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Documentaries have the power to uncover some of the world’s greatest mysteries and events, offering a behind-the-scenes look at things we’ve always wanted to see or introducing us to worlds we never knew existed. A new SXSW documentary takes a very interesting turn by following some of the smartest kids in the world as they tackle an impossible Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Spreadsheet Champions follows in the footsteps of other youth-competition documentaries, blending nostalgia with an intimate look at teenage anxiety.

Like Spellbound, Boys State, Girls State, and this year’s Sundance entry Speak, it centers on young competitors facing what feels like the most important contest of their lives… so far.

But instead of a spelling bee or a speech competition, Spreadsheet Champions dives into the 2023 World Championship of Excel, following six high school and college-aged participants as they take on the ultimate spreadsheet challenge.

Kristina Kraskov directs...

The upstate New York high schoolers at the heart of “Middletown” hint at what the Breakfast Club crew might have been had they shared a purpose beyond sulky rebellion.

In 1991, teacher Fred Isseks created a way for his students to channel both their curiosity and their rightly contrarian impulses in an elective called Electronic English. For the next several years, the students who opted for that class made videos, shot horror shorts and, most significantly, embarked on a project about the local landfill that would become a sharp and heralded piece of investigative journalism. Altogether, classes from 1991 to ’97 made four films. The final was the hour-long “Garbage, Gangsters and Greed.” Political malfeasance, press acquiescence, the Ford Motor Co. and the Genovese crime family among others play their roles in the student exposé of toxic waste dumped into the area landfills.

Filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss know their way into...

An engaging documentary about the merit and mechanics of its own form, “Middletown” is set deep in the slacker era of 1991, when, in a small town in upstate New York, a vanguarding high school teacher oversees a student project that uncovers a local government conspiracy. Built mostly of camcorder archival footage from a Middletown high school audiovisual class, this often winning, occasionally rudderless film follows the students as they work together to investigate toxic waste being dumped in a nearby landfill. Worse still, the landfill was situated atop a major regional aquifer, suggesting that much of the district’s drinking water was harmfully contaminated.

The documentary was directed by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, the filmmaking duo behind the popular documentary mini-franchise “Boys State” (2020) and “Girls State” (2024). But the observational mode of those films is complemented here by a mountain of pristinely archived camcorder footage originally captured by the former Middletown students.

by Abe Friedtanzer

Married filmmakers Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine are no strangers to the Sundance Film Festival, premiering both Boys State and Girls State in Park City. They also made the documentary The Mission, about missionary John Allen Chau, who is the subject of a narrative film, Last Days, screening this year at Sundance. Moss and McBaine return to a field they know well - education - with a look back at a group of trailblazing student journalists and environmental advocates prepared to take on government systems and the mafia before they even graduated high school...

Girls State was my favorite documentary of Sundance 2024, and I firmly believe that its predecessor, Boys State, is one of the best films Apple TV+ has to offer. Through them, it was clear to see that directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine had a talent for identifying fascinating, inspiring subjects — particularly young ones — and presenting them in compelling and compassionate ways. Needless to say, I had high hopes going into Middletown and am thrilled to report that they have managed a three-peat. There’s no better team in the coming-of-age documentary game right now — and very few on their level in the documentary space in general.

There are times when I come across a great documentary and all I want to do is rave and rave about it and convince everyone else to watch the film. But I must confess – it's always a challenge. How can I convince anyone to watch this time capsule film about high school kids in the 1990s trying out journalism? It's not an easy sell no matter what I say about it. Nonetheless this film needs to be seen and admired and discussed – there's so much to appreciate. Middletown is the latest documentary film creation from the two acclaimed filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss – they're both regulars at Sundance with their doc films Boys States, Girls State, and The Mission previously. They're back again already at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival with another excellent doc. This one really shook me up and has been stuck on my mind ever since. So...

A warm and big-hearted crowdpleaser set against a cold and seemingly inhospitable backdrop, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady’s Folktales can look to Sundance precedent to safely expect to find a welcoming audience.

Their new documentary is Boys State (or Girls State) with Norwegian dogsledding instead of American civics.

Or perhaps, to look to the filmmakers’ own catalogue, Folktales is a dyslexic Jesus Camp, its young subjects turning to dog instead of God for personal growth.

Either way, Folktales is an easily embraceable coming-of-age documentary that makes up for what it lacks in depth with its surplus of wise, vaguely anthropomorphized canine companions. It’s a film that benefits from being seen with a crowd, not just to experience its lavishly furry and frigid images on the biggest screen possible, but to be part of a communal ritual in which everybody simultaneously coos at and cajoles the featured animals.

Yes.

Even as it continues to seek U.S. distribution, “No Other Land” is continuing its remarkable awards season run. The latest win for the documentary, made by a Palestinian/Israeli collective that includes directors and activists Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, and Basel Adra: a trio of awards at this year’s Cinema Eye Honors.

At the 18th annual Cinema Eye Honors, which took place Thursday, January 9 at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem, the film walked away with three awards, including Cinema Eye’s top prize, Outstanding Nonfiction Filmmaking. Directors Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, and Rachel Szor also received the award for Debut Feature, with Abraham and Adra also Honored as Unforgettables for their appearance on screen in the film.

This year’s nominees for the Cinema Eye Honors, which honors the best in documentary fiction and TV, included a healthy crop...

