Spotlight Documentary Awards
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Spotlight Documentary Awards
Home
Explore
  • Submissions
  • Awards
  • Filmmakers
  • FestFlix
More
  • Home
  • Explore
    • Submissions
    • Awards
    • Filmmakers
    • FestFlix
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  • Explore
    • Submissions
    • Awards
    • Filmmakers
    • FestFlix

Spotlight Documentary Award Winning Films

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Welcome to Spotlight Documentary Awards

Top Award Winners

GOODBYE INDIA
Director Marcello Ercole

http://www.marcelloercole.com/


Heart of the Sea
Director Shireen Rahimi 

 

IN IT 2 WIN IT
Director Pete Kolopenuk  

http://onefivefivefilms.com/


Remembering Brantley
Submitter Steve Hilfiker

https://www.fodasacharity.org/

Gold Award Winning Films

Gold Award Winners

399: Queen of the Tetons
Director Elizabeth Leiter

http://www.399film.com/


9th St.
Directors Kenny Horton, Aron Hoag
https://vimeo.com/813220863


A Long Way From Heaven
Director David Sant

https://alongwayfromheavenfilm.wordpress.com/


ALL SAINTS: THE JOURNEY OF ORTHODOXY IN BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA
Director Chris M Johnston

http://allsaintsdocumentary.com/


American Pot Story: Oaksterdam
Directors Ravit Markus, Dan Katzir
http://www.americanpotstory.com/


American Troll 

Director Saturnin Kondratiew 

http://americantrollmovie.com/ 


Asian Paradise-Flycatcher
Director Junfeng Zhang 


Better Together: Furman's Championship Quest
Director Richmond Weaver


Bridge of Curiosity
Director Frank J Fazzio


City of Kings: Atlanta
Director William Feagins, Jr.

https://instagram.com/wfjrFILMS   


Dance of the Gods
Director Joshua Philip Chacko

https://www.instagram.com/danceofthegods/


Dominique
Directors Christopher Larson, Jordan Layton
https://www.dominique-thefilm.com/


Eleanor Sandy Torrey West
Director Zongyi Li 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C81-


EmpowerED
Director Zayd Milkias

https://secure.givelively.org/donate/entertainment-2-affect-change/empowered


Fierro
Director Edward Tyndall

https://edwardtyndall.com/fierro


Fitriya: Muslim On and Off The Court
Directors Selina McCallum, Safa Ali Mudei

GOD'S WIVES MEN'S SLAVES
Director POORNIMA RAVI 

https://facebook.com/poornimaravinoojibail


I am Kanaka
Director Genevieve Sulway

http://iamkanakafilm.com/


I Like To Be Called Kate 

Director Nicholas Tenaglia 

https://vimeo.com/876590670  


In A Better Place
Director Drew Youngblood  


Incognito Mode
Director Ruth Beer


Long Distance Relationship
Director Kirill Simenchik

https://www.instagram.com/ldrimprov/


Mama's Voice
Director Ganna Yarovenko

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100083837036442


Mar Moussa
Director Justine Aurelia Malle


Môsoroki
Director Anurin Nwunembom 

http://betamediacmr.com/


Ndazkoh
Director Tracey April Cochrane


ÑUÑUYACHIY: BREASTFEEDING WITH AFFECTION AND CARE
Directors Jose Miguel Soriano, Ricardo Macian
https://www.instagram.com/documental_banco_leche_materna


Orun The Final Fight
Director Jeremy Norris 

http://www.emreorun.com/


Rae Rae
Director Nick Mills

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MBeEY92rJE&t=1s


Reviving the Forgotten River
Submitter 568 Productions

https://edspace.american.edu/568productions/


RIEFENSTAHL
Director Andres Veiel  

https://vincent-productions.com/en/2024/02/28/riefenstahl/


Roll Up For Equity
Director JM Balbuena 

https://jmbalbuena.info/synergy-studios/


Running Towards the Fire - A War Correspondent's Story
Director Barney McCoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHxIvl_uL8o


Shaka, A Story of Aloha
Director Alexander Bocchieri 

http://shakafilm.com/


Sowing the Seeds of Love
Director Riley Young

https://www.rileyoung.com/new-page-1


The Amphitrite Six thousand Miles by Sea
Director Gilles Thompson  


The Call of Glaciers
Directors  Ying Zhao, Fangyu Xing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvhrm3xmB2E


The Eternal Emperor - The True Story of Franz Joseph I
Director Martin Koddenberg

https://vimeo.com/896548857


The Ewenki
Director Junfeng Zhang 


The Girl From The Village: A Story Of Hope
Director Billy Surges 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biMMkSNWqgk


The HoodTrophy Bino Story: Breaking the Generational Curse
Director Sam "Gebar" Gebremiche
https://www.instagram.com/hoodtrophybino


The Katz Tapes
Director Adam Fischer

https://vimeo.com/932567491


The Koalas
Directors Gregory Ian Miller, Georgia Wallace-Crabbe, Georgia Wallace-Crabbe
http://www.thekoalasfilm.com/


The Piping Plovers of Moonlight Bay
Director Kim Smith 

http://pipingploverproject.org/


The Projectionist: A Collector's Journey
Director John Cornelissen 

http://vizoartsmedia.com/


The Soil and The Sea
Director Daniele Rugo

https://www.soilandseafilm.com/


There Is No Separation
Director Wes Kline

http://noseparation.net/


Walk Alone
Director Camille Kuang


Werdum: Above the Pain
Director Kleber Luis da Silva

https://link.me/werdum


What ravens do
Director Vance Crofoot 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPTcG0BsH6I    


Where Can We Meet?
Directors Abby Porter, Toby Forehand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhbhREBr0oc


Where the Horses Heal the Soul
Director Twila LaBar

http://wherethehorseshealthesoul.com/


While the Children Fade
Director Garret Morgan

http://whilethechildrenfade.com/  


White Skies
Director Sara Prüther Vázquez 


Wildlife Haven: China
Director Junfeng Zhang 

https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-08/CGTN-s-8K-Wildlife-Haven-China-reveals-China-s-amazing-biodiversity-1fyaEL61kWI/index.html


Without Wings
Director Thamer Jamal  

https://tjframes.com/


Women of the Wetlands (Episode 1)
Director Ikhwan Rivai 

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/watch/women-of-the-wetlands/part-1-4187611


Silver Award Winning Films

Silver Award Winners

All Moms Should Live Forever
Director Patrick Antonia Albright


A Bomb is Born
Director Angel Yan


A Road at Night
Submitter Danny Boyle 


Adopting Greyhounds
Director David Goodman

https://vimeo.com/918938718/115363ae04


Americans Smell Good
Director Emir Cakaroz 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRt161k-n2g&t=2s


Approaching the traditional Chinese Medicine
Director Huanzhang Hui 


Back to Alaska: The DeLorean Road-Trip Movie
Director Robert William Prince

http://backtoalaska.com/


Bamboo. Are you happy?
Director Mingyi Jing 


BARULLO
Director Ruth Zapico Mancebo
http://ruthzapico.com/


Beacon of Hope
Director Justin Owens

http://octooptix.com/


Behind the Mystery of the Manor
Director Joseph William Simmons


Best In The World
Director Clint Arthur 

http://thebestintheworld.com/


Beyond Myself
Directors Hao Li, Chenfei Pan 


Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture: Farm, Food & Community
Directors Anne Ward, Chip Williams


CAMP HUGHES: PRELUDE TO VICTORY
Director Dale Morris Watts

http://servicebattalion.ca/


College In Prison: Life With The Possibility Of Transformation
Director Jennifer Molina 

https://edsource.org/2024/how-earning-a-college-degree-put-four-california-men-on-a-path-from-prison-to-new-lives-documentary/711342


Cuba es Mi Patria: The Homeland I Keep Inside
Director Rose Marie Perez

https://www.facebook.com/cubaesmipatria/


DAGDA
Director Connor Smith 


Dance Family
Director Jeff Davis 

https://jdsavage.com/work/layout-1/


Daniel Graham: Banjo Maker
Director James Scogin 


Deep State Gangsters
Director Frank X Panico

https://www.pedroisraelorta.com/movie


Discerning the Call: Change in the American Priesthood
Directors Jay Doherty, Patrick Cullinan
https://discerningthecall.com/


Dissonance On Fifth Avenue
Director Seth Bernstein 


Earl.
Director Ty Yong Kim 

http://www.earlkimcomposer.com/


Ebrohimie Road: A Museum of Memory
Director Kola Tubosun 

https://ebrohimie.olongoafrica.com/


Face Down - TheDisappearance of Thomas Niedermayer
Director Gerry Gregg 

http://info@blueprintpictures.ie/


Family Album: The Rama Jama's Story
Director Logan Busbee 


Finding Flint
Directors Kevin Flint, Brian Flint


Flowers in the Mountain
Director Zixin Xu 


Fracking the Contract
Director Sophie Rousmaniere

https://www.issuetv.org/frackingthecontract


Future is a morning
Director Kerong Zhang 

https://vimeo.com/1049338538


Guiding Light
Director India Anne Mitchell 


Hope in Hutongs
Directors Xiaoxiao Liu, Tong Deng


i don't even know me yet
Director Onyi Apakama 

http://iamstaci.com/


I went to the Smallest Pride in America
Director Chris Stanley 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Xj4bjtYZ8


