How many awards did 'The Perfect Neighbor' win at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards? Details explored

The Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards have officially announced their winners for this year. The Perfect Neighbor has become one of the event's most significant winners.

The Perfect Neighbor won two awards at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards. The title bagged the Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Editing awards at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards. However, it is worth noting that the film did not receive the top Feature prize.

Seeds also earned two wins at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards. On the other hand, Come See Me in the Good Light led the winners' list with three awards.

Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards' 2025 winners were as follows,

Nonfiction Feature: "No Other Land", Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor, Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning, Julius Pollux Rothlaender, Bård Harazi Farbu
Direction: Mati Diop, “Dahomey”
Production: Mars Verrone and Samantha Curley, “Union”
Editing: Rik Chaubet, “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
Cinematography: Christopher LaMarca and Emily Kassie, “Sugarcane”
Original Score: Uno Helmersson, “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin”
Sound Design: Ranko Pauković and Alek Bunic Goosse, “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
Visual Design: Brendan Dawes, "Eno"
Debut Feature: “No Other Land”, directed by Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor
Audience Choice Prize: “Porcelain War”, directed by Brendan Bellomo and Slava Leontyev
Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Short Filmmaking: “Incident”, directed by Bill Morrison, New Yorker
Spotlight Award: “Black Snow”, directed by Alina Simone
Heterodox Award: “Songs from the Hole”, directed by Contessa Gayles
Broadcast Film: “Slave Play. Not a Movie. A Play.”, directed by Jeremy O. Harris
Nonfiction Series: “Telemarketers”, directed by Adam Bhala Lough and Sam Lipman Stern
Anthology Series: “How To with John Wilson Season 3”, John Wilson, Nathan Fielder, Michael Koman and Clark Reinking
Broadcast Editing: “Girls State”, edited by Amy Foote
Broadcast Cinematography: “Ren Faire”, cinematography by Nate Hurtsellers

The Perfect Neighbor was officially released on January 24, 2025. The documentary is directed by Geeta Gandbhir. The producing team includes Geeta Gandbhir, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne, and Sam Bisbee. Notably, besides the Cinema Eye Honors, The Perfect Neighbor has also been shortlisted for Best Documentary Feature at the 2026 Oscars.

Cinema Eye Honors' official website reads:

"Cinema Eye was founded in 2007 on three ideals creating events to support and build community amongst those who make documentary films, recognizing the entire creative team of craftspersons that create these films and recognizing excellence, innovation and boldness in the artistry of nonfiction filmmaking."

Complete list of winners and nominees at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Best Feature at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

2000 Meters to Andriivka: Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson Rath, Alex Babenko, Sam Slater
Afternoons of Solitude: Albert Serra, Montse Triola, Luis Ferrón, Pedro Palacios, Artur Tort, Mac Verdaguer, Jordi Ribas
Come See Me in the Good Light (Winner): Ryan White, Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen, Brandon Somerhalder, Berenice Chávez, Blake Neely, Dave Richards, Brent Kiser, Andrea Gibson, Megan Falley
Cover Up: Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Yoni Golijov, Olivia Streisand, Mia Cioffi Henry, Amy Foote, Peter Bowman, Maya Shenfeld, Seymour Hersh
The Perfect Neighbor: Geeta Gandbhir, Alisa Payne, Nikon Kwantu, Sam Bisbee, Viridiana Lieberman, Laura Heinzinger, Felipe Messeder
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk: Sepideh Farsi, Javad Djavahery, Fatma Hassona, Cinna Peyghamy, Pierre Carrasco
Seeds: Brittany Shyne, Danielle Varga, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Malika Zouhali Worrall, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Daniel Timmons, Ben Kruse, Willie Head Jr

Best Direction at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Mstyslav Chernov: 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Albert Serra: Afternoons of Solitude
Ryan White: Come See Me in the Good Light
Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus: Cover Up
Geeta Gandbhir (Winner): The Perfect Neighbor
David Osit: Predators
Brittany Shyne: Seeds