“No Other Land” has been named named the best feature of 2024 at the Cinema Eye Honors, the New York-based documentary awards that were established to celebrate all aspects of nonfiction filmmaking. The show took place on Friday night at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem in New York City.

The film was made by two Israeli and two Palestinian filmmakers over the last five years during the conflict in Gaza. It also won the best-feature award at the IDA Documentary Awards, the other major award devoted to nonfiction films.

“Porcelain War” won the Audience Choice Award, the one Cinema Eye category voted on by the public.

The award for directing went to Mati Diop for “Dahomey,” while the production award went to “Union.” “No Other Land” won the award for the best first feature.

“Eno” won for visual design, “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” for editing and sound design,...

Apple Films has landed the feature doc Deaf President Now! from Deaf actor, filmmaker, and advocate Nyle Dimarco and Oscar-winning documentarian Davis Guggenheim.

The feature tells the story of the 1988 protests at Gallaudet University, the storied university for Deaf or Hard of Hearing students, that led to the installment of the school’s first Deaf president, Dr. I. King Jordan.

The doc features exclusive interviews with Jordan, as well as the “Gallaudet Four” — Jerry Covell, Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, Tim Rarus and Greg Hlibok, who took leadership positions during the protests. Deaf President Now! also incorporates an experimental narrative approach — called “Deaf Point Of View” — using impressionistic visual photography and intricate sound design that is meant to thrust the audience into the Deaf experience.

“For far too long, the disabilities stories that have shaped the United States have been conspicuously absent from the history we tell,” said Dimarco. “This film not only...

The Academy has unveiled the list of feature films that are eligible for consideration in the animated feature, documentary feature Film, and international feature at the 2025 Oscars.

In animation, 31 films will vie for one of the five spots, including “The Wild Robot,” “Inside Out 2,” “Memoir of a Snail,” “Flow,” and “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.”

In documentary feature, 169 films are eligible. Among them are “No Other Land,” “Daughters,” “Martha,” “I Am: Celine Dion,” and “Dahomey,” which is Senegal’s submission for international feature.

In international feature, there are 85 hopefuls, including frontrunner “Emilia Pérez” (France), “I’m Still Here” (Brazil), “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Germany), “Kneecap” (Ireland), and “Flight 404” (Egypt).

The shortlists of 15 films for documentary and international features will be released on Tuesday, Dec. 17.

Oscar nominations will be announced on Friday, Jan. 17. The 97th Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will be held on Sunday, March 2 at 7 p.

Gravitas Ventures has announced the acquisition of U.S. and Canadian rights for the science fiction feature “Roswell Delirium,” which is scheduled to release in January on both cable and digital video on demand.

“During the 1980s the US is hit by a wave of nuclear attacks, and after the fallout those who remain pretend like everything is normal even though they are all experiencing radiation poisoning. A young girl named Mayday tries to make contact on a series of ham radios with her father who is in space on a shuttle mission. Instead of making contact she receives an intergalactic distress call from space that leads her on a journey to Space Rock, the land where Area 51 once was. She is exposed to severe levels of radiation and within days all of her organs start to fail. Knowing that medical treatment won’t help her mother, Wendy brings her...

Academy Award winners and best friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have a shot at more Oscar recognition for producing the documentary “Kiss the Future.”

Variety has learned exclusively the Academy has granted eligibility to the documentary feature for consideration for the upcoming 97th Oscars. The decision follows an initial ruling by the Academy’s Documentary Branch Executive Committee that deemed the film ineligible, citing a shortfall in meeting required daily theatrical screening showtimes per the Academy’s regulations.

In a procedural review, the Academy’s Awards Committee re-evaluated “Kiss the Future” as part of its commitment to fairness and inclusion in the eligibility process. The committee ultimately reversed the initial ruling, citing the film’s release on more than 100 screens across multiple markets as evidence of its wide release intent, which aligns with the Academy’s objective to foster theatrical experiences for moviegoers.

The reversal highlights a standing precedent within the Academy,...

Apple TV+’s Girls State and HBO’s Ren Faire scored three nominations apiece to lead all broadcast nominees announced Thursday for the 18th Cinema Eye Honors. The group, which recognizes the year’s outstanding nonfiction and documentary films and TV series, also revealed the 16-film longlist for its annual Audience Choice Prize, won last year by National Geographic’s Bobi Wine: The People’s President, which went on to get nominated for the Documentary Feature Oscar.

The past six winners of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar — this year’s winner 20 Days in Mariupol, Navalny, Summer of Soul, My Octopus Teacher, American Factory and Free Solo — were all Audience Choice Prize nominees. Fans voting will whittle the list to 10 beginning next week, with winners in that and all categories to be announced at an awards ceremony January 9 at the New York Academy of Medicine in East Harlem.

The full list...

Cinema Eye Honors today shared a string of announcements, including the 16 films on its Audience Choice Prize Longlist, the unveiling of this year’s Unforgettables Honorees, nominees in its five Broadcast categories, and its annual Shorts List — spotlighting 11 of the year’s top documentary short films — at its 7th annual Cinema Eye Fall Lunch in Downtown Los Angeles on October 24, 2024.

Spotlighted on the film side are several major Best Documentary Feature contenders including “Will & Harper,” “Black Box Diaries,” and “No Other Land,” which all also factored into the organization’s list of Unforgettables — standout on-camera collaborators from eight feature documentaries. This next ceremony will be the first time those honorees, like Harper Steele, Shiori Ito, and Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham for those respective films, receive a special medallion honoring their contribution to their Cinema Eye-winning films.

