The Grierson Trust has announced the shortlist for the 50th anniversary British Documentary Awards.
The BBC tops the shortlist with 42 entries overall. Netflix has 14 films in the running; Channel 4 has 12; Sky, nine and ITV seven. Apple TV+ and Prime Video have five films each, Disney+ has 3 and National Geographic two. Al Jazeera, Channel 5, guardian.com, ecoflix.com and Discovery all have one each while the remainder is made up of festival and university screenings alongside theatrical releases.
Lorraine Heggessey, Chair of The Grierson Trust says: “As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our awards this amazing array of films from around the world is the perfect way to highlight the pivotal role documentary plays in our cultural life. The varied and engaging shortlist represents some of the most outstanding and impactful factual programmes screened in the past 12 months and the dynamic creative talent that brought them to our screens.
“I’m also pleased that the 2022 presenter shortlist is our most diverse yet, demonstrating real change happening within the industry, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes as we work towards greater inclusivity and better representation of all sections of society. The Grierson Trust has long been committed to nurturing new talent and bringing fresh voices to factual programming.”
The 2022 Griersons, in association with All3Media, will also welcome back its Best Cinema category from its pandemic-induced purdah with big screen hits Navalny, Becoming Cousteau and Young Plato making the cut.
The 120 shortlisted films and eight presenters will now go forward to final nominations and judging ahead of 50th annual awards ceremony on 10th November 2022.
Twelve films have been shortlisted in multiple categories. They are:
· Becoming Cousteau (Cinema and Natural History or Environmental)
· Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51 (Presenter and Science)
· jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy (Series and Music)
· Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant (Presenter and Natural History or Environment)
· Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story (Single Documentary – Domestic and Arts)
· The Last Mountain (Sports and Single Documentary – Domestic)
· Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11 (Single Documentary – International and History)
· The Missing Children (Current Affairs and History)
· Navalny (Single Documentary – International and Cinema)
· The Reason I Jump (Single Documentary – International and Cinema)
· Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised) (Music and Cinema)
· Uprising (Series and History)
Two awards are still to be announced: the Grierson Hero of the Year Award (sponsored by The Talent Manager) and the BBC Grierson Trustees’ Award. The former will be presented to an individual judged by the Trustees to have made a positive impact within the industry during the previous 12 months. This person may be working in any area and be at any level of their career. The Trustees’ Award is also chosen by the Grierson Board and recognises an outstanding contribution to the art or craft of the documentary.
The final nominations will be announced on Wednesday 21st September.
The shortlist
Envy Best Single Documentary – Domestic
Grenfell: The Untold Story
BBC Studios – Channel 4
Hunting the Essex Lorry Killers
Expectation – BBC
Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story
Passion Pictures, Ventureland, AGC Studios, CNN Films & BBC Arts – BBC
The Last Mountain
Dorothy St Pictures, Uppercut Films & Globus Pictures – BBC
Mothers of the Revolution
Universal Pictures Content Group – Theatrical release
Nikki Grahame: Who Is She?
Angel Eye Media – Channel 4
Panorama: The Post Office Scandal
BBC Panorama – BBC
A Space in Time
Salon Pictures in association with BFI, Bohemia Media, Reservoir Docs, BondIt & Buffalo 8 – Prime Video
Molinare Best Single Documentary – International
9/11: Inside the President’s War Room
Wish/Art Films – BBC
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes
Top Hat Productions – Sky Documentaries
Dying to Divorce
Dying to Divorce Ltd & Aldeles – Sky Documentaries
Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11
Yard 44 & NBC News Studios – Sky Documentaries
My Childhood, My Country: 20 Years in Afghanistan
Seventh Art Productions – ITV
President
Final Cut for Real, Louverture Films, Sant & Usant – BBC
The Reason I Jump
MetFilm Production, The Ideas Room & Runaway Fridge – Disney+
Writing with Fire
Black Ticket Films – BBC
Televisual Best Current Affairs Documentary
Al Jazeera Investigations – The Men Who Sell Football
Al Jazeera – Al Jazeera
BBC Africa Eye – Black Axe
BBC Africa Eye – BBC
Dispatches – Torn Apart: Family Courts Uncovered
Candour Productions – Channel 4
Dispatches – Rape: Who’s on Trial?