If These Walls Could Talk
Director Mickey Stroud 

https://vimeo.com/976773641/01b540a839


Into These Heels
Director Leigh Takata 


JamCation: The Chronicles of Now Defunkt
Director Scott Macklin 

http://www.nowdefunkt.com/


LOOK UP—The Science of Cultural Evolution
Directors Nini Caroline Skarpaas Myhrvold, Espen Jan Folmo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHyoEB7lJkU


Manufacturing Madness
Directors Gary Null, Valerie Van Cleve
http://manufacturingmadness.net/


Memory Film: a filmmaker's diary
Director JENI THORNLEY

https://jenithornley.com/


Miracle in the Heart of Bosnia
Director Dr Sam Osmanagich  

http://www.parkravne2.com/


Mushroom's Quest
Director Dave Johnson 

https://app.frame.io/reviews/79686655-5da9-4c13-b023-59eaaedb069a?component_clicked=digest_call_to_action&email_id=39a47120-759a-4fba-8de9-53833e364ea1&email_type=pending-reviewer-invite


Music For Mushrooms
Director Krishna-Trevor Oswalt
https://www.musicformushrooms.com/


North Cormorant Island
Directors John Harford Williams, Yu Iwasaki

On this Quiet Land
Director Ye Feng 


OUR HISTORY NOT HIS-STORY
Director Bobby Deon Morgan 

http://www.elitetalent.biz/


P'tit Bouddha (Little Buddha)
Director Jean-Sébastien Dutil 

https://vimeo.com/1001804630


PHX Entertainers A Day in the life of NB/Trans Models/Dancers
Directors Rob Randolph, Grant Perryman
https://instagram.com/phxentertainers


Quail Lake Meditation
Director Nancy Bentley
http://www.nancybentley.com/


Redemption Road
Directors Yusef Bunchy Shakur, Scott McCartney
https://vimeo.com/946794763


Reel Education: Empowering Young Minds Through Filmmaking
Director JT Tepnapa Chaiyakam

RETURN TO KAWTHOOLEI: A Refugee Rapper's Journey to His Homeland in Burma
Directors I am Knyaw, St. Paul Minnesota, "Hons Solo" Honey Moon, "Wah Fish Paste" Shakerpaw Wah

Rooted in Cuba
Director Alexandra Rodriguez 

https://www.rootedincuba.com/


Run That Bet: Road To 100k
Director Cierra Pashawn 


Salmon Run
Director Pieter J Kruit 

http://www.kruitproductions.com/


Savannah Critters: Dialogues from the Southern Coast
Director Alexander Constantin Strother


SEMANA SANTA - SEVILLA
Director Marcos Ortega-Morales
https://vimeo.com/943216265?share=copy


shaman
Director Xinyi Hu 


StoneHeart, an Undying Gift
Director Nicholas Markart 

https://www.fodasacharity.org/


Sublimation Nation
Directors Roland Paul Marconi, Gary Null


Switzerland Come Take My Hand: A Tom Freund Rockumentary
Director Joshua Wade 

https://tomfreund.com/


That Theatre on Lower Abbey Street
Director Daniel J. O'Donnell 


The Art of The Art of Deception
Director Jack Crown 

https://instagram.com/vpcuc


The Corey Davis Evolution Story
Director Corey Davis


The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life
Directors Persis M Karim, Soumyaa Behrens

https://cids.sfsu.edu/


The Great Wyoming Singer-Songwriter Competition
Director Emmet Casey 

https://vimeo.com/990229742?share=copy


The Psycodelics The Movie
Director Cory Schwartz 

http://thepsycodelicsmovie.com/


THE RIVER'S SONG
Director Pierre MATHIOTE 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REHuZ72mXZs&t=1s


The Skids ReVolution
Directors Laura Graham, Colin J Graham
http://www.coviro.co.uk/


Their Own Life
Director Tim Dekkers 

http://www.uittleven.com/


This is Sing-Out
Director Frank Vella 

https://frankandfriendspro.wixsite.com/film


Through the Lens of: Tod Forbes
Directors Michael Jacoby, Tod Forbes


Trail Therapy
Director Angela Hollowell 

http://www.rootfulmedia.com/


Tulsa Terrors
Director Bryan Crain


Under One Sky
Director LAI NA CHENG 


Vibrant Hands
Directors Yuping ZHANG, Jing CUI

Wakanyeja Kin Wana Ku Pi - The Children are Coming Home
Director Andy Wakeman 


Where the Heart Belongs
Director Xiaoran Du 


Yellow
Director Siyi Gu 


Zero Hour: A Chef's Odyssey
Directors Irving Perdomo, Roman Fiorella
https://instagram.com/irvdomo?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==


Zoonotic
Director Jason Kushner 


Past Awards

2023 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards Winners


 Platinum Award Winners:

  • Goodboy - Director: Ashley Mosher
  • LOS(t) SUEÑOS - Director: Jakub Chlouba
  • Passion, Purpose & Parkinson's - Director: Olz McCoy
  • SERENGETI - Director: Marcello Ercole

 Gold Award Winners:

  • #BUTGOD - Director: Kevin McAfee
  • 26.2 to Life - Director: Christine Yoo
  • American Made - Director: Dana Nies
  • Angle - Director: Alex Perry
  • An Open Door. - Temple Grandin - Director: John Alexander Barnhardt
  • A Village Named Deng' Er - Director: ACIMODUO
  • Confronting Radicals - Director: Benjamin Hilton
  • Echo - Directors: Qidi An, Zi Mu
  • Fierce - Director: Wilson Evan Hansen
  • For the Love of Food: Pour l’amour de la Cuisine - Directors: Maria Luskay, Lou Guarneri
  • Glorious Days and Nights-A Jazz Memoir - Director: Bob Judson
  • Grant Sheehan: Light, Ghosts & Dreams - Director: Robin Greenberg
  • Here to Stay - Director: Lauren Marks Bowman
  • Horse Teacher - Director: Shandoah Goldman
  • How To Break A World Record - Directors: Andrew P Oliver, Dan Johnson
  • Interception: Jayne Kennedy • American Sportscaster - Director: Safiya Songhai
  • Into the Shaolin - Director: Hongyun Sun
  • INVISIBLE NO MORE - Director: Andy Fiore
  • Just Like You - Anxiety + Depression - Director: Jennifer Greenstreet
  • Kombi Man - Director: Jeff Bird
  • Kunakirwa - A journey to the Mbira - Director: Rodrigo Laje
  • Middle America - Director: Dana Larson
  • My Hair, My Rules - Directors: Ronald Hinton, Joel Ahumada
  • No Brakes - Director: Max Stallings
  • Note of Defiance - Director: Brian Henderson
  • One Second at a Time: Battling the Monster of Addiction - Director: Tim Searfoss
  • Polly - Director: Damyan Petkov Nik
  • Powering Puerto Rico - Director: Adam Fischer
  • Rattled: Conserving Rattlesnakes in Appalachia - Director: Ryan N. Olsen
  • Show Her The Money - Director: Ky Dickens
  • So Shoot Me - Director: Leslye Abbey
  • SPIRITUAL WARRIORS: Decoding Christian Nationalism at the Capitol Riot - Director: Michael Schwartz
  • Stewards of The Land - Directors: Thomas Wavid Johns, William Hartsock
  • Swim Tuff - Director: Matt Corliss
  • The 30 Project - Submitter: Christopher Kam
  • The Alliance - Director: Amanda Jean Kowalski
  • The Crossing: Consequences of Truth - Director: Andrew Didway
  • The Mammoth Hunt - Director: Aiste Stonyte
  • The Sculptor's Wife: A Love Story in Documentation - Director: Traci L Slatton
  • The Walk - Director: Jonny Stern
  • Tiki Taane in session with CSO - Director: Tiki Taane
  • Unhusk - Director: Jue Wang
  • War Games - Director: Matthew Danzico
  • We are the music - Director: Guillermo Rosabal-Coto
  • WITCH, REBORN - Director: Maria Shevtsova
  • Woman in the Mirror - Director: Tatyana Bronstein

Silver Award Winners:

  • 100 Years - Director: Matthew Kistenmacher
  • 1979 The Year of the Islamist Revolution - Director: Jonathan Hacker
  • 1986. December chronicles. A glimmer of the truth. - Director: Assiya Baigozhina
  • Above And Beyond - Director: Vincent Chia
  • A Closer Cut- A Food Truck on 68th St - Director: Jordy Antonio
  • Advocacy Club - Director: Michael D McNeely
  • Alexa: A Tale of the Mixteca - Director: José Assadourian Martínez
  • A New LVHS: Pioneering Animal Welfare in the Lehigh Valley - Director: Tyler Wursta
  • Anxious Athlete - Director: Nandita Anand
  • Approaching the Traditional Chinese Medicine - Director: Zhang Huan Hui
  • Away for Awhile - Director: Stephanie Slewka
  • Axé, Salvador! - Director: Domenico Rodolfo Grillone
  • Behind The Smoke - Director: Jacob Whitley
  • Bake It Till You Make It - Director: Jason Taglieri
  • Bee The Solution - Director: Charlotte Quintanar
  • Beloved Children of the Holocaust - Director: Cliff Springs
  • CANCER/EVOLUTION Episode 1: The Dustbin of History - Directors: Maggie Jones, Brad Jones
  • Carver of the Possible - Directors: Nicolas Leger, Jocelyn Langlois
  • Dream Big Little One - Directors: Marcus Graham, Marcus Graham
  • Eighteen Tuesdays - Directors: Merrick Apple Presser, Tommy Cobby Sheridan
  • Facing Forward - Director: Abigail Dickinson
  • Fat is Fashion - Director: LaQuinta R Davis
  • From Winter Day to Winter - Director: Tian Li
  • Global Panic - Director: Jacob Whitley
  • Gone Too Soon - Director: Gemini Stax
  • Greenwood Ablaze - Director: Nicholle Carter
  • Headgear Hunting - Director: Yusmal Ghazali
  • Hello VIVIAN - Director: Yoojin Kim
  • Homegrown - Directors: Nicole Goh, Joyce Huan
  • If It Could Happen to Me, It Could Happen to You - Director: Gwendolyn G Cassady
  • In Our Backyard: History and Culture from the Citrus Belt (Henry Halpern's Sculptures) - Director: Claudia Gonzalez
  • In Search Of The Food Preservers - Director: Nova Goh
  • Is There Something Going On At Home? - Director: Jason Harney
  • JAWAI - Director: Katya Ignatiev
  • Journey Of The Bidayuh - Director: Ian Shepherd Salang Anak Peter
  • Kick Out!: The Newtown Neurotics Story - Director: Luke Baker
  • Koh Phangan Man - Director: Dewey Paul Moffit
  • LA LIXEIRA - The Invisibles' Dignity - Directors: Guido Galante, Antonio Notarangelo
  • L'Eternel Féminin - Director: Laine Immell
  • Little Bride - Directors: Michael Man, Emma Botting, Sindy Man
  • Love, and Dark Matter - Director: Qi Chen
  • Mekong Apocalypse - Director: Michael Buckley
  • Missed Conceptions - Director: Donna L Marvin-Platt
  • Mute Voices - Director: Catherine Gropper
  • One Pill Can Kill - Directors: Molly Hermann, Rob Lyall
  • On Ice - Director: Katherine Zeng
  • Pain of Silence - Directors: Christopher Janwong McKiggan, Poomphong Kumwong
  • Pride of Puglia - Director: DJ Chan
  • Ride Your Story - Director: Andy Chia
  • Roaming History: Emmett Till - Directors: Michael Rios, James Fierro
  • Searching for Camelot: The Queen of Camelot - Director: Roger Paradiso
  • Seeking Buchen - Director: Taha Anwer
  • Shaking Hands With The Devil - Director: Olz McCoy
  • She; Who Lives - Director: Ayesha Farooq
  • Spark - Director: Beto Sporkens
  • The Absence of Memory - Director: Brian Yulo Ng
  • The Alliance - Director: Amanda Jean Kowalski
  • The Butterfly Effect - Directors: Deb Wallwork, Janet Bayliss
  • The Long Road to Hope: Ending Parkinson's Disease - Director: Iyad H. Amer
  • The Newcomers - Director: Theresa Kliem
  • The Order of Things - Directors: Ramona Badescu, Jeff Silva
  • The Prince of Carbon - Director: Martin Boudot
  • The Retirement Deception - Director: Kenneth Wilcox
  • The Veteran's Battlefield - Director: Chris Baucom
  • The Wind on Mount Everest - Director: Qing Su
  • TRACES, Voices of the Second Generation - Directors: Isaac Brown, Ana Paula Habib
  • Tutti In Scena - Director: Laura Caparrotti
  • Uneven Ground: The Melissa Witt Story - Director: LaDonna Humphrey
  • We Thrive - Directors: Lisa Hagopian, Eric Harabadian
  • We've Gotta Sing - Director: Megan Goldstein
  • When Wire Was King: The Transformation of Telecommunications - Director: Jennifer A. Manner
  • WHERE HAVE ALL THE SMILES GONE - Director: Anja Strelec
  • What if Schools Taught Us to Love - Director: Yannick Borit
  • Will You Remember Me? - Director: Will Dowler

Spotlight Bronze Award:

  • Americans in Japan - Director: Johnny Vonneumann
  • Axé, Salvador! - Director: Domenico Rodolfo Grillone
  • Breaking Barriers "The Djembe" - Director: Josh Levine
  • Bring Dat Mono Back - Director: Edward T Thornton
  • Direct & Reflect - Directors: Miki Holiday, Kal-El Billy Holiday, Kareem Dula Dixon, Troy L. Mitchell, Yolanda Nollie
  • HEYOKA - Director: Jang Dong Ju
  • Karam Camera - Directors: Liam LoPinto, Shaimaa Al Sabti, Hana Barhum
  • Kashi’s Manikarnika: Mystique and Moksh - Director: Balendu D Kaushik
  • Master and Apprentice - Director: Cory White
  • Noishorrifics - Director: Sohanlal
  • Open Mic'er - Director: Cameron Vitagliano
  • STEPPIN: A Chicago Dance - Directors: Anthony Coleman, Gwen McGee
  • The Challenges of Making Local History Documentaries - Director: Russ Fry
  • Ukraine's Daughter - Justyna Uschak - Director: Brenda Jacoby
  • We've Gotta Sing - Director: Megan Goldstein

2022 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards

Spotlight Platinum Award:

  • Belle River – Guillaume Fournier, Samuel Matteau, Yannick Nolin
  • Dear Ani – Micah B Levin
  • Dropstones – Caitlin Durlak
  • Failure to Protect – Jeremy Pion-Berlin
  • Gangnam Beauty – Yan Tomaszewski
  • Little Berlin – Kate McMullen
  • My Duduś – Tom Krawczyk
  • Nasima - The Most Fearless – Heather Kessinger
  • Shredded – Noam Stolerman
  • Sophie in Furbyland – Pacey Hansen
  • State of the Unity – Nathaniel Paul Hoff, Jillian Ann Speece
  • The Assassination & Mrs. Paine – Max Good
  • The Martyr – Edmund Stenson

Spotlight Gold Award:

  • A Fire Inside – Justin Krook, Luke Mazzaferro
  • Backstreet to the American Dream – Patricia Nazario
  • Becoming Wacky Chad – Isaac Deitz
  • Being BeBe: the BeBe Zahara Benet Documentary – Emily Branham
  • Cats of Malta – Sarah Jayne Portelli
  • Chalk Back – Kylie Procita
  • COFFEE FOR LIFE – Lennart Neumann, Wilhelm Schulz
  • Dominion – Lindsey Ward
  • Down The Line – Oliver Hamilton
  • Exposure – Holly Morris
  • Fast-Forward: Look Into Your Future – Michael Eric Hurtig
  • Fly Monarca – Lyndsay Nicole, Benjamin Jordan
  • Geeta – Emma Macey-Storch
  • GO THROUGH THE DARK – Yunhong Pu
  • Greening Israel The Movie | The Battle for Israel’s Trees – Benjamin Marsh Hilt
  • Humanity our race, love our religion – Sonali Devnani
  • I Am We – Ron Davis
  • It Came from Aquarius Records – Kenneth Thomas
  • Momma’s Boy – Jordan Shankman
  • Offshore – Karel Candi
  • Omar Sosa's 88 Well-Tuned Drums – Soren Sorensen
  • Pasqualina of Springfield – Gina Cunningham
  • Piconland: The Quest for the Perfect Picon Punch – Mark Maynard
  • Reflections – Susanne Aichele
  • Routine Interrupted – Lauren Shaw
  • Sacred Waters: The Okefenokee in Peril – Mark Albertin
  • Savage Land – Campbell Dalglish, Dr. Henrietta Mann
  • Saving Gentle Giants – Mariclare Carey-Jones
  • Tide To Table: The Remarkable Journey of Oysters – Maria Luskay, Lou Guarneri
  • To Protect and Preserve: Historic Flat Rock's Legacy to Keep, Part 1 – Patricia A. Bradley, Michelle S. Mullen
  • Unsinkable – Peter Grogan, Alan Corcoran
  • Waniyetu Wowapi - Winter Count – Richard Steinberger

Spotlight Silver Award:

  • 80 YEARS LATER – Celine Parreñas Shi
  • Ablaze – Alec Morgan, Tiriki Onus
  • Against The Tide – Joe Fletcher
  • A Long Way From Nowhere – Paul Scheuring, Chris Ward
  • APORIA – Mark Solomon
  • Beyond the Voice – Abigail Rose Brannon
  • Bird Lady – Carter Rostron
  • Cinema Now – Louis Holder
  • Cycle of Memory – Alex Leff
  • FIREFLY: The Tay Fisher Story – Christopher Nostrand
  • Flying With Eagles – Rémi Thevenart
  • Gradually, Then Suddenly: The Bankruptcy of Detroit – Sam Katz, James McGovern
  • Kiss the Wind – Haotian Liu
  • Listening – Jonathan Moore
  • March of The Elephants – Olivia Chen
  • My Heart is Red – Mia Chen
  • Send Proof – Elijah Stephens
  • Take Your Shot – Ross Bolidai
  • TO THE WORLD WITH YOU – Chenghua Xu
  • Ukraine War, the eyes of refugees – Olivia M. Pfaff