Highlights among the Broadcast nominees include filmmaker Lance Oppenheim, nominated for both...

The Apple TV+ documentary “Girls State” and the HBO doc series “Ren Faire” led all projects in nominations in the Cinema Eye Honors broadcast categories, which were announced on Thursday in Los Angeles.

“Girls State” was nominated in the Broadcast Film category and also for its editing and cinematography. “Ren Faire” was also nominated in those last two categories, as well as for Nonfiction Series.

Other broadcast films and series with multiple nominations included Netflix’s “America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders,” Apple’s “The Enfield Poltergeist,” HBO’s “Telemarketers” and National Geographic’s “Photographer.”

At its annual Cinema Eye Fall Lunch at Redbird in downtown Los Angeles, the New York-based organization also announced the Audience Choice Award Long List, 16 films that will compete for the audience-voted award; 11 semi-finalists in the short doc category; and “The Unforgettables,” its annual list of the year’s most interesting documentary subjects.

The Audience...

“Veselka: The Rainbow on the Corner at the Center of the World,” Michael Fiore’s documentary about a New York Ukrainian restaurant, will receive digital and physical releases from Gravitas Ventures. Starting on Nov. 12, the film will be available on Blu-ray and major streamers in the U.S. and Canada.

According to an official logline, the film follows the operations of Manhattan’s mainstay Veselka, which was “opened in 1954 by a Ukrainian refugee (Wolodymyr Darmochwal) to give his displaced compatriots a place of refuge after World War II. Upon Wolodymyr’s passing in 1974, his all-American son-in-law (Tom) took over as manager. In 2020, amidst Tom’s plan for a major restaurant renovation, the Covid-19 pandemic forced him into early retirement. His son (Jason) takes over and has large shoes to fill. But Jason’s biggest challenge becomes the war in Ukraine; he is thrust into the role of surrogate father to...

For its 27th year, the Scad Savannah Film Festival will take place October 27-November 2 — with Scad, of course, standing for Savannah College of Art and Design. The festival opens with Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” and closes with Pablo Larraín’s “Maria.” Honorees of the Scad Savannah Film Festival were previously announced.

This year’s edition will screen 162 films, including 123 narrative feature films, 31 documentary feature films, and 69 shorts, with 10 world premieres, and six U.S. premieres in Georgia. The lineup is sectioned into galas, signature screenings, special presentation, professional and student competition films, Docs to Watch, Pixels and Pencils, and the Behind the Lens and Below the Line panel series.

Gala screenings include: “Blitz,” “Better Man,” “The Brutalist,” “Emilia Pérez,” “The Fire Inside,” “Juror #2,” “The Last Showgirl,” “Maria,” “Nickel Boys,” “Nightbitch,” “The Piano Lesson,” “A Real Pain,” “September 5,” “Sweethearts,” and “Unstoppable”

Special presentations include: “All We Imagine as Light,” “The End,...

Predicting the winner of the Best Documentary Feature Oscar becomes a lot easier on December 17 when the academy announces the 15 films that make the shortlist. Those semi-finalists will be culled from the more than 100 titles that qualified this year for consideration. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Documentary Feature.)

To winnow those down to a manageable number, the academy adds newly eligible documentary feature to a virtual screening room available to all 500-plus members of the documentary branch. While all members are encouraged to watch as many of these as they can, one-fifth of the voters are assigned each title. Each branch member will submit a preferential ballot listing their top 15 choices.

All of these ballots are collated to determine the 15 semi-finalists. Branch members are then encouraged to watch films on that list which they haven’t seen yet before casting another preferential ballot with their top five choices.

Even before the Emmys began Sunday, there wasn’t much question about which media conglomerate would end the night with the most awards. Led by 14 Creative Arts wins for Shogun, Disney had essentially an insurmountable lead in terms of awards won.

The only question was how much the Mouse House would run up the score. The answer: Quite a bit.

Led by Shogun and The Bear — which each won four awards at Sunday’s awards and set records for wins by a drama (18) and comedy (11) in a single year — FX-produced programs led all platforms with 36 wins at the 76th Emmy Awards. By itself, FX would have put Disney into first place among media conglomerates, but the company also took home 24 other awards for a record-breaking total of 60.

Netflix finished a distant second with 24 total wins across Sunday’s ceremony and last week’s Creative Arts awards — two more than at the 75th Emmys.

Fifty-nine past guests of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast were recognized with 2024 Emmy nominations. You can find their names and links to listen to their episodes below, and you can click here to subscribe to the podcast — for free — in order to access all past and future episodes.

Awkwafina, best TV movie (Quiz Lady) — Listen

Hank Azaria, best character voiceover performance (The Simpsons) — Listen

Angela Bassett, best narrator (Queens) — Listen

Jason Bateman, best limited/anthology series (Lessons in Chemistry) — Listen

Matt Bomer, best limited/anthology actor (Fellow Travelers) — Listen

Alex Borstein, best character voiceover performance (Family Guy) — Listen

Sterling K. Brown, best character voiceover performance (The Simpsons) — Listen

Quinta Brunson, best comedy series, actress and writing (Abbott Elementary) — Listen

Carol Burnett, best comedy supporting actress (Palm Royale) — Listen

Stephen Colbert, best talk series and variety writing (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) — Listen

Olivia Colman, best comedy guest...