Hardcash Productions – Channel 4
Exposure – Afghanistan: No Country for Women
Quicksilver Media – ITV
Four Hours at the Capitol
Amos Pictures – BBC
The Missing Children
True Vision & Nevision – ITV
Navalny
CNN Films & HBO Max in association with Fishbowl Films, RaeFilm Studios & Cottage M – BBC
Best Arts Documentary
The Andy Warhol Diaries – Shadows: Andy & Jed
Abstract Submarine – Netflix
imagine… Marian Keyes: My (not so) Perfect Life
BBC Studios – BBC
Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story
Passion Pictures, Ventureland, AGC Studios, CNN Films & BBC Arts – BBC
Lily Topples the World
Wheelhouse Creative, Altman Films, A discovery+ Original – Discovery+
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It
Universal Pictures Content Group – iTunes/Prime Video
Salt, by Selina Thompson
Milk and Honey Productions – BBC
The Story of Film: A New Generation
Hopscotch Films – Netflix
Survivors: Portraits of the Holocaust
BBC Studios – BBC
Sky Documentaries Best Music Documentary
The Beatles: Get Back – Part 3
Walt Disney Pictures, Apple Corps & Wingnut Films – Disney+
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road
Universal Pictures Content Group – Theatrical release
Dawn Raid
Universal Pictures Content Group – iTunes/Prime Video
Freddie Mercury: The Final Act
Rogan Productions – BBC
jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy – act i: VISION
A Netflix Documentary, a TIME Studios Production in association with Creative Control & Leah Natasha Productions – Netflix
Other, Like Me: The Oral History of COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle
Willow Glen Films & BBC – BBC
The Sparks Brothers
Complete Fiction Pictures – Netflix
Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised)
Onyx Collective, Concordia Studio, Play/Action Pictures, LarryBilly Productions, Mass Distraction Media, RadicalMedia & Vulcan Productions – Disney+
Red Bull Studios Best Sports Documentary
14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible
A Netflix Documentary Produced by Noah Media Group in association with Little Monster Films – Netflix
Champion Mentality: Naomi Osaka
A Netflix Documentary Series in association with Uninterrupted / A Film 45 Production – Netflix
Citizen Ashe
Dogwoof, Rexpix Media & Stick Figure Productions – BBC
Formula 1: Drive to Survive – Hard Racing
Box to Box Films – Netflix
Gazza – Episode 1
Haviland Digital, Mark Stewart Productions, Western Edge Pictures & BBC – BBC
Gold Rush: Our Race to Olympic Glory – Revolution
Blast! Films – BBC
The Last Mountain
Upper Cut Films, Dorothy St Pictures, Globus Pictures & Universal Pictures – BBC
Rooney
Lorton Entertainment, Circle Circle Films & Amazon Prime – Prime Video
Best History Documentary
1000 Years a Slave – Episode 1
Uplands TV – Channel 5
The Decade the Rich Won – Episode 1
BBC Studios – BBC
Lincoln’s Dilemma: The Anti-Slavery Candidate
EDEN Productions, Kunhardt Films in association with Apple – Apple TV+
Liverpool Narcos: Ecstasy
Blast! Films – Sky Documentaries
Memory Box: Echoes of 9/11
Yard 44 & NBC News Studios – Sky Documentaries
Michael X: Hustler, Revolutionary, Outlaw
BBC Studios – Sky Documentaries
The Missing Children
True Vision & Nevision – ITV
Uprising – Episode 1
Rogan Productions, Lammas Park & Turbine Studios – BBC
The Open University Best Science Documentary
AstraZeneca: A Vaccine for the World?
BBC Current Affairs – BBC
Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet
A Netflix Original Documentary, a Silverback Films Production in association with Indikate Productions – Netflix
Dementia & Us – Episode 1
RDF – BBC
Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51
Hungry Jay Media – BBC
Neutrino: Hunting the Ghost Particle
Windfall Films – BBC
Positive – Episode 2
Arrow Pictures – Sky Documentaries
Return to Space
A Netflix Documentary, a Little Monster Films Production – Netflix
A Year in the Ice: The Arctic Drift
Wild Blue Media, UFA Show & Factual, Fremantle Media – Channel 4
Discovery Best Natural History or Environmental Documentary
Becoming Cousteau
National Geographic Documentary Films, Story Syndicate, The Cousteau Society, Ace Content & Diamond Docs – National Geographic
Fathom
Apple in association with Sandbox Films, Impact Partners, Walking Upstream Pictures, Back Allie Entertainment & Hidden Candy – Apple TV+
Free Billy
Fresh Start Media – ecoflix.com
The Green Planet: Tropical Worlds
PBS, bilibili, ZDF, China Media Group CCTV9 & France Télévisions – BBC
Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant
Rumpus Media – Channel 4
Life at 50°C
BBC News Arabic – BBC
My Garden of a Thousand Bees
Passion Planet, The WNET Group & HHMI Tangled Bank Studios in association with Ammonite Films – Sky Nature
Prehistoric Planet: Coasts
BBC Studios in association with Apple – Apple TV+
Prime Video Best Entertaining Documentary
