The wild and wacky Primetime Emmy documentary nods are back upon us, with their eclectic mix of true television documentaries, acquired nonfiction feature films (some of which premiered at festivals 2+ years ago) and episodes of nonfiction series, all vying for trophies that will be handed out at the Creative Arts Emmys in September.
Of the true feature docs, Amy Rice and Alicia Sams behind-the-scenes look at the 2008 presidential campaign, BY THE PEOPLE: THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA - which was picked up during production by HBO - led all comers, netting three nominations: for Outstanding Nonfiction Special, Direction and Editing.
For most features, however, namely festival favorites from 2008 (THE BETRAYAL, PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE, PRESSURE COOKER) and 2009 (SERGIO), a single nomination would have to suffice. All four of those films will vie for the Emmy for Exception Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking, up against Sundance Channel's BRICK CITY and PBS' MY LAI.
In most of the tech categories, the true features were mostly knocked out by episodes of Discovery Channel's Life and Deadliest Catch, CBS's The Amazing Race and History Channel's America: The Story of Us.
Still, the list of Emmy nominees is heavy on bold-faced names (or as bold-faced as we get in the doc world), with Sheila Nevins, Nancy Abraham, Cara Mertes, Simon Kilmurry, Sam Pollard, Ellen Kuras, John Battsek, Julie Goldman, Morgan Spurlock (nominated for his Simpsons documentary for Fox) and Ken Burns (nommed for his National Parks series, though notably not for his direction).
A full list of doc-centric nominees after the jump, not a Glee cast member among them...
Exceptional Merit In Nonfiction Filmmaking
BRICK CITY
Sundance Channel
Executive Producers: Marc Levin, Mark Benjamin, Forest Whitaker and Mala Chapple
MY LAI
PBS American Experience
Producer: Barak Goodman
Executive Producer: Mark Samels
Senior Producer: Sharon Grimberg
Series Producer: Susan Bellows
NERAHKOON (THE BETRAYAL)
PBS POV
Producer: Ellen Kuras
Executive Producers: Simon Kilmurry and Cara Mertes
PATTI SMITH: DREAM OF LIFE
PBS POV
Executive Producers: Simon Kilmurry, Steven Sebring and Margaret Smilow
PRESSURE COOKER
BET
Executive Producer: Jeff Skoll
SERGIO
HBO
Producers: Greg Barker, John Battsek & Julie Goldman
Executive Producers: Sheila Nevins and Nancy Abraham
Outstanding Nonfiction Special
BELIEVE: THE EDDIE IZZARD STORY
EPIXHD
Producers: James Goddard and Sarah Townsend
Executive Producers: Max Burgos, John Gore and James Goddard
BY THE PEOPLE: THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA
HBO
Producers: Amy Rice, Alicia Sams, Edward Norton, Stuart Blumberg and William Migliore
JOHNNY MERCER: THE DREAM'S ON ME
TCM
Producer: Bruce Ricker
Executive Producer: Clint Eastwood
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE IN THE 2000s: TIME AND AGAIN
NBC
Producers: Ken Bowser and Declan Baldwin
Supervising Producer: Ken Aymong
THE SIMPSONS: 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL - IN 3-D! ON ICE!
Fox
Executive Producers: Morgan Spurlock and Jeremy Chilnick
TEDDY: IN HIS OWN WORDS
HBO
Producers: Peter Kunhardt and Sheila Nevins
Executive Producers: Dyllan McGee and Jacqueline Glover
Outstanding Nonfiction Series
American Experience
PBS
Executive Producer: Mark Samels
Senior Producer: Sharon Grimberg
Series Producer: Susan Bellows
Producers: Ric Burns, Mary Recine, Bonnie Lafave and Robin Espinola
American Masters
PBS
Executive Producer: Susan Lacy
Series Producer: Prudence Glass
Supervising Producer: Julia Sacks
Producers: John Beug, Jeffrey Jampol, Dick Wolf and Peter Jankowski
Deadliest Catch
Discovery Channel
Executive Producers: Thom Beers, Jeff Conroy, Paul Gasek and Tracy Rudolph
Co-Executive Producer: Matt Renner
Supervising Producer: Ethan Prochnik
Producer: Eric Lange
Life
Discovery Channel
Executive Producers: Catherine McCarthy, Michael Gunton and Susan Winslow
Producer: Paul Spillenger
Series Producer: Martha Holmes
Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)
IFC
Executive Producers: Christine Lubrano, Harold Gronenthal and George Lentz
Supervising Producer: Andrew Winter
Series Producers: Bill Jones and Ben Timlett
The National Parks: America's Best Idea
PBS
Producers: Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan
Outstanding Directing for Nonfiction Programming
The Amazing Race - "I Think We're Fighting the Germans, Right?"
CBS
Director: Bertram van Munster
BY THE PEOPLE: THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA
HBO
Directors: Amy Rice and Alicia Sams
Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)
IFC
Directors: Bill Jones and Ben Timlett
MY LAI
PBS
Director: Barak Goodman
TERROR IN MUMBAI
HBO
Director: Dan Reed
Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming
America: The Story of Us - "Division"
History
Editor: Matt Lowe
BY THE PEOPLE: THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA
HBO
Editors: Sam Pollard, Geeta Gandbhir and Arielle Amsalem
Deadliest Catch - "No Second Chances"
Discovery Channel
Supervising Editor: Kelly Coskran
Editor: Josh Earl
Life - "Challenges of Life"
Discovery Channel
Editors: Martin Ellsbury and Sharon Gillooly
Whale Wars - "The Stuff of Nightmares"
Animal Planet
Lead Editor: Eric Myerson
Editors: Andy Schrader and Joseph McCasland
Outstanding Cinematography for Nonfiction Programming
America: The Story of Us - "Division"
History
Cinematographer: Dirk Nel
Deadliest Catch - "No Second Chances"
Discovery Channel
Cinematography Team
Life - "Challenges of Life"
Discovery Channel
Cinematography Team
The National Parks: America's Best Ideas - "The Scripture of Nature"
PBS
Cinematographer: Buddy Squires
Whale Wars - "The Stuff of Nightmares"
Animal Planet
Cinematography Team
Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming
America: The Story of Us - "Division"
History
Writer: Jenny Ash
Contributing Writer: Ed Fields
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - "Prague"
Travel Channel
Writer: Anthony Bourdain
THE BUDDHA
PBS
Writer: David Grubin
Life - "Challenges of Life"
Discovery Channel
Writer: Paul Spillenger
The National Parks: America's Best Ideas - "The Last Refuge"
PBS
Writer: Dayton Duncan
Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single of Multi-Camera)
The Amazing Race - "I Think We're Fighting the Germans, Right?"
CBS
America: The Story of Us - "Division"
History
Discovery Channel
The National Parks: America's Best Ideas - "The Scripture of Nature"
PBS
TEDDY: IN HIS OWN WORDS
HBO
Outstanding Sound Mixing for Nonfiction Programming
The Amazing Race - "I Think We're Fighting the Germans, Right?"
CBS
Deadliest Catch - "No Second Chances"
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
The National Parks: America's Best Ideas - "The Scripture of Nature"
PBS
Spectacle Elvis Costello With... - "Bruce Springsteen - Part 1 & 2"
Sundance Channel
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