Programs like Welcome to Wrexham and Jim Henson Idea Man swept night one of the Creative Arts Emmys on Saturday, while Alan Cumming won his first Emmy for emceeing The Traitors and Pat Sajak took home his final trophy for hosting Wheel of Fortune.

Both men were no-shows, though.

Jeopardy! won for best game show while Shark Tank picked up its fifth Emmy in the structured reality show category. And John Mulaney’s memorable appearance on My Next Guest with David Letterman earned a trophy in the hosted nonfiction series or special category.

Attagirls went to Maya Rudolph for voicing Big Mouth and Angela Bassett for narrating Queens, while multiple Emmys were bestowed upon Billy Joel: The 100th – Live at Madison Square Garden. Saturday Night Live won a leading six trophies on the first night, held at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live.

In addition, a jubilant Dick Van Dyke...

And we’re back! Just a few months after the 2023 Emmy Awards were held after a strike-related delay comes the 2024 Emmy Awards and a full weekend dedicated to the Creative Arts Emmys on September 7 and September 8 at the Peacock Theater at L.A. Live. An edited version of both ceremonies will air on Fxx at 11 p.m. Et on September 14 and stream on Hulu from September 15 through October 9.

Presenters over both nights included Olympian B-Boy Victor Montalvo, Mike Birbiglia, Nikki Glaser, Lucy Liu, Jane Lynch, Tig Notaro, Fisher Stevens, and Hannah Waddingham.

Nominated shows include perpetual heavy-hitters “Only Murders in the Building,” “The Morning Show,” and “The Crown,” although based on the technical categories, it’s “The Bear” and Shōgun that have the momentum — the FX series have hauled in 21 wins between them.

During the September 7 ceremony, “Beckham” won Outstanding Documentary Series and “Blue Eye Samurai” scored an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program,...

“Saturday Night Live” ended Night 1 of the 76th Creative Arts Emmys with the most awards (six), including Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series, which went to Liz Patrick, who directed the episode hosted by Ryan Gosling. That episode, which featured the now famous Beavis and Butt-Head sketch, also won hairstyling and makeup. NBC’s sketch-comedy institution — the winningest show in Emmy history with 93 victories — also triumphed in production design, lighting design and technical direction.

“Jim Henson Idea Man” was another big winner Saturday night, picking up four awards. The Disney + documentary directed by Ron Howard about the creator of the Muppets took home Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Special, in addition to trophies for music composition, sound editing and picture editing.

NBC’s 2024 Oscars telecast tied “Jim Henson Idea Man,” as did Netflix’s rapturously reviewed “Blue Eye Samurai” (including previously announced juried awards), which came up tops for animated program,...

Directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBain sat down to deep-dive into the political meaning of their new documentary Girls State in their new uInterview.

A follow-up to Moss and McBain’s Boys State, a documentary about an experiment in which 1,100 teenage boys from Texas came together to build a representative government, Girls State features 500 teenage girls as they work to build a democracy together. The film follows a diverse team of young female leaders from a vast variety of backgrounds as they construct a government from the ground up.

Moss explained what drove them to produce a sequel to their 2020 film. “[We] call Girls State a sibling to Boys State, not a sequel, which was a little bit of a way to give ourselves permission to make the film,” he told uInterview founder Erik Meers. “Boys State worked out so well, but we felt like there was unfinished business. We’re...

We will update this article throughout the season, along with all our predictions, so make sure to keep checking IndieWire for the latest news from the 2024 Emmys race. The nomination round of voting takes place from June 13 to June 24, with the official Emmy nominations announced Wednesday, July 17. Afterwards, final voting commences on August 15 and ends the night of August 26. The 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards are set to take place on Sunday, September 15, and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. Et/ 5:00 p.m. Pt.

Click on for more of our previous thoughts on what to expect at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards.

The State of the Race

The Emmy nominations for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special were definitely more predictable than their counterparts on the series end. Most of the projects recognized fit the mold of what has won recently, with one nominee “Girls State” even being...

“Jim Henson Idea Man” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18 ahead of its worldwide premiere on Disney+ on May 31, just in time to qualify for the 2024 Emmys. The film ultimately racked up eight nominations and leads our racetrack odds for Best Documentary or Nonfiction Special based on the combined predictions of Gold Derby users. But not everyone agrees with that consensus. The Expert journalists we’ve surveyed from major media outlets think differently.

Helmed by Oscar winner Ron Howard, “Idea Man” chronicles the life and career of Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets. It’s the most nominated film in its Emmy race, with bids for its cinematography, directing, picture editing, music composition, sound editing, sound mixing and writing in addition to its nom in the top category. It’s backed by five out of 11 Gold Derby Editors, 21 of our Top 24 Users and 20 of our All-Star Top 24, giving...

Three years after “Boys State” won the Emmy for Best Documentary Special, its first companion film, “Girls State,” is competing for the same honor. While it has solid potential to directly follow “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie” as the third Apple TV+ special to take this prize, it will have to stand out from a crowd of strong contenders, including the same platform’s “Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in 2 Pieces.”

Unlike most Primetime Emmys, Best Documentary Special is a non-competitive area award that is bestowed upon any nominee that earns the approval of 90% of the members of the TV academy’s documentary peer group. This means that the five programs in the 2024 lineup are not vying for a single trophy and could all potentially prevail. However, if no nominees hit said 90% threshold, only the highest-rated one will win.

