Good Night Oppy, the moving story of the Mars rover that outlasted all expectations, was named Best Documentary Feature at the 2022 Critics Choice Documentary Awards. The film also earned Best Director (Ryan White), Best Score (Blake Neely), Best Narration (written by Helen Kearns and Ryan White, performed by Angela Bassett), and Best Science/Nature Documentary awards.
The Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards selected David Siev’s Bad Axe as the Best First Documentary Feature and The Beatles: Get Back scored the Best Music Documentary award.
The CCDAs, hosted by Wyatt Cenac, took place on November 13, 2022 in New York City. This year marked the first time documentary fans were able to view the awards show live via the official Critics Choice Association’s website.
“Tonight was a whole new Doc Awards – hosting the ceremony in a new, bigger venue in Manhattan and streaming it live for the first time. We are thrilled to continue the celebration of so many groundbreaking and thought-provoking films while highlighting the works of so many brilliant filmmakers,” stated Christopher Campbell, Co-President of the Critics Choice Association’s Documentary Branch.
2022 CRITICS CHOICE DOCUMENTARY AWARDS NOMINEES:
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Aftershock (Hulu)
The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Descendant (Netflix)
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down (Briarcliff Entertainment)
WINNER: Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
The Janes (HBO)
Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Sidney (Apple TV+)
BEST DIRECTOR
Judd Apatow, Michael Bonfiglio – George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO)
Margaret Brown – Descendant (Netflix)
Sara Dosa – Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Reginald Hudlin – Sidney (Apple TV+)
Brett Morgen – Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Laura Poitras – All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (HBO/Neon)
Daniel Roher – Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
WINNER: Ryan White – Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Andrea Arnold – Cow (IFC Films)
Lisa Hurwitz – The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Jono McLeod – My Old School (Magnolia Pictures)
Amy Poehler – Lucy and Desi (Amazon Studios)
Alex Pritz – The Territory (National Geographic Documentary Films)
WINNER: David Siev – Bad Axe (IFC Films)
Bianca Stigter – Three Minutes: A Lengthening (Neon)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Benjamin Bernhard, Riju Das – All That Breathes (HBO)
Magda Kowalczyk – Cow (IFC Films)
Lucas Tucknott – McEnroe (Showtime)
Gabriela Osio Vanden, Jack Weisman, Sam Holling – Nuisance Bear (The New Yorker)
WINNER: The Cinematography Team – Our Great National Parks (Netflix)
Alex Pritz, Tangãi Uru-eu-wau-wau – The Territory (National Geographic Documentary Films)
BEST EDITING
Jabez Olssen – The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput – Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Joe Beshenkovsky – George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO)
Helen Kearns, Rejh Cabrera – Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
WINNER: Brett Morgen – Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Langdon Page, Maya Daisy Hawke – Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Katharina Wartena – Three Minutes: A Lengthening (Neon)
BEST SCORE
Hummie Mann – The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
Nicolas Godin – Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
WINNER: Blake Neely – Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
Max Avery Lichtenstein – The Janes (HBO)
David Schwartz – Lucy and Desi (Amazon Studios)
Marius de Vries, Matt Robertson – Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
BEST NARRATION
Deep in the Heart: A Texas Wildlife Story (Fin and Fur Films)
Written by Ben Masters
Performed by Matthew McConaughey
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Written by Shane Boris, Erin Casper, Jocelyne Chaput, Sara Dosa
Performed by Miranda July
WINNER: Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
Written by Helen Kearns, Ryan White
Performed by Angela Bassett
Our Great National Parks (Netflix)
Performed by Barack Obama
Riotsville, U.S.A. (Magnolia Pictures)
Written by Tobi Haslett
Performed by Charlene Modeste
Three Minutes: A Lengthening (Neon)
Written by Bianca Stigter
Performed by Helena Bonham Carter
BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY
The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
WINNER: Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Nothing Compares (Showtime)
Riotsville, U.S.A. (Magnolia Pictures)
Three Minutes: A Lengthening (Neon)
BEST HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY
The Automat (A Slice of Pie Productions)
WINNER: Descendant (Netflix)
The Janes (HBO)
Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power (Peacock)
Still Working 9 to 5 (Mighty Fine Entertainment)
Three Minutes: A Lengthening (Neon)
The U.S. and the Holocaust (PBS)
BEST BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY
George Carlin’s American Dream (HBO)
The Last Movie Stars (HBO Max)
Lucy and Desi (Amazon Studios)
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (Peacock)
Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams (Sony Pictures Classics)
WINNER: Sidney (Apple TV+)
Sr. (Netflix)
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
WINNER: The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song (Sony Pictures Classics)
If These Walls Could Sing (Disney Original Documentary)
Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues (Apple TV+)
Moonage Daydream (HBO/Neon)
Nothing Compares (Showtime)
The Return of Tanya Tucker – Featuring Brandi Carlile (Sony Pictures Classics)
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
Aftershock (Hulu)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (HBO/Neon)
Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down (Briarcliff Entertainment)
The Janes (HBO)
WINNER: Navalny (HBO/CNN/Warner Bros. Pictures)
Retrograde (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom (Netflix)
BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY
All That Breathes (HBO)
Cow (IFC Films)
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
WINNER: Good Night Oppy (Amazon Studios)
Nuisance Bear (The New Yorker)
Return to Space (Netflix)
The Territory (National Geographic Documentary Films)
BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
WINNER (Tie): Citizen Ashe (Magnolia/HBO)
Hockeyland (Greenwich Entertainment)
Kaepernick & America (Dark Star Pictures)
McEnroe (Showtime)
The Redeem Team (Netflix)
WINNER (Tie): Welcome to Wrexham (FX/Hulu)
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
38 at the Garden (HBO)
Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices From a Plantation Prison (MTV Documentary Films)
The Flagmakers (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Four Seasons Total Documentary (MSNBC)
My Disability Roadmap (The New York Times Op Docs)
WINNER: Nuisance Bear (The New Yorker)
Stranger at the Gate (The New Yorker)
BEST LIMITED DOCUMENTARY SERIES
WINNER: The Beatles: Get Back (Disney+)
Hostages (HBO)
The Last Movie Stars (HBO Max)
The Lincoln Project (Showtime)
Our Great National Parks (Netflix)
The U.S. and the Holocaust (PBS)
We Need to Talk About Cosby (Showtime)
BEST ONGOING DOCUMENTARY SERIES
WINNER: 30 for 30 (ESPN)
American Masters (PBS)
Cheer (Netflix)
The Circus (Showtime)
Unsolved Mysteries (Netflix)
Welcome to Wrexham (FX/Hulu)
The Pennebaker Award
Barbara Kopple, presented by Kopple’s producing partner and wife, Chris Hegedus
Kopple, a director of documentaries, narrative TV, and film, is a two-time Academy Award winner and ten-time Emmy Award nominee. Her most recent project is the forthcoming documentary Gumbo Coalition, which premieres at DOC NYC as the Centerpiece Presentation in November 2022.
Kopple produced and directed Harlan County USA and American Dream, both winners of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. Her other films include Miss Sharon Jones!, Desert One, The House of Steinbrenner, Woodstock: Now and Then, Shut Up and Sing, Havoc, A Conversation with Gregory Peck, My Generation, Wild Man Blues, Running From Crazy, Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson, This is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous, and many more.
