‘Tiger King’, ‘American Factory’ Among Grierson British Documentary Award Nominees

Tom Grater

21 September 2020 at 6:53 am·7-min read

Nominations have been unveiled for the 48th edition of the Grierson Awards, the UK’s top documentary awards.

A total of 52 films are nominated across 14 categories. Of those, 21 were broadcast on BBC channel, while Netflix has nine nominations and Channel 4 has five. ITV and Al Jazeera have two apiece whilst nominations newcomer YouTube Originals joins Channel 5, National Geographic and Discovery with one each.

Tiger King is up for Best Entertaining Documentary alongside fellow Netflix title Love is Blind. Netflix’s Don’t F**k With Cats and The Devil Next Door are also both up for Best Documentary series.

The Best Cinema Documentary nominees are American Factory, which won the Oscar this year, alongside the Oscar nominated Honeyland and For Sama, with Midnight Family completing the field.

Full list of nominations:

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

Best Single Documentary – International

War in the Blood
Arthur Cary, Morgan Matthews, Ben Brown & Saskia Rusher for Minnow Films
BBC Two

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

Best Current Affairs Documentary

Al Jazeera Investigations: Diplomats 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
Hardcash Productions for Robin Barnwell, Gesbeen Mohammad, Guy Creasey, David Henshaw & Simon Russell for Hardcash Productions
ITV

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.
Modern Films.
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

Best Historical Documentary

Apollo 11
Todd Douglas Miller, Thomas Petersen, Evan Krauss & Stephen Slater for Statement Pictures
General theatrical release

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Best Student Documentary

Bananas
Sara Montoya Sepulveda, Mel Barnes, Rachel Roberts, Ethan Jeffrey, Breen Turner & Marco Valerio Caminiti for National Film & Television School
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 National Film and Television School
University/College screening

Miss Curvy
Ghada Eldemellawy & Gareth Pugh for National Film and Television School
University/College screening

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

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Full list of nominations:

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