In order to determine which of this year’s nominees...

Hearing that Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber’s documentary concerns a war game conducted to test the country’s readiness for a national security crisis, it was easy to imagine a scenario involving an international threat posed by, say, China or Russia. No such luck. It turns out that War Game chronicles an exercise revolving around a threat from within, namely the sort of insurrection that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021. The film, receiving its U.S. theatrical premiere at NYC’s Film Forum, serves as a bracing reminder that such an event could occur again, and indeed seems even more likely should a certain Republican nominee for president decide to incite more violence.

The filmmakers have experience dealing with such concepts. Moss co-directed the acclaimed Boys State and Girls State, in which groups of young people attempted to form democratic governments; and Gerber and Moss made Full Battle Rattle, about the...

To summit Mount Everest requires incredible tenacity, fitness and a willingness to negotiate the risk of death.

For Lhakpa Sherpa, who has climbed the world’s tallest peak more than any other woman, it has required even more: overcoming poverty, defying her family and Nepali culture that did not support her ambition and surviving an abusive marriage to a fellow mountaineer who nearly killed her.

Sherpa’s extraordinary story, and her attempt to break her own record for summiting Everest, is told in the Oscar-contending documentary Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, which debuts in theaters this week before its July 31 premiere on Netflix. Director Lucy Walker, a two-time Academy Award nominee, joins the latest edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss her film and the remarkable woman at its heart.

Walker explains why it was “terrifying” to...

We love to celebrate narrative film here at The A.V. Club, but that doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate documentaries just as much. We’re just over the halfway point of the year, and have already seen some great new entries like Jeff Zimbalist’s Skywalkers: A Love Story,...

Fifty-nine past guests of The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast were recognized with Emmy nominations on Wednesday morning. You can find their names and links to listen to their episodes below, and you can click here to subscribe to the podcast — for free — in order to access all past and future episodes.

Awkwafina, best TV movie (Quiz Lady) — Listen

Hank Azaria, best character voiceover performance (The Simpsons) — Listen

Angela Bassett, best narrator (Queens) — Listen

Jason Bateman, best limited/anthology series (Lessons in Chemistry) — Listen

Matt Bomer, best limited/anthology actor (Fellow Travelers) — Listen

Alex Borstein, best character voiceover performance (Family Guy) — Listen

Sterling K. Brown, best character voiceover performance (The Simpsons) — Listen

Quinta Brunson, best comedy series, actress and writing (Abbott Elementary) — Listen

Carol Burnett, best comedy supporting actress (Palm Royale) — Listen

Stephen Colbert, best talk series and variety writing (The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) — Listen

Olivia Colman,...

Some of the entertainment industry’s top filmmakers will go up against each other at the 76th Emmy Awards.

Oscar winner Ron Howard’s Jim Henson Idea Man earned eight Emmy nominations this morning, more than any other nonfiction contender in the race. The Disney+ film about the Muppets creator is nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, and Howard scored a nomination for directing the film. See the full list of Emmy documentary nominees below.

Howard is far from the only prominent name to earn recognition in the documentary categories. Rob Reiner earned a nomination for directing Albert Brooks: Defending My Life, and his HBO documentary will go up against Jim Henson Idea Man in the Nonfiction Special category. Reiner and Brooks have been friends for over 50 years.

Deadline Related Video:

“That’s the best part of it for me,” Reiner told Deadline as he reacted to his Emmy nomination,...

Shōgun, The Bear and Only Murders in the Building lead the way at the 2024 Emmy nominations, which were revealed this morning.

Below is a list of the programs with five or more noms, following by a full list of nominees and the number they received.

Related: Emmy Winners For Best Drama Since 1960: A Photo Gallery

Related: Here Are The Actors Who Have Won The Most Emmys: Photo Gallery

Related: Emmy Winners For Best Comedy Since 1952

Here is the full list of 2024 Emmy nominations by program:

25 Nominations

Shogun

23 Nominations

The Bear

21 Nominations

Only Murders In The Building

19 Nominations

True Detective: Night Country

18 Nominations

The Crown

17 Nominations

Saturday Night Live

16 Nominations

Fallout

Hacks

The Morning Show

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

15 Nominations

Fargo

13 Nominations

Ripley

11 Nominations

Baby Reindeer

Palm Royale

10 Nominations

Feud: Capote vs. The Swans

Lessons In Chemistry

9 Nominations

Abbott Elementary

Slow Horses

8 Nominations

Jim Henson Idea Man

RuPaul’s Drag Race...

Outstanding Comedy Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Hacks

The Bear

Abbott Elementary

Only Murders in the Building

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Palm Royale

What We Do in the Shadows

Reservation Dogs

Outstanding Drama Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Shogun

Slow Horses

3 Body Problem

The Crown

Fallout

The Gilded Age

The Morning Show

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Anna Sawai - Shogun

Jennifer Aniston - The Morning Show

Imelda Staunton - The Crown

Maya Erskine - Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Carrie Coon – The Gilded Age

Reese Witherspoon - The Morning Show

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Hiroyuki Sanada - Shogun

Gary Oldman - Slow Horses

Dominic West - The Crown

Donald Glover - Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Walt Goggins – Fallout

