Jehane Noujaim's The Square.

Recent New York Film Festival debut The Square by Jehane Noujaim and 2013 New Directors/New Films titles Stories We Tell by Sarah Polley and Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act Of Killing are among the nominees unveiled today by the International Documentary Association for its 29th annual Documentary Awards. The films three are competing in the Best Feature Award category along with Gabriela Cowperthwaite's Blackfish, which has been recently featured on rotation on CNN as well as Jason Osder's Let The Fire Burn.

The Square centers on a group of Egyptian revolutionaries battle leaders and regimes, risking their lives to build a new society of conscience, while The Act Of Killing challenges former Indonesian death squad leaders to reenact their real-life mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers. Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell examines the layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers by examining the Canadian actress/filmmaker's own families. Blackfish looks at consequences of holding wild orcas in captivity, focusing on Tilikum, a SeaWorld killer whale at the center of the deaths of three individuals. And Let the Fire Burn recalls the 1985 incident in which Philadelphia police dropped two pounds of military explosives on a city row house occupied by the radical group MOVE.

“With over 400 submissions from around the world, this year's Awards represent a thriving global documentary community,” said IDA executive director Michael Lumpkin. “Collectively these incredible stories expand our understanding of our shared human experience and foster an informed compassionate and connected world.”

Winners of the 29th annual IDA Documentary Awards will be announced December 6 at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles.

Best Feature Award

The Act of Killing

Director: Joshua Oppenheimer

Producers: Joshua Oppenheimer, Signe Byrge Sørensen

Executive Producers: Errol Morris, Werner Herzog, Torstein Grude, André Singer, Joram ten Brink, Bjarte Mørner Tveit

Drafthouse Films

Blackfish
Directors: Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Producer: Manuel V. Oteyza

Writers: Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Eli Despres

Executive Producers: Judy Bart, Erica Kahn

Magnolia Pictures

Let The Fire Burn

Director/Producer: Jason Osder

Executive Producer: Andrew Herwitz

The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs

The Square

Director: Jehane Noujaim

Producer: Karim Amer

Noujaim Films

Stories We Tell
Director/Writer: Sarah Polley

Producer: Anita Lee

Roadside Attractions


Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell.

Humanitas Documentary Award – This award is given to a film that explores the hopes and fears of human beings who are very different in culture, race, lifestyle, political loyalties and religious beliefs in order to break down the walls of ignorance which separate us.

Antons Right Here
Director: Evgeniya Blaze

Producers: Konstantin Shavlovsky , Aleksandra Golutova

Writers: Lyubov Arkus

Executive Producers: Sergey Selyanov

INTERCINEMA Agency

Blood Brother

Director: Steve Hoover

Producer: Danny Yourd

Writers: Steve Hoover, Phinehas Hodges, Tyson VanSkiver

Executive Producers: Steve Hoover, Michael Killen, Kathy Dziubek, Jim Kreitzburg, Leigh Blake, John Carlin

Independent Television Service (ITVS)

Let The Fire Burn
Director/Producer: Jason Osder

Executive Producer: Andrew Herwitz

The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs

The Square
Director: Jehane Noujaim
Producer: Karim Amer

Noujaim Films

Best Short Award

The Eduction of Muhammad Hussein

Directors: Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady

Producers: Heidi Ewing; Rachel Grady; Sadia Shepard; Sara Bernstein (for HBO)

Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins (for HBO)

HBO Documentary Films

The Flogsta Roar
Director/Producer: Johan Palmgren

Writer: Johan Palmgren and Åsa Blanck
Strix
Television AB, Swedish National Television

Nine to Ninety
Director: Alicia Dwyer

Producer: Juli Vizza

Executive Producers: Sally Jo Fifer
Independent
Television Service (ITVS)

SLOMO

Director: Josh Izenberg

Producer: Amanda Micheli

Executive Producer: Neil Izenberg

Big Young Films, Runaway Films

Vultures of Tibet

Director: Russell O. Bush

Producer: Elisabeth Oakham

Executive Producer: Gary Newsom

Bushfilm


Joshua Oppenheimer's The Act of Killing.

Best Limited Series Award

180 Days: A Year Inside An American High School

Directors/Producers: Jacquie Jones, Garland McLaurin

Executive Producer: Jacquie Jones

NPBC/PBS

Inside Combat Rescue

Producers: Jared McGilliard, John Collin, Jr.

Executive Producers: Jerry Decker, Ted Duvall, Richard J. Wells.