Spotlight Bronze Award:

  • AAAMC Speaks: Teresa Hairston: The Unstoppable Game-Changer – Ethan Gill, Haley Semian, Dr. Tyron Cooper
  • Aaron and the Train – James Hsieh Bylinsky
  • Abuelita's Kitchen: Mexican Food Stories – Ebony Marie Bailey
  • a girl can change the world – Andrea Ureno
  • Approaching the Book of Changes – Hui Huanzhang
  • An Unimportant Girl – Daxton Dubach
  • Because we come from afar – Cédrick-Isham Calvados
  • Bleed for Me: Art of the DeathMatch – Matthew L Lenz
  • Food as Resistance – Keitlyn Alcantara
  • Healing of the Nation: Ganja in Jamaica – Kimberly Holmes, Steve Holmes
  • Norm Geisler: Not Qualified – Rachel M. Payne
  • Sistas Evolving – Robyn Robinson
  • Small Town Threads Documentary – Devin Olson
  • TRIBE – Retji Dakum

2021 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards

Spotlight Platinum Award

  • A Man in Chain - Director: Alireza Mirasadollah
  • Gaucho Americano - Director: Nicolás Molina
  • Good Intentions - Director: Andres Villasenor
  • GOSIA@TOMEK - Director: Christine Jezior
  • Heaven on Earth - Director: Robert Hope
  • Leaving Tracks - Director: Nick Davis
  • Miss Flores - Director: Juliana Toloza Serna
  • Missing in Brooks County - Directors: Lisa Molomot, Jeff Bemiss
  • Welcome to the Dollhouse - Director: Elizabeth Miller-Derstine

Spotlight Gold Award

  • The Message - Director: Judit Papp
  • Listening to Fukushima 2019 - Director: Yo Kohatsu
  • Open Books - Director: Héctor Molina
  • 35 Days - Director: Nicholas Manting Brewer
  • 80.000 Schnitzel - Director: Hannah Schweier
  • 86ED - Director: J.J. Hendricks
  • A Cure for the Common Classroom - Director: Andy Hourahine
  • A Fallow Year - Director: Dina Jane Rudick
  • An Artist's Duty - Director: Elyssa Walsh
  • An Encounter With Banting - Director: Isabelle Depelteau
  • As Organism (Episode 1/BrainDagger Films Presents: Knowledge is Good) - Directors: Moe Taylor, Kathry
  • As We Are Planted - Director: Anna Lee Ackermann
  • Babylon: Ghetto, Renaissance, and Modern Oblivion - Director: Jessica Gould
  • Beauty on the Wing: Life Story of the Monarch Butterfly - Director: Kim Smith
  • Behind The Burning Vines - Director: Will Twomey
  • Black Bauhinia - Director: Malte Philipp Kaeding
  • BRASS - Director: Anuj Jamadagn
  • Built Lands - Director: Arturo Dueñas Herrero
  • Burning The Village - Director: Liz Mcbee
  • Chira - Director: Tela Moss
  • Cliff: a portrait of an artist - Director: Adam Brooks
  • CODA - Director: Hallie Haller
  • Columbus in Cuba - Directors: Nicolette Swift, Matt Swift
  • Crossing the Bridge: Discovering Mutual Language in Siberia - Director: Marek Ryszard Dojs
  • Cultivating the Wild: William Bartram's Travels - Directors: Scott Auerbach, Eric Breitenbach, Dorinda G. Dallmeyer
  • Dajla: Cinema and Oblivion - Director: Arturo Dueñas Herrero
  • Dan Loves Butterflies - Director: Zach Putnam
  • DRIVEN - Director: Pedro McCardell
  • Duckman - Director: Kaixin Aethelu Wang
  • Eleven Weeks - Directors: Anna Kuperberg, Julie Caskey
  • Finding Palemahan - Director: Jillian Li
  • For Love of the Land - Director: Cynthia Matty-Huber
  • From Milan to the World - Director: Vincenzo Schioppa
  • Full Circle - Director: Anne Via McCollough
  • How Speaking About Suicide Can Save Lives - Director: Marissa Dingman
  • I am a Black Sculptor - Director: Robin van Erven Dorens
  • IF I'VE WON IF I'VE LOST - Director: Gian Luca Rossi
  • Installation City - Directors: Songqiao Zhao, Wu Tong
  • Instrument of Peace; the Brother Gabriel Story - Director: Nolan Uebelhor
  • Last of Us: The Last Fishermen of the Lake - Director: Andrea Marcovicchio
  • Life and Tacos - Director: Anil Dhoka
  • Line of Sight | Timothy C. Ely - Director: Doug S. Garnett
  • Love & Stuff - Director: Judith Helfand
  • MILKED - Director: Amy Taylor
  • My journey to the Everest - Directors: Hernán Leal, Thomas Hardy
  • My Rembetika Blues - Director: M. Zournazi
  • Old-Growth Murder - Director: Tom Olsen
  • OSHIKA - Winds Of Change - Director: Kim Myoungyoon
  • Positive for Huntington's - Directors: Karam Gamal El Din, Yousef Gamal El Din
  • Rigged - Directors: Tracy MacDonald, Jill Thacker, Jim Wolfston, Matt Zodrow
  • Rival Queens - Director: Anton Armendariz Diaz
  • Shaolin - Director: Alec Palumbo
  • Six Bucks and More Dragons (F.U.N) Far Up North - Director: Luka Raubenheimer
  • Small Town Pride - Directors: Chelle Turingan, Riley Sparks
  • Sonora - Director: Johnny Holder
  • Sound of Judgment - Director: Julia Wall
  • Spokespeople - Director: Ryan Mekenian
  • Strength Among Us - Director: Taha Ovacı
  • Suicidal Alentejo - Directors: Nuno Martini, David André
  • The Attached - Directors: Christopher Saint Booth, Philip Adrian Booth
  • The Birth & History of Western Swing - Director: Mike Markwardt
  • The Blue and White in Me - Director: Daniel Castro
  • The Game Is Up: Disillusioned Trump Voters Tell Their Stories - Director: Melissa Jo Peltier
  • The Hunt: In Search for Australia's Big Cats - Director: Stu Ross
  • The Invisible Project - Director: Pacifica J. Sauer
  • The Long Shadow - Director: Frances Causey
  • The Shoulders of Giants - Director: Quinn Early
  • The Story Coat - Director: Carinne Leduc
  • The Unisexuals - Director: Katie Garrett
  • The United States of Fashion Designer Elie Tahari - Director: David Serero
  • Tipping The Pain Scale - Director: Jeff Reilly
  • Two Different Eyes - Directors: Juho Lee, Juseung Lee
  • Words from the ZAD - Director: Matthieu Ponchel
  • Y? - Directors: Danilo Milovanović, Neža Knez, Toni Poljanec, Luka Erdani

Spotlight Silver Award Winners

  • Bar Sepia
    Director: Montgomery Mauro
  • BCTC Pandemic
    Submitter: Steph Fitch
  • By Your Side
    Directors: Debbie Africa, Mike Africa Sr.
  • Camino de SANGJARU
    Director: Park Cheolwoo
  • Camping Life (The Ephemeral City)
    Director: Josep Perez
  • Child Support: The Scorn or The Absent
    Director: Matthew Sanders
  • Country and Courage Director :   Rodney Roldan 
  • Dante Barksdale's Last Act
    Directors: Zachary Slingsby, James Fitzgerald
  • Debut
    Director: Connor Hopkins
  • Dear Thalia
    Director: Rex Moribe
  • Die Kunst
    Director: Jamie Roberts
  • Directing Remotely and Filmmaking During the Pandemic: The Making of #MyCorona
    Director: Kirk Zeller
  • Dream Big: Natasha
    Director: Mykyta Novokhatskyy
  • Educating Leaders in an Uncertain World: The McGowan Fellowship
    Director: Matt Landfield
  • Emotional Journey
    Director: Yang Fei
  • Father
    Director: Deng Wei
  • Fighting for Daybreak
    Director: Jason Head
  • Fog Likely Farm: An Appalachian Story
    Directors: Anne Ward & Chip Williams
  • Glimpses
    Director: Guy Pigden
  • Homeless Not Hopeless
    Director: Changhee Chun
  • I am Samuel
    Director: Pete Murimi
  • Isonology
    Director: Thomas Hibner
  • Is Your Story Making You Sick?
    Director: Frances Causey
  • Jayro
    Director: Wojciech Lorenc
  • Liar-In-Chief: A Chronicle of the Trump Presidency Through the Eyes of An Outraged Graphic Artist
    Director: M Kaplan
  • Lost for Words
    Director: Jordan Cantello
  • Magpies & UFO's
    Director: Kirk Ronald Cameron
  • Matriarch
    Director: Martin Krafft
  • Mentality
    Director: Garret Morgan
  • Mr. Emancipation: The Walter Perry Story
    Director: Preston Chase
  • My Brother Luis
    Director: Zani Wilson
  • My Gypsy Road
    Director: Vilma Kartalska
  • NAYA: David Kim
    Directors: AJ Valente, Janice Chung
  • Oh, Mother of Mine
    Director: Anna Rawls
  • Out of Exile - The Photography of Fred Stein
    Directors: Peter Stein, Dawn Freer
  • Pieces of Us
    Director: Cheryl Allison
  • Poteet
    Director: Kiley Josey
  • Project Antarctica - Easter Island Extension
    Director: Evan Michael Gering
  • PSAGOT RAMALLAH
    Director: Binyamin Haneman
  • Radio Theatre For Your Soul, A Docu-Story
    Director: Shonnese C. L. Coleman
  • Reparations
    Director: Jon Osaki
  • Rez Metal
    Director: Ashkan Soltani Stone
  • Salvatore Del Deo
    Director: Gleb Piryatinskiy
  • Saving Juliette
    Director: Evey Wilson Wetherbee
  • Sherod
    Director: William Feagins, Jr.
  • Show Time
    Director: Zhang Qiusi
  • Silenced, as Mercury Rises
    Director: Karl Talbot
  • Sounds of the Sidewalk (A Journey of Goodbye)
    Directors: Michele Zousmer, Benjamin Huerta Cristobal
  • Stand for Hannah
    Director: Roger Maunder
  • The Adventures at Comic-Con
    Director: Jason Brown
  • The Fruit of the Fungi
    Director: Clea Cullen