Idris Elba – Hijack

Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Baby Reindeer

Ripley

True Detective: Night Country

Lessons in Chemistry

Fargo

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

And the Emmy Goes to: Jodie Foster - True Detective: Night Country

Brie Larson - Lessons in Chemistry

Juno Temple – Fargo

Sofía Vergara - Griselda

Naomi Watts – Feud: Capote vs. the Swans

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

And the Emmy Goes to: Richard Gadd - Baby Reindeer

Matt Bomer - Fellow Travelers

Andrew Scott - Ripley

Tom Hollander - Feud: Capote vs. the Swans

Jon Hamm - Fargo

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

And the Emmy Goes to: Lamorne Morris - Fargo

John Hawkes - True Detective: Night Country

Lewis Pullman - Lessons in Chemistry

Treat Williams – Feud: Capote vs. the Swans

Tom Goodman-Hill - Baby Reindeer

Robert Downey Jr. - The Sympathizer

Jonathan Bailey - Fellow Travelers

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

And the Emmy Goes to: Jessica Gunning - Baby Reindeer

Dakota Fanning - Ripley

Kali Reis - True Detective: Night Country

Aja Naomi King - Lessons in Chemistry

Nava Mau – Baby Reindeer

Diane Lane – Feud: Capote vs. the Swans

Lily Gladstone – Under the Bridge

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Jean Smart - Hacks

Ayo Edebiri - The Bear

Quinta Brunson - Abbott Elementary

Kristen Wiig - Palm Royale

Selena Gomez – Only Murders in the Building

Maya Rudolph – Loot

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Elizabeth Debicki - The Crown

Lesley Manville - The Crown

Greta Lee - The Morning Show

Nicole Beharie – The Morning Show

Christine Baranski – The Gilded Age

Karen Pitman - The Morning Show

Holland Taylor – The Morning Show

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Liza Colon-Zayas - The Bear

Meryl Streep - Only Murders in the Building

Hannah Einbinder - Hacks

Sheryl Lee Ralph - Abbott Elementary

Janelle James - Abbott Elementary

Carol Burnett - Palm Royale

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Jeremy Allen White - The Bear

Larry David - Curb Your Enthusiasm

Steve Martin - Only Murders in the Building

Martin Short - Only Murders in the Building

Matt Berry – What We Do in the Shadows

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai – Reservation Dogs

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Billy Crudup - The Morning Show

Tadanobu Asano - Shogun

Jon Hamm - The Morning Show

Jack Lowden - Slow Horses

Jonathan Pryce – The Crown

Mark Duplass – The Morning Show

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Ebon Moss-Bachrach - The Bear

Tyler James Williams - Abbott Elementary

Paul Rudd - Only Murders in the Building

Bowen Yang – Saturday Night Live

Paul W. Downs – Hacks

Lionel Boyce – The Bear

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

And the Emmy Goes to: Richard Gadd - Baby Reindeer

Matt Bomer - Fellow Travelers

Andrew Scott - Ripley

Tom Hollander - Feud: Capote vs. the Swans

Jon Hamm - Fargo

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Jon Bernthal - The Bear

Ryan Gosling - Saturday Night Live

Matthew Broderick - Only Murders in the Building

Will Poulter – The Bear

Bob Odenkirk – The Bear

Christopher Lloyd - Hacks

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Nestor Carbonell - Shogun

John Turturro - Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Paul Dano - Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Jonathan Pryce – Slow Horses

Tracy Letts - Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Jamie Lee Curtis - The Bear

Olivia Colman - The Bear

Kaitlin Olson - Hacks

Maya Rudolph – Saturday Night Live

Kristen Wiig– Saturday Night Live

Da'Vine Joy Randolph - Only Murders in the Building

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Marcia Gay Harden - The Morning Show

Michaela Coel - Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Sarah Paulson - Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Parker Posey - Mr. and Mrs. Smith

Claire Foy – The Crown

Outstanding Television Movie

And the Emmy Goes to: Quiz Lady

Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie

Scoop

Red, White and Royal Blue

Unfrosted

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special

And the Emmy Goes to: Girls State

Albert Brooks: Defending My Life

The Greatest Night in Pop

Jim Henson: Idea Man

Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in 2 Pieces

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Beckham

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst – The Jinx, Part Two

Quiet On Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV

STAX: Soulsville U.S.A.

Telemarketers

Outstanding Animated Program

And the Emmy Goes to: Blue Eye Samurai – The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride

The Simpsons – Night of the Living Wage

X-Men '97 – Remember It

Scavengers Reign – The Signal

Bob’s Burgers – The Amazing Rudy

Best Directing for a Drama Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Frederick E.O. Toye - Shogun

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Christopher Storer – The Bear

Outstanding Writing in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

And the Emmy Goes to: Richard Gadd - Baby Reindeer

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Will Smith - Slow Horses

Outstanding Talk Series

And the Emmy Goes to: The Daily Show

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Late Night With Seth Meyers

The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

Best Directing for a Limited Series or Anthology Series or Movie

And the Emmy Goes to:Steven Zaillian - Ripley

Writing for a Variety Special

And the Emmy Goes to: Alex Edelman – Just For Us

Outstanding Scripted Variety Series

And the Emmy Goes to: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Outstanding Reality Competition Program

And the Emmy Goes to: The Traitors

RuPauls Drag Race

The Voice

The Amazing Race

Top Chef...

