songs of Slow Burning Earth (Ukraine, Sweden, Denmark | EPF Media)
- Tamara Kotevska, The Tale of Silyan (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National Geographic)
Best Cinematography
- Ben Sturgulewski, Champions of the Golden Valley (United States)
- Subhadeep Dey, Mrinmoy Mondal, Rupesh Chaturbedi, Redlight to Limelight (India, Finland, Latvia | BBC Storyville)
- Jean Dakar, The Tale of Silyan (Republic of North Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom | National Geographic)
- Natalia Pietsch, Grzegorz Piekarski, The Town That Drove Away (Poland | Polish National TV)
- Richard Ladkani, YANUNI (Austria, Brazil, United States)
Best Editing
- Julia Loktev, My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow (United States | Argot)
- Pablo Proenza, Natchez (United States | ITVS)
- Jason Reid, Robinson Devor, Adam Sekuler, Matt Levinthal, Suburban Fury (United States)
- Daniel Claridge, Pedro Kos, Sara Newens, The White House Effect (United States | Netflix)
- Alex Megaro, Ian Bell, WTO/99 (United States)
Best Production
- Alessandra Orofino, Petra Costa, Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix)
- Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Cover-Up (United States | Netflix)
- Colleen Cassingham, Life After (United States | Multitude Films)
- Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Brittany Shyne, Seeds (United States)
- Andrew Jarecki, Charlotte Kaufman, The Alabama Solution (United States | HBO Max)
Best Original Music Score
- Sam Slater, Divia (Ukraine, Poland, Netherlands)
- Mato Wayuhi, Free Leonard Peltier (United States)
- Matthew Dougherty, Shuffle (United States)
- Fréderic Filiartre, The Sorcerer: Julio Zachrisson (Panama)
- Afshin Azizi, Writing Hawa (France, Netherlands, Qatar | First Hand Films, Icarus Films)
Best Sound Design - Yannick Dauby, Always (United States, France, Taiwan)
- Alexander Dudarev, Architecton (Germany, France, United States | A24)
- Thomas Perez-Pape, Only on Earth (Denmark, Spain | DR, HBO, SVT)
- Rico Andriolo, Manu Gerber, Song of Breath (Switzerland, Italy)
- Rubí J. Pérez, The Silence of My Hands (Mexico | AD Maiora)
Best Writing
- Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino, Nels Bangerter, David Barker, Apocalypse in the Tropics (United States | Netflix)
- Bipuljit Basu, Redlight to Limelight (India, Finland, Latvia | BBC Storyville)
- Sasha Wortzel, River of Grass (United States)
- Cristina Costantini, Tom Maroney, Sally (United States | National Geographic)
- Robinson Devor, Jason Reid, Bob Fink, Charles Mudede, Suburban Fury (United States)
Best Music Documentary
- El Canto de las Manos (Spain, United States | Feel Sales | Director: María Valverde | Producers: María Valverde, Martí Font i Isern, Cristina Oliva, Gustavo Dudamel)
- Move Ya Body: The Birth of House (United States | Director: Elegance Bratton | Producer: Chester Algernal Gordon)
- One to One: John & Yoko (United Kingdom | Magnolia Pictures, HBO Documentary Films | Director: Kevin Macdonald | Co-director: Sam Rice-Edwards | Producers: Peter Worsley, Kevin Macdonald, Alice Webb)
- Selena y Los Dinos (United States | Netflix | Isabel Castro | Producers: Julie Goldman, Christopher Clements, J. Daniel Torres, Simran Singh, David Blackman)
- Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) (United States | Hulu | Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson | Producers: Joseph Patel and Derik Murray)
David L. Wolper Student Documentary
- Beyond Eden (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Al Johnstone | Producer: Al Johnstone)
- Dancing in Tomorrowland (United States | UCLA | Director: Jakob Roston | Producers: Grace Vincent, Nazanin Nemetollahi)
- Two Days on the Interstate (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Tatiana Stark | Producer: Tatiana Stark)
- Two Travelling Aunties (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Christine Seow | Producer: Christine Seow)
- What a day, what a life (United Kingdom | National Film and Television School, UK | Director: Maylana Colchete | Producers: Luiza Amelio de Carvalho, Maylana Colchete)