Spotlight Bronze Award Winners

  • BUMPASS
    Director: Brent Bartholomew
  • Camping Life (The Ephemeral City)
    Director: Josep Perez
  • Dorina
    Director: Atanas Kiryakov
  • Dream Big: Natasha
    Director: Mykyta Novokhatskyy
  • EK RAJPUT KISAN - The Real Story
    Directors: Dr. Bhawani Singh
  • Empty America
    Director: Joel Bryant
  • I Want My Kid Back: Treating Emotional Dysregulation
    Director: Celia Tewey
  • I Want to Buy a House
    Director: Mya Saree' Gray
  • Kontrast: Rhythm Delucco
    Director: Jon Meyer
  • Last of the Lakers
    Director: Terry Ayrault
  • Lorton
    Director: Richard Schertzer
  • Once Upon Amsterdam
    Director: Rene Smaal
  • The Making of a Cheer Team
    Director: Jason Harney
  • The Return: A Covid-19 Story
    Director: Jeffrey Huang
  • The Good Life
    Director: Carolyn Wilson

2020 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards

Platinum Award Winners:

  •   50 Little Birds – Director: Hannah Lindgren

  •   Alice Street – Director: Spencer I Wilkinson

  •   Circus Movements – Directors: Lukas Berger, Mário Gajo de Carvalho

  •   DAMITA. – Director: W. Feagins, Jr

  •   Don’t Be Afraid if I Hug You – Director: Niccolò Maria Pagani

  •   Fatal Distraction – Director: Susan Morgan Cooper

  •   Grounded – Director: Emily Walowski

  •   Higher Love – Director: Hasan Oswald

  •   Open Art Surgery – Director: Katie Mackenzie

  •   Sonnie – Director: Samuel Mirpoorian

  •   The Funeral Singer – Director: Manjula Varghese

  •   The Ghost Behind – Director: Caroline Rumley

  •   The Promise – Director: Danel Aser

  •   The Reunited States – Director: Ben Rekhi

  •   Until We Touch – Director: Charlotte Mungomery

  •   Where She Lies – Director: Zach Marion

Gold Award Winners:

 •   A Better Way – Director: Clay Vaughan

  •   A Greenlander – Director: Nicholas Jones

  •   Adventure of Fragrance – Director: Şahin Yiğit

  •   Alimos, Greek Riviera’s Blue Diamond – Director: Nico Mastorakis

  •   All the Way - The Making of Swimrun Champions – Director: Carl Eneroth

  •   Alone Across The Arctic – Director: Francis Luta

  •   Architecture is Not an Image – Directors: Daoud Bouledroua, Elke Mittmann

  •   A Mirror for the Sun – Director: Neta Ariel

  •   Beer Boom – Directors: Eric W. Schleyer, An

  •   Behind the Name SHAKESPEARE: Power, Lust, Scorn & Scandal – Director: Robin Phillips

  •   Belle-ile In Acadie – Director: Phil Comeau

  •   Birth Time: the documentary – Directors: Jerusha Sutton, Jo Hunter, Zoe Naylor

  •   Bloodless: The Path To Democracy – Director: Bared Maronian

  •   Blue Kangling – Director: Matt Blackburn

  •   Britain’s Big Cat Mystery – Director: Matthew Everet

  •   Cinematographer – Director: Dan Asma

  •   Cops and Corpses; Victim’s Cry for Justice – Director: Maurice Oniang’o

  •   DACAmented – Directors: Samantha Campbell, Emma Greally, Kate Parker

  •   Darling Pet Monkey – Director: Jim McDonough

  •   David Foster: Off the Record – Director: Barry Avrich

  •   Deals and Visions – Director: Christian Machacek

  •   Dear Child – Director: Luca Ammendola

  •   death. everything. nothing. – Director: LeRhonda Manigault-Bryant

  •   dhīvaraḥ … way of life – Director: Giridhar Nayak K

  •   Don’t Forget Them – Director: Kamaran Karym

  •   Down The Road – Director: A.W. Stevenson

  •   Dry Tears of the Aral – Director: Danila Volkov

  •   Enclosure – Directors: Julia Guggisberg Hannud, Catharina Scarpellini

  •   Forgotten on Sinjar – Director: Igal Hecht

  •   Five Years North – Directors: Zach Ingrasci, Chris Temple

  •   Forgotten Valour – Director: Taylor Doggett

  •   Furthest Frontier: Stories from Tamatea/Dusky Sound – Director: Will McKee

  •   Future of the Past – Director: Takamasa Iwasaki

  •   Getting Worldly – Director: Edgar Grech-Cumbo

  •   GoGo City: Displacement & Protest in Washington, DC – Director: Samuel George

  •   Going Viral – Director: Gregory Wendt

  •   Guardians of the Forest – Director: Jacob Wagner

  •   Hamda – Director: Ilona Szekeres

  •   Hard Phase – Director: Abdulaziz Alsuwailem

  •   HARD RUBBISH - A Collection Of Memories – Director: Alita Graziano

  •   Hello World – Director: Shawn Wildermuth

  •   HOPE IN THE HOLY LAND: Delving Beneath the Surface of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict – Director: Jesse Schluntz

  •   Hope is Not Cancelled – Director: Jordan Somers

  •   Hotel Brothers – Director: Lucas Boychuk

  •   How Do You Hold A Hot Dog? – Director: Brent Collins

  •   Hyphen – Director: Laura Kamugisha

  •   I Cleaned My Room – Director: Ismael Lotz

  •   In Circles – Submitter: Christina Kelso

  •   Indians, Outlaws, Marshals and the Hangin’ Judge – Director: Larry Foley

  •   Inside NASA’s Innovations – Director: Jonny Caplan

  •   Invisible Hand – Directors: Joshua B. Pribanic, Melissa A. Troutman

  •   John Van Hamersveld CRAZY WORLD AIN’T IT – Directors: Dave Tourjé, Christopher

  •   #JustAnotherDeadTranswoman – Director: Riley Del Rey

  •   Kiana’s Apache Ceremony – Director: Dounia Benjelloun

  •   Kiss the Ground – Directors: Josh Tickell, Rebecca Tickell

  •   La Lobera – Submitter: Claudio Escobar

  •   Last Call for Tomorrow – Directors: Gary Null, Valerie Van Cleve

  •   Leatherpants Moped Trip - From the Alps to Las Vegas – Directors: Julian & Thomas Wittmann

  •   Little but Fierce – Director: Sara Barger

  •   Lockdown Lunch Club – Director: Déwun Owusu

  •   Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art – Director: Barry Avrich

  •   Making Lemonade: Our COVID-19 Story – Director: Christopher Francis

  •   Mamakrom – Director: Joseph Pelegreen

  •   Marie-Madeleine: A Female Chief – Director: Florence Ayisi

  •   Mcclenty – Director: Jessee Bermudez

  •   Missing in Brooks County – Directors: Lisa Molomot, Jeff Bemiss

  •   My Roblox Story - CJ Oyer – Directors: Lisanne Pajot, James Swirsky

  •   No Defense – Director: Sara Ganim

  •   No History of Violence – Directors: Ellie Bernstein, Tracy Nichole Cring

  •   No Limbs No Limits – Director: Steven O’ Riordan

  •   Now I am an Axolotl – Director: Alejandra Medellín

  •   Nurture with Nature, A Story of Ecotherapy – Directors: Tanya Stadelmann, Dorothy Ibes

  •   Oceans Without Limits – Director: Mark van Wijk

  •   “On This Hallowed Ground” Vietnam Veterans Memorial Born From Tragedy – Director: Sarah Kanafan

  •   Pinnacle – Director: Vikram Jeet Singh Parmar

  •   ProDogTV – Director: Randall Owens

  •   Prophets, Teachers and Kings – Director: Devin A. Rice

  •   Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz – Director: Barry Avrich