"Six hours to save democracy." Decal & Submarine Deluxe have unveiled an official trailer for a deeply unsettling, fascinating, unforgettable documentary film titled War Game, from directors Jesse Moss & Tony Gerber. This first premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and caused quite a stir, attracting plenty of attention. The film is a "real-life political thriller" set on January 6, 2025 – War Game imagines a nation-wide insurrection in which some members of the US military defect in support of the losing Presidential candidate, while the winning candidate and his many advisors—played by an all-star roster of senior officials from the last five administrations (who actually know these jobs)—war games the crisis in the White House situation room. They have 6 hours to save democracy as the country teeters on the brink of civil war. In this doc, prestigious US officials simulate a coup after a disputed election. Insurgents take capitals,...

If there is another insurrection, the government is prepared. So is the sentiment behind simulation-documentary “War Game,” which thrusts government officials into an all-too-real scenario.

Documentarians Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber co-direct the feature centering on a group of national-security experts ranging from former senators to CNN pundits as they stage an elaborate war game to anticipate another insurrection.

Moss previously directed “Girls State” with Amanda McBaine, which also centered on a mock-government scenario. The sequel to “Boys State” debuted at Sundance, just like “War Game.”

The “War Game” synopsis reads: A real-life political thriller set on January 6, 2025, “War Game” imagines a nationwide insurrection in which members of the U.S. military defect to support the losing Presidential candidate, while the winning candidate and his advisors — played by an all-star roster of senior officials from the last five administrations — war games the crisis in the White House Situation Room. They...

Husband-and-wife documentarians Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss are fascinated by teenagers. On an anthropological level, but also in an emotional sense. Being the parents of two teenage daughters, it makes sense that they’d want to train their lens on other kids of their age to figure out what makes them tick. What’s more intriguing — and perhaps more daring in this tense world climate — is that they’d want to do so within the confines of such a staunchly political environment. Focusing on a leadership and citizenship program run by the American Legion in multiple states, “Boys State,” their first film in what has now become a series, was set in Texas and saw what McBaine described to IndieWire’s Editor-in-Chief Dana Harris-Bridson as a testosterone-fueled “running of the bulls.”

Speaking after an IndieWire & Apple TV+ screening of her and Moss’ recent installment, “Girls State,” at Vidiots Foundation in L.

While there was much Oscar buzz around “Killers of the Flower Moon” actor Lily Gladstone (one of the most exciting cinematic names of the past decade), there was another Gladstone-starrer out in the world last year, quietly captivating a smaller audience in limited release. That picture was Morrisa Maltz’s hypnotic road movie “The Unknown Country,” an original narrative touched by a documentarian’s perceptive sensibility that followed Gladstone’s Tana on a journey through the American Midwest and, ultimately, her grief. Those who made the time for Maltz’s modest film then met the young Native girl Jasmine “Jazzy” Shangreaux, Maltz’s real-life goddaughter. Now, the young girl gets her own vehicle with the tender and poetic “Jazzy,” debuting at Tribeca Festival.

At first glance, “Jazzy” might seem more polished and traditionally structured than its predecessor. But the two films share a proudly scrappy and loose-limbed spirit in their soulful,...

As America grapples with the latest in a way-too-long series of Most Important Presidential Election Years in Our Lifetime, democracy and its fundamental building blocks – governance, consensus, civil discourse, the rule of law, the balance of power – face an equally foreboding precarity. Boomers and Gen-Xers ask themselves, How did we get here?, and turn to Millennials and Gen-Zers for hope.

The Girls and Boys State programs have, for nearly 90 years and in all 50 states, been in the business of cultivating and nurturing the next generation of leaders through intensive, week-long immersion programs in government and politics. Directors/producers/life partners Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine were drawn to this idea of twin crucibles – the program itself and adolescence – to explore their confluences of ideological inquiry amid a politically tumultuous time and the coming-of-age dynamic between private values and public personae. The Emmy-winning Boys State, released in 2020 through Apple TV+, gave...

Deadline on Monday launched its streaming site for Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted, showing off the full panels of all 20 shows that participated in Saturday’s all-day showcase of the year’s best in nonfiction, unscripted and late-night programming as Emmy season ramps up.

Click here for the streaming site.

This year’s panel lineup featured a load of shows that have been generating zeitgeist-y buzz, including Gypsy Rose Blanchard joining the conversation with the EPs for The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the filmmakers behind Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, the producers behind this year’s Oscars, and the creatives behind late-night staples Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Daily Show.

The documentary field was also well-repped, featuring filmmakers Ron Howard (Jim Henson Idea Man) Roger Ross Williams (The Super Models), Morgan Neville (Steve! (Martin) A Documentary in 2 Pieces) Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss (Girls State...

When filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss first spoke with friends about the focus of their Apple TV+ documentary Girls State — a companion piece to their Emmy- and Sundance-winning 2020 documentary Boys State — they were surprised to hear about the expectations it conjured in their minds.

Following 500 teenage girls from Missouri as they navigate a weeklong immersion in a sophisticated democratic laboratory where they build a government from the ground up to address the most contentious issues of the day, the film would surely come down, the friends predicted, to mean girls looking, in Moss’ words, “to tear each other apart.”

In reality, in spite of the political polarization that defines the U.S. today, the situation at Missouri Girls State was altogether different.

Related: Contenders TV Docs + Unscripted – Deadline’s Full Coverage

Participants “actually do politics a little differently than you might expect from a teenage film. I think it’s a trope,...

