The Cinema Eye Honors, which recognise outstanding artistic achievement in nonfiction and documentary film, have announced nominations for their 20th annual awards ceremony. Po Si Teng's "American Doctor" and Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim's "You Can See Everything" lead the field with seven nominations each. The A24 film about Elizabeth Holmes made Cinema Eye history as the first film nominated for Nonfiction Feature, Direction, Editing, Production, Cinematography, and Original Score, along with the Audience Choice Prize.

Sara Dosa's "Time and Water" earned six nominations, while the recent Neon acquisition "NAZA" received five. Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, directors of "NAZA", won at the 2025 Cinema Eye Honors for their earlier film "No Other Land", which went on to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The ceremony is widely seen as a bellwether for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar race.S1S2

For individual recognition, Po Si Teng has the most nominations this year with five, while Fielder and Oppenheim received four apiece. Director Jimmy Chin, with three nominations for "Everest: The Other Side", moves into third place on the all-time nominations list with 14 total nods. Among distributors, HBO, National Geographic and Netflix tied with 12 nominations each, Neon followed with nine, and A24 and Watermelon Pictures had seven apiece.S1

The Audience Choice nominees were selected after a first round of voting in which nonfiction fans worldwide cast tens of thousands of votes. Second-round voting to determine the winner will take place in December. Steve James' "Hoop Dreams" will receive this year's Legacy Award, honouring a classic nonfiction film that continues to inspire working filmmakers.S1

The 20th Awards Ceremony will return to the Times Center in New York City, the home of the second and third editions, on Monday, January 11, 2027. Cinema Eye Week, which includes events for nominees and honorees, begins in New York on a Friday in January.S1