Nominees Unveiled for British Documentary Awards

The Grierson Trust, in association with All3Media, has announced the final nominations for the 2024 British Documentary Awards, with the BBC sweeping 16 nominations.

Channel 4 nabbed 12, while Netflix landed 11. Four nominations went to Sky Documentaries; Paramount+ took two; and Disney+, ITV, National Geographic, Prime Video and Sky Nature got one each. Hungry Bear Media’s Me and the Voice in My Head is nominated for three awards: best science documentary, best single documentary—domestic and best documentary presenter.

Two production companies received three nominations. Mindhouse titles are nominated across three categories: Lockerbie (best documentary series), Louis Theroux Interviews: Pete Doherty (best music documentary) and The Space Shuttle That Fell to Earth (best history documentary).

This year’s awards include a new category, best popular culture documentary depicting people, events, movements or trends that have had a major impact on popular culture in recent years. The nominations are Arena–Being Kae Tempest, Big Zuu Goes to Mecca, Spacey Unmasked and Milli Vanilli, which is also nominated in the best music documentary category.

The 2024 best documentary presenter nominations recognize the achievements of four diverse newcomers to the genre who each delivered powerful personal journeys and investigations. They include Joe Tracini for Me and the Voice in My Head, Nadifa Mohamed for Britain’s Human Zoos, Rose Ayling-Ellis for Rose Ayling-Ellis: Signs for Change, and Zuhair ‘Big Zuu’ Hassan for Big Zuu Goes to Mecca.

The nominees represent the best single documentaries and factual series across broadcasters, streamers and online, as well as theatrical releases. Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony taking place on November 6 at Roundhouse in Camden, London.

Lorraine Heggessey, chair of The Grierson Trust, said: “This year’s nominees reflect the incredible depth of talent in documentary filmmaking, and especially the new, diverse voices on and off-screen breaking through to tell stories from different perspectives, which really captivate viewers on all channels and platforms. Our jurors were so impressed with the range and quality of the entries which demonstrate once again the creativity that we all must continue to nurture and celebrate during these challenging times for our industry.”