This year’s Emmy race features some of the most explosive nonfiction content in recent years: docuseries on the fate of a beloved talk show host, a vulnerable young woman victimized in a case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, the scandal involving Nickelodeon kids shows, and a revealing look inside one of professional sports’ greatest dynasties.

Deadline’s Contenders TV: Documentary + Unscripted virtual event — your indispensable guide to TV awards season — goes in depth on all of it Saturday in a showcase that kicks off at 9 a.m. Pt.

Click here to register and watch the livestream.

Among the panelists joining today are key talent behind Lifetime’s Where Is Wendy Williams?, Investigation Discovery’s Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, and The Dynasty: New England Patriots from Apple TV+. Gypsy Rose Blanchard herself joins us to talk about telling her shocking story in Lifetime’s The Prison...

The strikes are behind us, Emmy season is upon us, and it’s time to hear from the creatives and talent behind some of the TV season’s most talked-about nonfiction programs. Deadline’s daylong Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted virtual event will offer just that this weekend, giving awards-watchers a chance to kick back at home and take in the tales.

You can RSVP for Saturday’s livestream here.

Starting at 9 a.m. Pt Saturday, the fourth annual event features 20 panels with cast and creatives from series, specials and telefilms.

Here is what and who you can expect to see.

From ABC: Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

From Prime Video: Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story (Writer/Director...

As award-winning directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss prepared to shoot their new documentary Girls State, they had no way of knowing real-world events would intrude upon the production in a major way. Nor, of course, did their protagonists.

Just as hundreds of young women in Missouri were assembling for an annual exercise in mock government, the draft Dobbs opinion leaked, signaling the U.S. Supreme Court’s intent to reverse Roe v. Wade. McBaine and Moss join Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast to discuss their film and how the Dobbs ruling impacted high school-age girls embarking on their campaigns for governor, state supreme court and other high offices.

The filmmaking couple calls Girls State a “sibling” – not a sequel – to their 2020 film Boys State, winner of the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. Missouri’s Girls State and Boys State programs took place at the same time and same location,...

Documentary filmmaking has never been a profession one enters into to get rich — though for a brief period it seemed possible.

Cable expanded documentary’s reach to wider audiences in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and films like “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “March of the Penguins,” and “An Inconvenient Truth” became legitimate box-office breakthroughs, but nonfiction features on the whole remained something of a stepchild within the larger Hollywood ecosystem until 2017, when Netflix acquired Brian Fogel’s “Icarus” for $5 million.

At the time, the deal was one of the biggest ever for a non-fiction film. And it was followed by even bigger deals: In 2019 Netflix shelled out $10 million for Rachel Lears’ “Knock Down the House.” The following year Apple TV+ and A24 partnered to buy Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” for $10 million, and in 2021 Searchlight and Hulu bought Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul” for $12 million.

On the surface it seemed like people,...

Get ready to go gaga for another group of earnest teenagers hoping to change the world, or at least win a fake election at a famous youth retreat.

The contender to watch this week: “Girls State”

In 2021, “Boys State” picked up recognitions from the National Board of Review, Directors Guild of America, Emmys, and several critics groups, so of course we’re getting a sequel. This time, directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss move from Texas to Missouri to profile teenagers attending the eponymous mock-government program. The ambitious, excitable girls are just as fascinating as their male counterparts, and you can see them in action on Apple TV+.

Other contenders:

“The Zone of Interest“: If you still haven’t caught Jonathan Glazer‘s mesmerizing Holocaust drama, which won two Oscars and continues to spark controversy, it’s newly streaming on Max. “How to Have Sex”: Molly Manning Walker...

You may remember Boys State, the 2020 documentary in which filmmakers Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss embedded themselves with the decades-old program that lets teenagers get a taste of the political process. Watching as hundreds of young Texans played out mock versions of campaigning, strategizing, stumping and either sticking to their ideological guns or compromising their values for votes, you could easily see the reflection of the real thing in miniature. These politicos-in-training were learning just how miraculous, how malleable and how broken our 21st century system for policy-making is, courtesy...

What would American democracy look like in the hands of exclusively women? What would it look like in the hands of teenage girls? A follow-up to the award-winning “Boys State,” the filmmakers return to follow 500 young female leaders across Missouri as they engage with an immersive experiment to build a government from the ground up. “Girls State” will make its streaming debut on Friday, April 5, on Apple TV+. You can watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+.

How to Watch 'Girls State' When: Friday, April 5, 2024 Where: Apple TV+ Stream: Watch with a 7-Day Free Trial of Apple TV+. 7-Day Free Trial$9.99+ / month apple.com About 'Girls State'

The Apple Original Film makes its streaming debut after its 2024 Sundance Film Festival debut. The film is the follow-up from directors Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, whose 2020 documentary “Boys State,” which tracked the journey of 1,100 teenage boys...

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Astrakan (David Depesseville)

Astrakhan fur is unique: dark, beautiful, and stripped exclusively from newborn lambs, even ones killed in their mother’s womb. (Stella McCarthy once said it’s like wearing a fetus.) That ruthlessness—a sense of lost innocence; blood sacrifice—runs deep in Astrakan, a new film from France and one of the better in Locarno this year; and if that title isn’t enough to give pause, plenty else in the opening exchanges will. The first act is a procession of flags, both red and false: at the opening the protagonist, Samuel, lightly goads a snake in the reptile house of a zoo; moments later a rabbit is hung and skinned in his kitchen with all the ceremony of...