National Geographic Channel

Inside Man
Producers: Kristen Vaurio, Lisa Kalikow, Shannon Gibson, Suzanne Hillinger, Lara Benario

Writers: Jeremy Chilnick, Morgan Spurlock

Executive Producers: Jeremy Chilnick, Matthew Galkin, Morgan Spurlock

CNN

Viewfinder: Latin America

Directors: Manuel Contreras, Russ Finkelstein, Alfonso Gastiaburo, Juan Pablo Rojas, Paola Gosalvez, Luciana Freitas Silva, Susanna Lira, Fernanda Polacow and Juliana Borges

Producers: Rodrigo Vazquez, Patricia Boero

Writer: Ingrid Falck
Executive Producers: Flora Gregory
Series Producer: Jean Garner

Al Jazeera English

Witness
Directors: David Frankham, Abdallah Omeish

Producers: Ike Martin, Allison Kunzman, Youree Henley, Julie Herrin, Josiah Hooper

Co-Producer: Ra'uf Glasgow

Executive Producers: Michael Mann, David Frankham

Blue Light Productions and Little Puppet Productions with HBO Entertainment and HBO Documentary Films

Best Continuing Series Award

30 For 30

Producers: Libby Geist, Andy Billman, Kyle Godwin, Brian D'Ostilio, Jenna Anthony, Erin Leyden, Deirdre Fenton

Executive Producers: Connor Schell, John Dahl, Bill Simmons

ESPN

Curiosity

Producers: Geoff Deehan, Christine Weber

Executive Producers: Erik Nelson, Simon Dickson, Sanjay Singhal, Dave Harding, Mike Masland

Discovery Channel

Independent Lens
Producer: Lois Vossen

Executive Producers: Sally Jo Fifer

Independent Television Service (ITVS) in association with PBS

POV

Executive Producer: Simon Kilmurry

Co-Executive Producer: Cynthia López

VP of Programming & Production: Chris White

Series Producer: Andrew Catauro

American Documentary | POV in association with PBS

Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel

Producer: Joe Perskie

Executive Producers: Rick Bernstein

HBO Sports

David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award – This award recognizes exceptional achievement in non-fiction film and video production at the university level and brings greater public and industry awareness to the work of students in the documentary field.

Between Land And Sea

Directors/Producers/Writers: Sarah Berkovich, J. Christian Jensen

Stanford University

My Sister Sarah
Directors/Producer: Elizabeth Chatelain

University of Texas at Austin

OME: Tales From A Vanishing Homeland
Director/Producer: Raul O. Paz Pastrana

Producer: Emily Parkey

School of Visual Arts

SODIQ

Directors/Producers/Writer: Adeyemi Michael

National Film & Television School, UK

Why We Race
Directors: Kiley Vorndran, Ryan Westra, Andrew Evers, Ben Fischinger

Producer: Kiley Vorndran

Chapman University / Dodge College of Film and Media Arts

Pare Lorentz Award – The Pare Lorentz Award recognizes films that demonstrates exemplary filmmaking while focusing on the appropriate use of the natural environment, justice for all and the illumination of pressing social problems.

A Place At the Table

Directors/Producers: Lori Silverbush and Kristi Jacobson

Producers: Julie Goldman, Ryan Harrington

Magnolia Pictures 

The Pare Lorentz Committee acknowledges A River Changes Course (director Kalyanee Mam) with a Special Mention.

ABCNews Videosource Award – This award is given each year for the best use of news footage as an integral component in a documentary.

All The President's Men Revisited

Director/Producer: Peter Schnall

Executive Producers: Robert Redford, Andy Lack, Laura Michalchyshyn

Writers: Chana Gazit, Patrick Prentice

PARTISAN PICTURES in Association with SUNDANCE PRODUCTIONS

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners

Director/Producer/Writer: Shola Lynch

Producers: Sidra Smith, Carole Lambert, Carine Ruszniewski

Overbrook Entertainment

Let The Fire Burn

Director/Producer: Jason Osder

Executive Producer: Andrew Herwitz

The George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs

The Trials of Muhammad Ali

Director: Bill Siegel

Producers: Bill Siegel, Rachel Pikelny

Executive Producers: Justine Nagan, Gordon Quinn, Leon Gast, Kat White

Independent Television Service (ITVS), Kino Lorber

We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks

Director/Producer/Writer: Alex Gibney

Producer: Marc Shmuger

Focus World