Best Editing at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Michelle Mizner: 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Amy Foote, Peter Bowman, Laura Poitras: Cover Up
Alexander Kashcheev: I Am Not Everything I Want to Be
Julia Loktev, Michael Taylor: My Undesirable Friends Part 1 Last Air in Moscow
Alexandra Strauss: Orwell 2+2=5
Viridiana Lieberman (Winner): The Perfect Neighbor
Stephan Krumbiegel, Olaf Voigtländer, Alfredo Castro: Riefenstahl

Production

Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, Raney Aronson Rath: 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Andrew Jarecki, Charlotte Kaufman (Winner, Tie): The Alabama Solution
James Jones: Antidote
Petra Costa, Alessandra Orofino (Winner, Tie): Apocalypse in the Tropics
Helle Faber: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Julia Loktev: My Undesirable Friends Part 1 Last Air in Moscow

Cinematography

Artur Tort: Afternoons of Solitude
Ben Bernhard: Architecton
Brandon Somerhalder: Come See Me in the Good Light
Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo, Tor Edvin Eliassen: Folktales
Brittany Shyne (Winner): Seeds
Jean Dakar: The Tale of Silyan

Original Music Score

Sam Slater: 2000 Meters to Andriivka
Blake Neely (Winner): Come See Me in the Good Light
Maya Shenfeld: Cover Up
Kris Bowers: The Eyes of Ghana
Todd Griffin: Folktales
Alexeï Aïgui: Orwell 2+2=5

Sound Design

Alexander Dudarev: Architecton
James LeBrecht, Greg Francis, Nina Hartstone (Winner): Deaf President Now!
Andreas Lindberg Svensson: Folktales
Bonnie Wild: Marlee Matlin Not Alone Anymore
Sean Ono Lennon, Sam Gannon, Simon Hilton: One to One John and Yoko
Daniel Timmons, Ben Kruse: Seeds

Visual Design

Sara Gunnarsdóttir, Josh Shaffner (Winner): It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley
Nominees to be determined: Ghost Boy
Nominees to be determined: In Waves and War
Norn Jordan: The New Yorker at 100
Joseph Midthun: Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted
Nominees to be determined: Zodiac Killer Project

Debut

Seeds (Winner): Directed by Brittany Shyne
Marlee Matlin Not Alone Anymore: Directed by Shoshannah Stern
Monk in Pieces: Directed by Billy Shebar, David C. Roberts
Remaining Native: Directed by Paige Bethmann
The Shepherd and the Bear: Directed by Max Keegan
Swamp Dogg Gets His Pool Painted: Directed by Isaac Gale, Ryan Olson

Spotlight Award at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

To the West, in Zapata (Winner): Directed by David Bim
Always: Directed by Deming Chen
The Encampments: Directed by Michael T Workman, Kei Pritsker
Flophouse America: Directed by Monica Strømdahl
Sanatorium: Directed by Gar O’Rourke

Audience Choice Prize at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

The Tale of Silyan (Winner): Directed by Tamara Kotevska
Apocalypse in the Tropics: Directed by Petra Costa
Coexistence, My Ass!: Directed by Amber Fares
Come See Me in the Good Light: Directed by Ryan White
The Eyes of Ghana: Directed by Ben Proudfoot
It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley: Directed by Amy Berg
The Librarians: Directed by Kim A. Snyder
Marlee Matlin Not Alone Anymore: Directed by Shoshannah Stern
Mr. Nobody Against Putin: Directed by David Borenstein
Prime Minister: Directed by Michelle Walsh, Lindsay Utz

Audience Choice Prize Longlist at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Cover Up: Directed by Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus
Cutting Through Rocks: Directed by Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni
Deaf President Now!: Directed by Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim
Folktales: Directed by Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady
Orwell 2+2=5: Directed by Raoul Peck
The Perfect Neighbor: Directed by Geeta Gandbhir

Unforgettables Honorees at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Noam Shuster Eliassi: Coexistence, My Ass!
Andrea Gibson, Megan Falley: Come See Me in the Good Light
Seymour Hersh: Cover Up
Sara Shahverdi: Cutting Through Rocks
Pavel Talankin: Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Jacinda Ardern: Prime Minister
Fatma Hassona: Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk

Shorts List at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

All The Empty Rooms (Winner): Directed by Joshua Seftel
Am I the skinniest person you’ve ever seen?: Directed by Eisha Marjara
Armed Only With a Camera The Life and Death of Brent Renaud: Directed by Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud
Crying Glacier: Directed by Lutz Stautner
The Devil is Busy: Directed by Geeta Gandbhir, Christalyn Hampton
The Long Valley: Directed by Rodrigo Ojeda Beck, Robert Machoian
Mama Micra: Directed by Rebecca Blöcher
perfectly a strangeness: Directed by Alison McAlpine
We Were The Scenery: Directed by Christopher Radcliff
Who Loves The Sun: Directed by Arshia Shakiba

Broadcast Film at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Pee wee as Himself (Winner): Directed by Matt Wolf, HBO Max
Deaf President Now!: Directed by Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Apple TV+
Democracy Noir: Directed by Connie Field, SWR, ARTE, DR
Enigma: Directed by Zackary Drucker, HBO Max
My Mom Jayne: Directed by Mariska Hargitay, HBO Max
Sly Lives! aka The Burden of Black Genius: Directed by Ahmir Questlove Thompson, Hulu, Onyx Collective

Nonfiction Series at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Social Studies (Winner): Directed by Lauren Greenfield, FX on Hulu
Chimp Crazy: Directed by Eric Goode, HBO Max
Couples Therapy: Directed by Pax Wassermann, Bennett Elliott, Paramount+
Dallas, 2019: Directed by Darius Clark Monroe, PBS Independent Lens
The Sing Sing Chronicles: Directed by Dawn Porter, MSNBC
The Stanford Prison Experiment Unlocking the Truth: Directed by Juliette Eisner, National Geographic

Anthology Series at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Conan O’Brien Must Go (Winner): Executive producers Conan O’Brien, Jeff Ross, HBO Max
Harlem Ice: Executive producers Sara Bernstein, Justin Wilkes, Robin Roberts, Geeta Gandbhir, Meredith Kaulfers, Alisa Payne, Disney+
Omnivore: Executive producers René Redzepi, Ben Liebmann, Chris Rice, Matt Goulding, Collin Orcutt, Mateo Willis, Apple TV+
Our Oceans: Executive producers Jonathan Smith, James Honeyborne, Netflix
SNL50 Beyond Saturday Night: Executive producers Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Juaquin Cambron, Peacock
Tucci In Italy: Executive producers Stanley Tucci, Lottie Birmingham, Amanda Lyon, Simon Raikes, National Geographic

Broadcast Editing at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Social Studies (Winner): Edited by Alyse Ardell Spiegel, Helen Kearns, Catherine Bull, Charles Little II, FX on Hulu
Deaf President Now!: Edited by Michael Harte, Apple TV+
My Mom Jayne: Edited by JD Marlow, HBO Max
Pee wee as Himself: Edited by Damian Rodriguez, HBO Max
Sly Lives! aka The Burden of Black Genius: Edited by Joshua L. Pearson, Hulu
Wise Guy David Chase and The Sopranos: Edited by Andy Grieve, HBO Max

Broadcast Cinematography at the 2026 Cinema Eye Honors Documentary Awards

Omnivore (Winner): Directors of photography Tom Elliott, Sy Turnbull, Jurgen Lisse, Apple TV+
Chef’s Table Legends: Director of photography Will Basanta, Netflix
Dallas, 2019: Director of photography Christine Ng, PBS Independent Lens
No Taste Like Home with Antoni Porowski: Director of photography Steve Lidgerwood, National Geographic
Our Oceans: Directors of photography Roger Munns, Roger Horrocks, Justin Maguire, Ryan Tidman, Jamie McPherson, Netflix
Social Studies: Directors of photography Bryan Donnell, Jenna Rosher, Jerry Risius, FX on Hulu

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