2020 list includes 52 films across 14 categories. Best Cinema Doc nominees are American Factory, For Sama,Honeyland and Midnight Family.
Of the 52 nominated films, 21 were broadcast on BBC channels. For the second year running, Netflix outstrips Channel 4 with nine nominations to Channel 4’s five. ITV and Al Jazeera have two apiece whilst nominations newcomer YouTube Originals joins Channel 5, National Geographic and Discovery in receiving one listing each. Festival, university and theatrical screenings make up the remaining 13.
This year, four films have the double honour of featuring in multiple categories. War in the Blood features in the line-up for Best Single Domestic and Best Science categories. Crip Camp receives nominations as Best Single International and Best Historical Documentary. Jade: The Reality Star Who Changed Britain is up for Best Historical and Best Series prizes. Hometown: A Killing makes the Best Series category with Mobeen Azhar receiving a Best Presenter nomination.
Announcing the nominations, Chair of The Grierson Trust, Lorraine Heggessey says: “This has been a difficult year for the production community and particularly for freelancers, so it’s more important than ever to recognise and celebrate the excellence of so many talented filmmakers, whether they are newcomers or established global names. These nominations demonstrate the relevance and versatility of documentaries, with their ability to highlight a wide range of contemporary issues and bring new stories to the screens on well-established channels as well as on newer platforms.”
Now in their 48th year, the Grierson Awards celebrate the best in documentary filmmaking and will be handed out in a ceremony November 10 2020. The recipient of the 2020 BBC Grierson Trustees Award will be announced next month.
Full list of nominations 2020:
ENVY Best Single Documentary – Domestic
The Family Secret Anna Hall, Sally Ogden, Luke Rothery & Brian Woods for Candour Productions. Channel 4
Suicidal: In Our Own Words Rachel Harvie, David DeHaney, Emmanuel Ayettey & Iain Pettifer for Proper Content. Channel 5
Tell Me Who I Am Production team at Lightbox. Netflix
War in the Blood Arthur Cary, Morgan Matthews, Ben Brown & Saskia Rusher for Minnow Films. BBC Two
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY Best Single Documentary – International
Crip Camp Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht, Sara Bolder, Howard Gertler, Priya Swaminathan & Tonia Davis for A Higher Ground & Rusted Spoke Production in association with Little Punk, JustFilms & Ford Foundation. Netflix
The Day California Burned Sarah Waldron, Fiona Stourton, Dan Edge, Ella Newton & Jane McMullen for Brook Lapping Productions & BBC Current Affairs London. BBC Two
The Great Hack Production team at A Noujaim Films Production & an othrs Production. Netflix
Untouchable: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Weinstein Ursula Macfarlane, Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn, Poppy Dixon & Andy R Worboys for Lightbox. BBC Two
REAL STORIES Best Current Affairs Documentary
Al Jazeera Investigations: Diplo
mats for Sale Production team at Al Jazeera Media Network. Al Jazeera
Sex for Grades Kiki Mordi, Kemi Alabi, Chiara Francavilla, Charlie Northcott, Andy Bell & Marc Perkins for BBC World Service. BBC Africa
Undercover with the Clerics. Paddy Wells, Mais Al-Bayaa, Nawal Al Maghafi, Monica Garnsey & Chris Mitchell for BBC News Arabic. BBC News Arabic
Undercover: Inside China’s Digital Gulag Robin Barnwell, Gesbeen Mohammad, Guy Creasey, David Henshaw & Simon Russell for Hardcash Productions. ITV
STORM Best Arts or Music Documentary
The Black Godfather Reginald Hudlin, Nicole Avant, Byron Phillips, Nelson George, Catrin Rodgers & Andrew Fried for Boardwalk Pictures & Hudlin Entertainment. Netflix
Imagine… Edna O’Brien: Fearful and Fearless Katy Homan, Tanya Hudson, Jude Suggett & Alan Yentob for BBC Studios. BBC One
Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall Alfred George Bailey, Adam Biskupski, Ian Arber, Tatiana Kennedy, Arno Hazebroek & Nicolas Sampson for Bailey Kennedy Production. General theatrical release
Terms and Conditions: A UK Drill Story. Brian Hill, Kandise Abiola, Katie Bailiff, Fraser T Smith & Stuart Briggs for Century Films. YouTube Originals
CHANNEL 5 Best Historical Documentary
Apollo 11 Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Petersen, Evan Krauss & Stephen Slater for Statement Pictures. General theatrical release
Crip Camp Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht, Sara Bolder, Howard Gertler, Priya Swaminathan & Tonia Davis for A Higher Ground & Rusted Spoke Production in association with Little Punk, JustFilms & Ford Foundation. Netflix
A House Through Time – Episode 1 Eleanor Scoones, Katie Greening, Justin Badger, Mary Crisp & Maxine Watson for Twenty Twenty Productions. BBC Two
Jade: The Reality Star Who Changed Britain – Episode 1 Robert Coldstream, Clare Cameron, Justin Badger, Jane Greaves & Edmund Coulthard for Blast! Films. Channel 4
SARGENT-DISC Best Science Documentary
