“The Act of Killing,” “Stories We Tell,” “The Square,” “The Crash Reel” and “Cutie and the Boxer” have been nominated by the Directors Guild of America for outstanding directorial achievement in documentaries, the DGA announced on Monday.
Joshua Oppenheimer was nominated for “The Act of Killing,” Sarah Polley for “Stories We Tell,” Jehane Noujaim for “The Square,” Lucy Walker for “The Crash Reel” and Zachary Heinzerling for “Cutie and the Boxer.”
The five films are among the most honored non-fiction movies of 2013. All are on the shortlist of 15 films still in the running for the documentary Oscar, where they will be competing for five slots against “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Tim’s Vermeer,” “Blackfish” and others.
Also read: ‘The Act of Killing,’ ‘Stories We Tell’ Make Oscar Documentary Shortlist
Oppenheimer, Polley, Heinzerling and Walker are all receiving their first DGA nominations; Noujaim has been nominated twice before, and won (with Chris Hegedus) for “Startup.com” in 2001.
In a varied year for documentaries, the DGA found a measure of common ground by picking films that are among the consensus choices for the best of the year. Before the Directors Guild announcement, the 21 nominations for the Directors Guild, Producers Guild, Writers Guild, IDA Awards and Cinema Eye Honors had been spread among 16 different films.
“The Act of Killing” was named top doc at the Cinema Eye Honors, while “The Square” won at the International Documentary Association’s IDA Awards.
The Directors Guild winner will be announced at the DGA Awards on Jan. 25 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.
The nominations:
ZACHARY HEINZERLING
“Cutie and the Boxer”
Radius TWC
Ex Lion Tamer
Cine Mosaic
This is Mr. Heinzerling’s first DGA Award nomination.
JEHANE NOUJAIM
“The Square”
Netflix
Participant Media
Noujaim Films
Maktube Productions
WorldView
Roast Beef Productions
This is Ms. Noujaim’s third DGA Award nomination. She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for Startup.com in 2001 (together with Chris Hegedus) and was also nominated in this category in 2004 for Control Room.
JOSHUA OPPENHEIMER
“The Act of Killing”
Final Cut for Real APS
Drafthouse Films
Piraya Films
Novaya Zemlya Ltd.
Spring Films Ltd.
This is Mr. Oppenheimer’s first DGA Award nomination.
SARAH POLLEY
“Stories We Tell”
Roadside Attractions
The National Film Board of Canada
This is Ms. Polley’s first DGA Award nomination.
LUCY WALKER
“The Crash Reel”
HBO Documentary Films
KP Rides Again, LLC
Impact Partners
Tree Tree Tree Production
This is Ms. Walker’s first DGA Award nomination.