  •   Puri – Director: Daniel Casado

  •   Revelation – Directors: Nial Fulton, Sarah

  •   Reversal of Fortune: Turkey’s Unraveling Democracy – Director: Barry Avrich

  •   Rivers of Ukraine. Stokhid. Part II – Director: Sergii Trofymchuk

  •   Salman Bin Hamad - A VISION OF PROMISE – Director: Eva Daoud

  •   Saving Saffron – Director: Tammy Khajotia

  •   Saving the Sacred – Director: Daniel Bruns

  •   Seeroo fi al ardh – Director: Dimitri Yuri

  •   Sht Saves the World* – Director: Troy Hale

  •   Soccer Grannies – Directors: Clément Boxebeld, Julia Mourri

  •   Sockeye Salmon. Red fish – Directors: Dmitriy Shpilenok, Vladislav Grishin

  •   South of Everything: A Journey to Antarctica – Director: Alexyn Scheller

  •   Supermalo – Director: Matthew Seger

  •   TechTalk – Director: Jonny Caplan

  •   The Ballad of John Henry – Submitter: Matt Rice

  •   The Bronze Men of Cameroon – Director: Florence Ayisi

  •   The Endless Chain – Director: Benjamin Jordan

  •   The Fable of a Song – Director: Andy Strohl

  •   The Final Fix – Directors: Norman Stone, Tim Neeves

  •   The Last Day on Duty – Director: Jon Cortegoso Otad

  •   The Last Fishing Journey – Director: Tanguy Guinchard

  •   The Last Lightkeepers – Director: Rob Apse

  •   The Last Song – Directors: Lisa Punz, Michael Hecht

  •   The Maroon Bomber – Director: Joshua M. Thomas

  •   The Mayberry Effect – Director: Christopher Hudson

  •   The New Abolitionists – Director: Christina Zorich

  •   The Pivotal Players: Flannery O’Connor – Director: Matthew Leonard

  •   The Place That Makes Us – Submitter: Karla Murthy

  •   The Response: How Puerto Ricans Are Restoring Power to the People – Director: Juan C. Dávila

  •   The Right Girls – Director: Timothy Wolfer

  •   The Sexy Six: A Story of Lifelong Friendship – Director: Kathy Drasky

  •   The Special Forces Experience – Director: Zachariah Montgomery

  •   The Spider Crab – Director: Tristan Francia

  •   The Tale of the Dog: The Untold Story of Denver’s Greatest Music Venue. The Family Dog Denver, 1967-1968 – Directors: Dan Obarski, Scott Montgomery

  •   The Undocumented Lawyer – Directors: Chris Temple, Zach Ingrasci

  •   This Is Dire Times – Director: Ross Anderson

  •   Untie Me – Director: Magi Avila

  •   Victoria’s Foil – Directors: Brett Forrest, Brian Ryu

  •   Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations – Director: Andrew Goldberg

  •   Warrior Women – Directors: Dr. Elizabeth A. Castle, Christina D. King

  •   When the Camera Stopped Rolling – Director: Jane Castle

  •   White Wolves - Ghosts of the Artic – Director: Oliver Goetzl

  •   Who Is This Women’s Day For? – Director: Monalisa Mukherji

  •   Women are the Change – Directors: Philip Lewis, Linda Stout

Silver Award Winners:

  •   5x7 – Director: Michele Citoni

  •   8 Weeks to Happy – Director: Kallie Bryant

  •   12th Street – Directors: Gregory Lovett, Matthijs Heesemans

  •   19 Shades of Black – Director: John Brooks

  •   100 Boats: A Hurricane Harvey Documentary – Director: Syed Hasan

  •   A Bay to Cherish – Director: Freddy Moyano

  •   Abel Cuerda - The Colour Painter – Director: Juan Antonio Moreno

  •   A Fighting Chance – Director: Troy Sweeney

  •   After the Coup, Malian Women Speak – Directors: Erica Pomerance, Fatoumata Coulibaly

  •   Alaska Long Hunters – Director: Mark Rose

  •   A Long Way to Kansas – Director: Stefano Notaro

  •   Alway5: The Ryan Dungey Story – Directors: Ryan Marcus, Chris Onstott

  •   American Caricature – Directors: Joe Ciomek, Tom Faraci

  •   AMERICART 2019 – Director: Christelle Bois

  •   Amy’s Victory Dance – Director: Brian Thomas

  •   Another Child – Directors: Leanna Borsellino, James Headrick

  •   Ashes – Director: Jiuxun Jin

  •   A Tower Block in Ladbroke Grove – Director: Peter Heslop-Smith

  •   Behind the Name SHAKESPEARE: Power, Lust, Scorn & Scandal – Director: Robin Phillips

  •   Bernard: “The Rebirth” – Director: Jorey Collins

  •   Birds Without Wings – Director: Rishabh Thakkar

  •   Birth of an Ancestor – Director: Peter Hoesing

  •   Blob Blob Fish – Director: Andrew Mossop

  •   Blood, Bone & Stone – Director: Thomas A. Grant

  •   Boston’s Homelessness Crisis – Director: Sheila Burke

  •   Brave Are The Fallen – Director: Jacob Whitley

  •   Burn With Us – Director: Joshua S. Bischof

  •   Candango: Memories From a Festival – Director: Lino Meireles

  •   Candido – Directors: Manfred Rainer, Hannah Rosa Oellinger, Stefan Wirnsperger

  •   Chained Pen – Director: Anna Dalmay

  •   Collective - Finding Home – Directors: Brennen Meek, Beth Meek

  •   Community Through Crisis: A Vermont Story – Director: Wendy E. Reynolds

  •   Defending Our Crowns – Director: Stephanie Bell

  •   Desire? – Director: Garima Kaul

  •   Displacement and Hope – Director: Marta N. Bautis

  •   Dreams of Hope – Directors: Henry Panion, David Macon

  •   El Pinche Gringo and the Barbecue Diplomacy – Directors: Raymond Remo, Michelle Remo

  •   EUtopia – Director: Bryan Carter

  •   Eworth – Director: Christopher Romano

  •   Fandango at the Wall – Director: Varda Bar-Kar

  •   Father of a Broken Angel – Director: Dhiney Ramos

  •   Flood Plain – Directors: Paul J Shumaker, Payton Shumaker

  •   Forgotten Heroes – (Director not listed)

  •   Gervase – Director: Michael Peel

  •   Gianni Berengo Gardin’s Tale of Two Cities – Director: Donna Serbe-Davis

  •   Happiness Only Real When Shared – Directors: Fredrik Aronsson, Jonathan Kristensson

  •   Homeland Hero – Director: Rahsaan Jones

  •   Homelessness Is Not A Crime – Director: Mann Robinson

  •   Hometown Proud – Directors: Naida Osline, Tyler Stallings

  •   I Bleed – Director: Leah Manasseh

  •   I Have a Name – Director: Lucia Mauro

  •   INterDEPENDENCE – Director: Greg Jeschke

  •   In The Red – Director: Patrick Rooney

  •   In the Same Direction: Jeff Pifher & Socrates’ Trial – Director: Alexander Craven

  •   Investing Life – Director: Vaishali Vasant Ken

  •   It Stays With You: Use of Force by UN Peacekeepers in Haiti – Directors: Cahal McLaughlin, Siobhán Wills

  •   January 13th, Richmond VA – Director: Phineas Alexander

  •   January 15 1970: Untold Memories of the Nigeria - Biafra War – Director: Ed Emeka Keazor

  •   Justified Journey – Director: Greg Jeschke

  •   Kicking The Hornet’s Nest – Director: Kyle Floyd

  •   Kilroy and the Boy Soldier – Director: Joseph Spillane

  •   Kite – Director: Yumeng He

  •   Kuzra - The Psychology of a Female Homicide – Director: Lara Azzopardi

  •   La Amable Euforia de la Danza – Director: Miguel Castanet

  •   Leaving Allen Street – Director: Katrina Channells

  •   Life in the Sacrifice Zone – Director: Chad Nance

  •   Line Man – Director: Marcelo Silva

  •   Living with The Odds – Director: Erich Meltvedt

  •   Lost in Berlin – Director: Rodney S. Martel

  •   Love the Mission – Director: Jared Cruce

Bronze Award Winners:

  •   20.20 Social Readapation – Director: Amedeo Staiano

  •   A Bard for the Ages – Director: Brian Barsuglia

  •   An Irish Underdog Story – Director: Jonny Farrelly

  •   Blowin’ Up: The Chasity D. Barnes Story – Directors: Delendra Peterson, Amanda Granger

  •   Dream, Live, Create and Other Stories from Malasana – Director: Juanjo Castro

  •   Fair Weather Sandhill – Director: Freddy Moyano

  •   Farestart: Perspective – Director: Greg Westhoff

  •   Glimpses From The Great War – Director: Jim Nowak

  •   Giving Hope in a Broken and Hurting World – Director: Don McLeer

  •   Grit – Director: N. Shanmuga Sund

  •   Haunted Lane – Director: Charlie VanderKlipp

  •   I Just Wanted to Say – Director: Olz McCoy

  •   IN SANE 2020 – Director: Peter Evanchuck

  •   It’s Beautiful – Director: Miko Nincic

  •   Just a Podcast | Documentary – Director: Michael Burnet

  •   Kamo Lyfe – Director: Marcel Dorsey

  •   Keraleeya Thalangal – Director: K.R. Subash

  •   Khamid & Zulfiya – Director: Ruslan Saliev

  •   Leap of Faith – Director: Venkat Bharadwaj

  •   Man on the Street – Director: Dakare Chatman

  •   Millennium Willow – Director: Fiona Yang

  •   Mission Safeer: 37 Days to Freedom – Directors: Viraf Kekobad, Hanif Modak

  •   My Mother My Rock – Director: Kelly Roulette

  •   Once Upon A Time In Montgomery - The WAPX Documentary – Director: David Wise

  •   PAT PASSLOF…Unexpected Conversation… – Director: Bill Page

  •   Searching for Camelot: The Quest – Director: Roger Paradiso

  •   Status Unknown – Director: Nate Van Dore

  •   Straight Off The Canvas – Director: Anthony Saldana

  •   Tao Qi – Director: Emily Feng

  •   The Metta Story – Director: Chow Wah Chan

  •   The Raising of the Son – Director: Ricardo Jackson

  •   The Road Back (Benito Glosson Story) – Director: Michael Young Sr.