Bad Boy Chiller Crew – Episode 4
Rogo Productions – ITV
Banned! The Mary Whitehouse Story – Episode 1
BBC Studios – BBC
Curse of the Chippendales – Episode 1: Take It Off
A Lightbox production – Amazon Prime Video with Discovery, Inc & Media Finance Capital – Prime Video
High: Confessions of an Ibiza Drug Mule – Episode 1
Blast! Films – BBC
This is Joan Collins
Salon Pictures – BBC
The Tinder Swindler
A Netflix Documentary, a Raw Production with Gaspin Media & AGC Studios in association with VG – Netflix
‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas
Dorothy St Pictures – Apple TV+
Yorkshire Midwives on Call – Episode 1
Candour Productions – BBC
Channel 4 Best Constructed Documentary Series
Anyone Can Sing
Factory Films – Sky Arts
Celebrity Hunted
Shine TV – Channel 4
The Dog House
Five Mile Films – Channel 4
Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star
Wall to Wall Media – BBC
Idris Elba’s Fight School
Workerbee & Green Door – BBC
Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace
Wall to Wall Media – ITV
Love on the Spectrum
Northern Pictures – Netflix
We Are Black and British
Cardiff Productions – BBC
Netflix Best Documentary Series
9/11: One Day in America
72 Films – National Geographic
Blair & Brown: The New Labour Revolution
BBC Studios – BBC
Gazza
Haviland Digital, Mark Stewart Productions, Western Edge Pictures & BBC – BBC
jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy
A Netflix Documentary, a TIME Studios Production in association with Creative Control & Leah Natasha Productions – Netflix
Jeremy Kyle Show: Death on Daytime
Blast! Films – Channel 4
The Line: Quiet Professionals
A Jigsaw Production in association with Apple – Apple TV+
The Puppet Master: Hunting the Ultimate Conman
A Netflix Documentary Series, a RAW Production – Netflix
Uprising
Rogan Productions, Lammas Park & Turbine Studios – BBC
BFI Doc Society Fund Best Cinema Documentary
Becoming Cousteau
National Geographic Documentary Films, Story Syndicate, The Cousteau Society, Ace Content & Diamond Docs – Theatrical release
The First Wave
National Geographic Documentary Films, Neon, Participant & Our Time Projects – Theatrical release
Navalny
CNN Films and HBO Max in association with Fishbowl Films, RaeFilm Studios & Cottage M – Theatrical release
Procession
A Netflix Documentary, a 4th Row Films Production in Partnership with Concordia Studios & Impact Partners in association with Artemis Rising Foundation – Theatrical release
The Reason I Jump
MetFilm Production, The Ideas Room & Runaway Fridge – Theatrical release
Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not be Televised)
Onyx Collective, Concordia Studio, Play/Action Pictures, LarryBilly Productions, Mass Distraction Media, RadicalMedia & Vulcan Productions – Theatrical release
The Velvet Underground
An Apple Original Film in association with Polygram Entertainment, Motto Pictures, Killer Films & Federal Films – Theatrical release
Young Plato
Soilsiú Films, Aisling Productions, Clin d’Oeil Films & Céline Nusse – Theatrical release
All3Media Best Student Documentary
Daughters of the Sea
London College of Communication – University/College Screening
Don’t Feed the Psychic
University of Westminster – University/College Screening
Harvesting Our Tea
London College of Communication – University/College Screening
It’s Bean Too Hot
Falmouth University – YouTube
Ordinary Life
Newcastle University – University/College Screening
The State of Dissent
London College of Communication – University/College Screening
Ten by Ten
University of Manchester – University/College Screening
Traded
University of Greenwich – University/College Screening
Fulwell 73 Best Documentary Short
The Bayview
MTP – London Short Film Festival
Forest Coal Pit
ie ie productions – Borderlines Film Festival
Freedom Swimmer
No-Thing Productions & Sacrebleu Productions – Theatrical release
Hanging On
Cosmosquare Films – Festival release
Nsenene
Medina Films – New Yorker
Prosopagnosia
Bombito Productions – Edinburgh International Film Festival
Saintmaking
The Guardian – theguardian.com
Three Songs – Benazir
A Netflix Documentary – Netflix
Disney+ Best Documentary Presenter
ALICE LEVINE – Sex Actually with Alice Levine
Mindhouse Productions – Channel 4
AMOL RAJAN – The Princes and the Press
BBC Current Affairs – BBC
ASHLEY BANJO – Ashley Banjo: Britain in Black & White
Uplands TV – ITV
ELLIE SIMMONDS – Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism?
Flicker Productions – BBC
JAMIE MACDONALD & JAMIE O’LEARY – Blind Ambition
Television Repairs – BBC
JAY BLADES – Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51
Hungry Jay Media – BBC
JOE LYCETT – Joe Lycett Vs the Oil Giant
Rumpus Media Ltd – Channel 4
SATHNAM SANGHERA – Empire State of Mind
Sandpaper Films – Channel 4
Jon Creamer
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