The Big Picture – The World According to AI: The Bias in the Machine Sanjiev Johal, Cori Crider, Nicholas Muirhead, Ryan Kohls, Sean Griffin & Denise Lister for Al Jazeera English. Al Jazeera
Einstein’s Quantum Riddle Jamie Lochhead, David Dugan, Clementine Cheetham & Alastair Auld for Windfall Films. BBC Four
Mad Cow Disease: The Great British Beef Scandal Will Lorimer, James Gold, Liesel Evans & Pamela McIntyre for RAW. BBC Two
War in the Blood Arthur Cary, Morgan Matthews, Ben Brown, Saskia Rusher & Andrew Phillips for Minnow Films. BBC Two
DISCOVERY Best Natural History Documentary
The Last Igloo Christian Collerton, Will Grayburn, Joe Evans, Neil Crombie, Adam Simons & Mick Duffield for Swan Films. BBC Four
Seven Worlds, One Planet: Antarctica
Jonny Keeling, Fredi Devas, Dave Pearce, Abigail Lees, Michael Becker & Scott Alexander for BBC Studios Natural History Unit. BBC One
The Story of Plastic Deia Schlosberg, Kyle Cadotte, Megan Ponder, Stiv Wilson, Tony Hale & Brian Wilson for The Story of Stuff Project in association with React to Film. Discovery
Tigers: Hunting the Traffickers Laura Warner, Jo Prichard, Guy Creasey, Monica Garnsey, Anna Murphy & Orlando Von Einsiedel for Grain Media. BBC Two
YOUTUBE ORIGINALS Best Entertaining Documentary
The Dog House – Episode 3 Nick Mirsky, Anna Llewellyn, Morgana Pugh, Claire Parry, Katie Brimblecombe & Tom Bowman for Five Mile Films. Channel 4
Love is Blind – Episode 3 Production team at Kinetic Content. Netflix
The Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan: Zimbabwe Romesh Ranganathan, Emily Hudd, Morgan Roberts, Chris Cottam & Andy Linton for Rumpus Media. BBC Two
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness – Episode 2 Rebecca Chaiklin, Eric Goode, Chris Smith, Doug Abel, Dylan Hansen-Fliedner & Nicholas Biagetti for Goode Films Production in association with Library Films & Article 19 Films. Netflix
NETFLIX Best Documentary Series
The Devil Next Door Production team at One Man Show & Submarine Deluxe Production in association with Yes Studios. Netflix
Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer Mark Lewis, Felicity Morris, Dimitri Doganis, Adam Hawkins, Michael Harte & Bjorn Johnson for RAW. Netflix
Hometown: A Killing Jeremy Lee, Wes Thomas & Catey Sexton for Forest & 7 Wonder. BBC Three
Jade: The Reality Star Who Changed Britain Robert Coldstream, Clare Cameron, Justin Badger, Jane Greaves & Edmund Coulthard for Blast! Films. Channel 4
CHANNEL 4 Best Constructed Documentary Series
Long Lost Family Sally Benton, Clare Bradbury, Susie Attwood, Rick Barker & Johnny Wagener for Wall to Wall Media. ITV
The Rap Game Tom O’Brien, Simon Andreae, Tom Whitrow, Lianne Hickey & Susie Dark for Naked. BBC Three
The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes Benjamin Leigh, Trish Powell, Murray Boland, Martin Oxley, Louise Bartmann & Neil Cornish/ Dan Gulley for CPL Productions & Motion Content Group. Channel 4
Who Are You Calling Fat? Sara Ramsden, Charlotte Armstrong, Oliver Manley & Nicholas Packer for Love Productions. BBC Two
BFI DOC SOCIETY FUND Best Cinema Documentary
American Factory Production team at Higher Ground Productions & Participant Media for Netflix. General theatrical release
For Sama Waad al Kateab, Ed Watts, Nevine Mabro, Ben de Pear, Siobhan Sinnerton & George Waldrum for Channel 4 News & ITN Productions for Channel 4 & PBS Frontline. General theatrical release
Honeyland Tamara Kotevska, Ljubomir Stefanov & Atanas Georgiev. General theatrical release
Midnight Family Luke Lorentzen & Kellen Quinn. General theatrical release
THE RUMI FOUNDATION Best Documentary Short
Country Girl Ellen Evans, Pearl Doughty-White & Lisa Marie-Russo – Open City Docs Film Festival
Lost & Found Orlando von Einsiedel & Harri Grace for National Geographic Documentary Films Presents in association with The Nobel Prize, a Rideback & Grain Media Production. National Geographic
That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore Hannah Currie & Beth Allan for Forest of Black & SDI – Bridging the Gap. Edinburgh International Film Festival
Witness: The Mortician of Manila Leah Borromeo, Laura Shacham, Katharine Round, James Scott, Joshua Reyles & Jamie Perera for Disobedient Films & Al Jazeera Witness. Sheffield Doc/Fest
ALL3MEDIA Best Student Documentary
Bananas Sara Montoya Sepulveda, Mel Barnes, Rachel Roberts, Ethan Jeffrey, Breen Turner & Marco Valerio Caminiti for NFTS. University/College screening
Bringing Home the Blubber Molly Adams for London College of Communication. University/College screening
Inside a Marriage Ben Cheetham & Margred Pryce for NFTS. University/College screening
Miss Curvy Ghada Eldemellawy & Gareth Pugh for NFTS. University/College screening
WARNER BROS TELEVISION PRODUCTION Best Documentary Presenter
DAVID OLUSOGA for The Unwanted: The Secret Windrush Files, Uplands Television. BBC Two
EMILY MAITLIS for Prince Andrew & the Epstein Scandal: The Newsnight Interview. BBC Newsnight. BBC Two
MOBEEN AZHAR for Hometown: A Killing Forest & 7 Wonder. BBC Three
STACEY DOOLEY for Stacey Dooley: On the Psych Ward. True Vision. BBC Three