  •   The Sullivanians: Through a Blue Window – Director: Shelley Feinerman

  •   The Unheard Tales of the Tamikafest – Director: Fenell

  •   Three Meals – Director: Monika Ivonne

  •   To Be Us: To Work – Directors: Tosca Davis, Cedrick Smith, Terrance Thomas

  •   Tony Halik – Director: Marcin Borchardt

  •   Typography Through Time: Renaissance Era – Director: Rodney Roldan

  •   Veritas – Directors: Sam Wang, Zoey Zhou

  •   We Never Talked About This – Director: Steven Nanson

  •   Women of Faith: Coping with Trauma – Director: Angela Heath

  •   You Handsome Dog (Don’t You Ever Die) – Director: Theresa Desautels

2019 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards

Platinum Award Winners: 

  • Dear, Dreamer
    Director: Kristian Melom
  • Lost In Carranza
    Director: Marin Troude
  • Shelter Me
    Director: Zach Lawson
  • Plastic River
    Director: Manuel Camia
  • (Un)Divided
    Director: Paul Raila

Gold Award Winners:

  • A Brave One
    Director: Stas Ivanov
  • A Love Story for Brooke
    Director: Paul Catalanotto
  • ALTERNATIVE FACTS: The Lies of Executive Order 9066
    Director: Jon Osaki
  • Almost Home
    Directors: Susan Cahill & Matt Rogers
  • Boober
    Director: Sriram Papolu
  • Born in America
    Director: Zhan Luo
  • BRUSH...painted forward
    Director: Dimitri Pantchev
  • Canvas
    Director: Liv Gwynn
  • Chasing the Jet Stream
    Director: Claudio von Planta
  • CHEF DARREN: The Challenge of Profound Deafness
    Director: Dorothy Fadiman
  • Disconnected
    Director: Miroslav Nincic
  • El Cuarto Reino
    Director: Alex Lora Cercos
  • Extraordinary: The Seeding
    Director: Jon Sumple
  • Free Spirit
    Director: Hani Yared
  • From Liberty to Captivity
    Director: Debbie Wright
  • Gang Love
    Director: Adam Ybarra
  • Harmony: Latvian Democracy on Russia's Border
    Director: Samuel George
  • I am Still Here
    Director: Cynthia Matty-Huber
  • Inviolable - The Fight for Human Rights
    Director: Angela Andersen
  • In Their Shoes: Unheard Stories of Reentry and Recovery
    Director: Taylor Katsanis
  • Jumpin' Johnny: The Incredible True Story Of Dr. John Kline
    Director: Cameron McCasland
  • Last Beer at the Pig's Ear
    Director: Peter Blow
  • Letters From Long Binh
    Director: Greg Stern
  • MUSTIMUHW: All of the People
    Director: Lachlan Anderson
  • Oil Capital Underground: The Genesis and Evolution of Punk Rock in Tulsa-Late 70's to Mid 90's
    Director: Bryan Crain
  • Our Lady Victory: The Story of Indy 11
    Director: Nick Evans
  • Pick It Up! Ska in the '90s
    Director: Taylor Morden
  • Pooh: The Derrick Rose Story
    Director: Scott Diener
  • Prepare Now!
    Director: Peter Charles Downey
  • Reap What You Sew
    Director: Tyler Adams
  • "Redeemed" The Brandi Brassell Story
    Director: Joe Teixeira
  • Searching For Meaning
    Director: Jean-Francois Rodrigues
  • Shatter the Silence
    Director: Cheryl Allison
  • Sunblock
    Director: Bill Bentley
  • The Color of Art
    Director: David Weathersby
  • The Deepest Cut
    Director: Alexandra Guillossou
  • The Magic Behind the Mojo
    Director: Joe Gallo
  • The Minds of Men
    Directors: Aaron Dykes & Melissa Dykes
  • The Race
    Director: Dina Rudick
  • The Rest Is History
    Director: Peter Costigan
  • The Unforgettable Augustus Post
    Directors: Jason Cohn & Camille Servan-Schreiber
  • The Wounded Blue
    Director: Jason Harney
  • The Night is Black and the Day is White
    Director: Joe McStravick
  • The Sako Tapes
    Director: Machiel van den Heuvel
  • The Hebron Protocol
    Director: Jared Leong
  • The Housecats
    Director: Molly Hackett
  • The Instant
    Director: Hakan Aytekin
  • The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá’í Faith
    Director: Bob Hercules
  • The Giant Deep Reds
    Director: Maurice Micallef
  • The Long Road of Exile
    Director: The Church of Almighty God
  • The Making of a Man
    Director: Lo Dagerman
  • The Giant Deep Reds
    Director: Maurice Micallef
  • The Color of Justice
    Director: Marjolaine Grappe
  • The Waitlist
    Directors: Natasha Pizzey-Siegeart & James Fredrick
  • When We Were Apollo
    Director: Zachary Weil
  • Who Am I
    Director: Caleb Vinson
  • Why She Smiles
    Director: Caroline Sims
  • Yam Festival, Ghana
    Director: James Dalrymple

Silver Award Winners:

  • After the Storm
    Director: Kiyoko Tanaka
  • A Dog's Life
    Director: Robert J. Bradshaw
  • A Journey Through Time
    Director: Niels H. Nielsen
  • Against the Grain
    Director: Tanya Galbraith
  • An Unspoken Bond
    Director: Dan Janik
  • Anticipation
    Director: Sara Dreher
  • Any Given Sunday
    Director: Paul Anastasopoulos
  • Back to the Streets
    Director: Jerome Mayhew
  • Belly of the Beast
    Director: Judith Mirzoian
  • Blight
    Director: Stiofan O'Neill
  • Bringing the Heat
    Director: Oscar Vasquez
  • Cages
    Director: Vassilis Kakogiannis
  • Chasing Shadows
    Director: Sam Dalton
  • Cold Nights
    Director: Ian Boyle
  • Cold Feet
    Director: Emily Jones
  • Confessions of a Comic Book Writer
    Director: Brian Silliman
  • Crossing the Line
    Director: Tony Zherlen
  • Die Burg
    Director: Hans Andreas Guttner
  • Endgame
    Director: Nikolas Grumbaris
  • Eyes of the Heart
    Director: Alyx Winter
  • Fall from Grace
    Director: Stefan Kanyemba
  • Family Secrets
    Director: Lisa H. Davis
  • Flesh and Blood
    Director: Anna Schimpf
  • Fragments of Time
    Director: Olan D. Kaseke
  • From Nowhere
    Director: Carlos Nunez
  • Future's End
    Director: Matt Tonge
  • Goodbye Love
    Director: Claire Chinnery
  • In the Shadow of the Moon
    Director: Maria Eleftheriou
  • Lifeline
    Director: Nicholas Pang
  • Like Father, Like Son
    Director: Lauren Victoria
  • Life Under the Glass
    Director: Michael Brewer
  • Mend the Broken
    Director: Candice McGrath
  • My Mother's Garden
    Director: Kathy Biehl
  • Not Alone
    Director: Leah Kauffman
  • On the Edge
    Director: Adam Anderson
  • Out of Sight
    Director: Gigi Carr
  • Sailing on Air
    Director: Tracy Vogel
  • Scattered Dreams
    Director: Tammie White
  • Swing State Florida: After Michael
    Director: Samuel George
  • The Blurry Road
    Director: Caitlin Hickey
  • The Free World
    Director: Linda Jones
  • The Heights We Reach
    Director: Marko Ristic
  • The Last Horizon
    Director: Jared Macdonald
  • The People We Know
    Director: Jessica Walker
  • The Silent Goodbye
    Director: Laura McGill
  • The Waitlist
    Directors: Natasha Pizzey-Siegeart & James Fredrick
  • The Watcher
    Director: Omar Fawal
  • Through Her Eyes
    Director: Anna Vargas
  • Tomorrow's Promise
    Director: Michael Reynolds
  • Under the Sky
    Director: Chris Elias
  • Untold Secrets
    Director: Tania Golden
  • We Are One
    Director: Claire Stanford
  • When It Rains
    Director: Jérémy Roussier
  • Wildfire
    Director: Toby Williams
  • Within Reach
    Director: Tom Goodwin

