The 6th annual Critics Choice Awards at Brooklyn’s BRIC Center had a lot of surprises. The biggest was the overall winner, ‘Summer of Soul,” from Questlove, which is really an archival doc and not topical at all. “Summer of Soul” won several awards, including Best Archival Documentary, and tied for Best Director with “The Rescue,” which the Academy may be more agreeable to come next spring.
But Questlove was thrilled, saying it was the best night of his life, and no one could argue with the good feeling around the leader of the Roots and Jimmy Fallon’s bandleader.
Still, the evening moved quickly and there were some other happy surprises including actresses Dana Delany and Jessica Hecht among the presenters. Comedian Roy Wood Jr. was an excellent and humorous emcee.
Much awarded filmmaker Chris Hegedus presented the Pennebaker Award for lifetime achievement to R.J. Cutler, who produced Chris and DA Pennebaker’s 1992 Oscar nominee “The War Room,” and has gone on to make such other docs as “The September Issue” about Vogue magazine.
The next Critics Choice Awards for narrative films and TV series will be broadcast on TBS and the CW networks on January 9th from Hollywood. Kudos to Joey Berlin for pulling off a well-attended event despite COVID restrictions (everyone had to show proof of vaccination and interest in documentary films).
Winners of the Sixth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
BEST DIRECTOR (TIE)
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson – Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
BEST DIRECTOR (TIE)
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin – The Rescue
BEST FIRST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson – Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
David Katznelson, Ian Seabrook and Picha Srisansanee – The Rescue
BEST EDITING
Joshua L. Pearson – Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
BEST SCORE
Daniel Pemberton – The Rescue
BEST ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTARY
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
BEST HISTORICAL OR BIOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTARY
Val
BEST MUSIC DOCUMENTARY
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
BEST POLITICAL DOCUMENTARY
The Crime of the Century
BEST SCIENCE/NATURE DOCUMENTARY
Becoming Cousteau
BEST SPORTS DOCUMENTARY
The Alpinist
BEST SHORT DOCUMENTARY
The Queen of Basketball
BEST NARRATION
Val
