On night two of the 46th News & Documentary Emmy Awards Thursday night, MSNBC took home the night’s biggest prize, Best Documentary, for “The Sing Sing Chronicles.”
But at the ceremony focused on documentary programming, National Geographic led all winners with six award, taking home Outstanding Historical Documentary and Outstanding Nature Documentary among others. Netflix followed, with two programming wins (Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary and Outstanding Investigative Documentary) and two craft wins (Outstanding Cinematography — Documentary and Outstanding Light Direction — Documentary).
PBS historically does well on the second night of the annual ceremony, often leading the pack in documentary programming with series like “Frontline,” “POV” and “Independent Lens.” Tonight’s two documentary programming wins brought the network’s two total to 19 this decade. They also saw three Gold/Silver Circle inductees — this amid President Donald Trump’s calls to cut the network’s funding.
Jon Else received the night’s Lifetime Achievement Award for documentary, presented by ITVS President and CEO Carrie Lozano. Else is a four-time Emmy nominee for his work as a documentary director, writer and cinematographer on projects such as “Yosemite: The Fate Of Heaven” and “America’s Endangered Species: Don’t Say Good-bye”. Else follows Alex Gibney, who was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024, and Barbara Kopple, who was recognized in 2023. “Today” journalist Al Roker received a Lifetime Achievement Award for news during the ceremony’s first night.
This year’s Gold Circle inductees for documentary were filmmakers Michael Kirk (PBS Frontline and Kirk Documentary Group), Gordon Quinn (Kartemquin Films) and Marcia Smith (Firelight Media). The night’s documentary Silver Circle inductees included were producer/writer/director Gemma Cubero del Barrio (PBS) and editor Aljernon Tunsil (PBS and Firelight Films).
Below, read the complete list of winners for Night 2 of the 46th News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
Best Documentary
“The Sing Sing Chronicles”
MSNBC
Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary
“Madu”
Disney+
Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary
“We Will Dance Again”
Paramount+
Outstanding Social Issue Documentary
“Two American Families: 1991-2024”
FRONTLINE
PBS
Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary
“The Sixth”
A24
Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary
“Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy”
Netflix
Outstanding Investigative Documentary
“American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders”
Netflix
Outstanding Historical Documentary
“Tsunami: Race Against Time”
National Geographic
Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary
“Hunt for the Oldest DNA”
NOVA
PBS
Outstanding Nature Documentary
“Paul Nicklen & Cristina Mittermeier: Win or Die”
Photographer
National Geographic
Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary
“The Trust vs. Alex Jones”
HBO | Max
Outstanding Short Documentary
“The Dirty Business of Monkey Laundering”
Bloomberg Investigates
Bloomberg
Outstanding Writing — Documentary
“Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story”
National Geographic
Writer Charlie Hamilton James
Outstanding Research — Documentary
“The Grab”
Center for Investigative Reporting Studios
Researchers McKenzie Funk, Nathan Halverson, JoeBill Muñoz, Mallory Newman, Amanda Pike, David Ritsher, Emma C. Schwartz, Yinuo Shi
Outstanding Direction — Documentary
“Frida”
Prime Video
Director Carla Gutiérrez
Outstanding Cinematography — Documentary
“Secret World of Sound with David Attenborough”
Netflix
Directors of Photography Kevin Flay, Hugo Kitching
Camerapeople James Aldred, Luke Barnett, Ralph Bower, Duncan Brake, Tavish Campbell, Rod Clarke, Ben Cunningham, Filipe Deandre, Adam Horder, Deidre Leowinata, Katie Mayhew, Sam Meyrick, Roger Munns, Duncan Parker, Robin Smith, Romilly Spiers, Gavin Thurston, Darren West, Mark Yates
Outstanding Editing — Documentary
“Blink”
National Geographic
Editors Ryan Mullins, Miranda Yousef
Associate Editor Rachelle Hamilton
Outstanding Graphic Design — Documentary
“Omnivore”
Apple TV+
Designer Margherita Premuroso
Lead Designer Sky Bird
Animators Steven Do, Cindy SooHoo, Trix Taylor
Creative Lead Benjamin Woodlock
Designer/Animator Steve Biggert
Graphics Editors Rachel Fowler, Javier Gonzales
Outstanding Music Composition — Documentary
“Endurance”
National Geographic
Composer Daniel Pemberton
Outstanding Sound — Documentary
“Earthsounds”
Apple TV+
Sound Recordist Marc Anderson
Sound Editors Jonny Crew, Tom Mercer, Tim Owens, Luke O’Connell, Owen Peters, Owen Shirley
Dubbing Mixer Graham Wild
Foley Artist Paul Ackerman, Rory Joseph, Myles Ackerman Smith
Foley Editor Ellie Bowler
Sound Supervisor Kate Hopkins
Outstanding Lighting Direction — Documentary
“Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial”
Netflix
Director of Photography Jeff Hutchens
Outstanding Art Direction / Set Decoration / Scenic Design — Documentary
“You’re Being Lied To About Voter Fraud. Here’s the Truth.”
The New York Times Opinion
Creative Director Neil Makhija
Art Director Jim Batt, Kim Bookbinder, Molly Crabapple
Outstanding Promotional Announcement — Documentary
“Billy & Molly: An Otter Love Story”
National Geographic
Executive Producer Chris Spencer
Creative Director Nicole Strong
Producers Michael Knopf, Mihaela Muhtarova
Design Director Carla Daeninckx
Editor Martin Wrench
Executive Creative Director Andrew Snook
Project Manager Isabella Alonzo
Senior Writer/Producer David Numbers
Outstanding Regional Documentary
“The Holly”
Rocky Mountain Public Media
Director/Producer Julian Rubinstein
Producers Dia Sokol Svage, Donnie I. Betts
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