Bronze Award Winners:

  • 20 Liters
    Directors: Andy Seiler & Aaron Thomas
  • A Moment in Time
    Director: Andrea Harris
  • A Simple Life
    Director: Michael Sharpe
  • Beneath the Surface
    Director: Emma Langford
  • Broken Bonds
    Director: Charlie McLaren
  • Captured Moments
    Director: Reema Ali
  • Chasing Echoes
    Director: David Porter
  • Crossroads
    Director: Nathaniel McKinney
  • Distant Voices
    Director: Aisha Burke
  • End of the Line
    Director: Peter Barlow
  • Finding Home
    Director: Stephanie Mulligan
  • Glimpse of Tomorrow
    Director: Kiran Patel
  • Hollow Hearts
    Director: Marcella DiClemente
  • In the Mirror
    Director: Daryl Singer
  • Into the Void
    Director: Sarah Wilkinson
  • Lifting Spirits
    Director: Rick Anderson
  • Light of Day
    Director: Mark Severs
  • Lost and Found
    Director: Janet Langston
  • New Beginnings
    Director: Sophia Turner
  • Out of Darkness
    Director: Peter Zhao
  • Passing Through
    Director: Jamie Long
  • Pieces of the Past
    Director: Carole Green
  • Silent Witness
    Director: Fernando Reyes
  • Small Moments
    Director: Fiona McLeod
  • Strangers in the Night
    Director: Tobias Keller
  • The Final Hour
    Director: Jodie Sinclair
  • The Long Road Home
    Director: Rachel Larkin
  • The Other Side
    Director: Alan Peterson
  • The Waiting Game
    Director: Tara Linton
  • Through the Lens
    Director: Sophia Cameron
  • Unspoken Words
    Director: Sean Reilly
  • Wandering Souls
    Director: Mia Santos
  • Where We Belong
    Director: Jane Morrison
  • Whispers in the Dark
    Director: Kelsey Foster
  • Wild Winds
    Director: Bruce Elman
  • Winter's Embrace
    Director: David Clark
  • Without a Trace
    Director: Michael Gill
  • Worlds Apart
    Director: Amelia Holt
  • Yesteryear
    Director: Emily Ford

2018 Spotlight Documentary Film Awards

Platinum Award Winners:

  • Don't Be Nice by Max Powers
  • We Are Columbine by Laura Farber

Gold Award Winners:

  • 49-1 by Martha Shaw
  • A Gift of Wings: The Pilots of Sebring by Ted Snow
  • After I'm Gone by Sean Bowman
  • Amoka by Maria Jose Bermudez Jurado
  • Arktika Incognita by Bertrand Delapierre
  • Believer by Don Argott
  • Cuba, Libre? by Dick Jordan
  • Curing the Incurable? by Gary Null
  • Crafty Containers by Paul Evans
  • Desert Coffee by Mikael Lypinski
  • Fearless Journey by Andreas Batliner & Sandro Schreiber
  • Fighting Childhood Cancer by Jeremy Abrams
  • Flickering Lights by Joby Stephens
  • From Darkness to Light by Joshua Freake
  • Give Us This Day by Jeff Zimbalist & Michael Zimbalist
  • Here in Oak Cliff by Bryan Sabillon
  • I Am The White Tiger by Lei Chiu
  • I Am What I Have Learned To Be by Adela Vrinceanu Celebidachi
  • I Got the Land by Francescu Artily
  • Indus Blues by Jawad Sharif
  • Ixoq ("Woman") by Danielle Robitaille
  • JamieJimJames by Tin Pang
  • Let's Talk About Sex by Lisa Burd
  • Making Mill Town by Lindsay LaPointe
  • Mexico: Looking for Lost Migrants by Leo Mattei and Alex Gohari
  • Mississippi Whistle by Justyn Bell
  • Momentum Generation by Jeff Zimbalist & Michael Zimbalist
  • Pipe Dreams Fractured Lives by David Smith
  • Ridge to Ranch to River to Reef: Florida's Conservation Connections by Maria Luskay
  • RISE: The Story of Augustines by Todd Howe
  • Sea Pilgrim by Will Mayer
  • Skuggi (Shadow) by Richard D. Lavoie
  • Suspended Generation by Andrea Egan & Joe Hitchcock
  • The Happiness Machine by Rebecca Blumhagen
  • The High Sierra Trail by Chris Smead
  • The Home for Wayward Babydolls by Andrew Reed
  • The Infamous Future by Richard Butterworth and John Campbell
  • The Most Unknown by Ian Cheney
  • The New Gypsy Kings by Liviu Tipurita
  • The One Who Holds Sovereignty Over Everything by The Church of Almighty God
  • The Village on the Loch by Caroline Strong
  • The Volcano Concert by Przemysław Wawrzyniak
  • Travelling on Trash by Deb Charles, Adam Gee, Alex Hryniewicz, Steve Wheen
  • Washed Up by Nathan Hughes

Silver Award Winners:

  • 1, 2, 3, Once Again by Vasco Diogo
  • A.E. Wells: A Man and His Park by Donald Dodge
  • A Man and His Trumpet: The Leroy Jones Story by Cameron Washington
  • All American Barber by John Jones
  • All the Dictator's Men by Marjolaine Grappe
  • Arktika Incognita by Bertrand Delapierre
  • Austin Samba by Nil Buan
  • Beacon by Isara Krieger
  • Bow With Me by The 2018 Institute for Documentary Filmmaking
  • Buddy Cruise: How the Students Were Impacted by Vanessa Bundschu
  • Burn: The Lynching of George Armwood by Will Schwarz
  • Captured: Tornadoes by James Stamoulakatos
  • Chamber Music Wonderland by Emanuel Altenburger
  • Core 2.1 by Core van der Hoeven
  • Dancing Manilenyos by Patrick Alcedo
  • Dunham Deaf Boy by Ladan Sahraei
  • Edunation by Dr. K. M Vasudevan Pillai
  • Floating Justice by Leila Lak
  • Game Changer: Let's Get Physical! by Timothy "Eli" Ruckman
  • Goomba's by David Williams & Aisha Noox
  • Grunt Film Project by Jacob Mogler
  • GUMBO by Alyssa Rachelle
  • High Tide in Dorchester by David Harp
  • How Does the City of Savannah Negotiate Its Complicated Past? by Sarah O'Carroll
  • In Search of Godawan by Vaid Prakash Dhar
  • It's in Your Eyes by Sergio García Locatelli & Sean Schoenecker
  • JamieJimJames by Tin Pang
  • Kurt Vonnegut's A Man Without a Country by J.J. Harting
  • Making of a Gangsta by Adam Ybarra
  • MAXWELL STREET MARKET / WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO JEW-TOWN by Isaih Shaw
  • Memories by Takamasa Iwasaki
  • Mexican Wave by Judson Vaughan
  • Nossa Chape by Jeff Zimbalist & Michael Zimbalist
  • ORENDA: Force of Consciousness by Lana Marconi
  • Party on the Moon by Robert Fritz
  • Remembering Private Quagliano by Rodney Roldan
  • Solari, the Origin of Ceviche or the Original Ceviche by Sergio García Locatelli
  • Strange Fruit on the Courthouse Lawn by Sean Foy, Matt Huston, Megan Miller, Kara McCafferty, Riley Fanning
  • Tax Evasion: A Greek National Sport by Kelly Sarri
  • The Drive: 6 Days 4392 KM 30000 Yuan by Naixin Xu
  • The Happiness Machine by Rebecca Blumhagen
  • The King of Snapchat by Ed Moore, Joel Raine
  • The Mayor's Race by Loraine Blumenthal
  • The Mothman Chronicles by Chloe Kelsch
  • The Possibility of Her by William Feagins Jr.
  • The Sillar Stonecutters by Alfredo Benavides Watmough
  • The Time is Already by Selene Means
  • The Tribal Scoop by Beeswaranjan Pradhan
  • Through the Storm: Waves for Water and the Caribbean Hurricane Relief Initiative by Greg McKillop
  • Underground Sunshine Cinema by Cameron Tucker
  • United Hopes by Arwa Sawan
  • Where There is Darkness by Sean Bloomfield & Cimela Kidonakis

Bronze Award Winners:

  • 1, 2, 3, Once Again by Vasco Diogo
  • Amazons of Afrika, Women Warriors by Obafemi Lasode, Harriet Ewemade
  • Bigly Yellow by Nigel Deans & Nubar Ghazarian
  • Departure of Empathy by Quinn Holliday
  • Family Is by Miranda Florer
  • I Want My Daddy by Timothy "Cutty" Sanders
  • Internal Outskirts by Sergio García Locatelli
  • Portrait of the Drunks by Dylan DeVore
  • Solari, the Origin of Ceviche or the Original Ceviche by Sergio García Locatelli
  • There's No Crying in Los Angeles by Julian an Mey & Melvin Sewell
  • We Are Not a Nuisance! by Chan C

Spotlight Documentary Awards

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