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Meet the Nominees: Documentary

January 25, 2020

72nd Annual DGA Awards

On January 24, DGA members enjoyed the 2020 edition of the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event in the Guild’s Los Angeles Theater. Following a welcome from DGA Past President Taylor Hackford, DGA Documentary Host Committee Co-Chair James Moll, who served as moderator of the event, introduced the DGA’s Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Award nominees for 2019: Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert (American Factory) and Alex Holmes (Maiden). Illustrated by clips from each film, the nominees joined Moll in a lively and entertaining conversation about their work.

The event was followed by a reception where the nominees mingled with DGA members and guests. Nominees Feras Fayyad (The Cave), Ljubomir Stefanov & Tamara Kotevska (Honeyland) and Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang (One Child Nation) were unable to attend.

 

Pictures & Video

photos by Howard Wise

View slideshow
Watch Highlight
HIGHLIGHT: Director Julia Reichert speaks about how access and trust aren’t the same within the documentary form and how she and her co-director Steven Bognar established trust with the subjects of American Factory.
Watch Highlight
HIGHLIGHT: Director Steven Bognar explains how he and his co-director Julia Reichert sought to portray multiple points of view within their film American Factory.
Watch Highlight
HIGHLIGHT: Director Alex Holmes describes the ending of Maiden and his considerations of how to tell the story that responded to the complexity of the moment.
DGA Past President Taylor Hackford, DGA Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Award nominees for 2019: Alex Holmes (Maiden), Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar (American Factory) and DGA Documentary Host Committee Co-Chair James Moll (moderator). [Not pictured: Nominees Feras Fayyad (The Cave), Ljubomir Stefanov & Tamara Kotevska (Honeyland) and Nanfu Wang & Jialing Zhang (One Child Nation).]
DGA Past President Taylor Hackford welcomes the audience to the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event in the Guild’s Los Angeles Theater.
DGA Documentary Host Committee Co-Chair James Moll introduces the attending nominees.
DGA Documentary Host Committee Co-Chair James Moll (moderator) and Documentary Award Nominees Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar (American Factory) and Alex Holmes (Maiden) take the stage to discuss their work. [Not present: Nominees Feras Fayyad (The Cave), Ljubomir Stefanov & Tamara Kotevska (Honeyland) and Nanfu Wang & Jialing Zhang (One Child Nation).]
Nominee Alex Holmes explains how he was inspired to make Maiden, a film that follows the first ever all-female crew to compete in the Whitbread Round-the-World Race, a grueling yachting competition that covers 33,000 miles and lasts nine months.
Nominee Steven Bognar speaks about his collaboration with Julia Reichert on the making of American Factory, a film about what happened when a Chinese billionaire opened a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant in post-industrial Ohio.
Nominee Julia Reichert reveals some of the challenges she and nominee Steven Bognar faced in the making of American Factory.
Documentary Awards Committee Co-Chair James Moll (moderator) listens to an answer from one of the nominees.
Nominee Alex Holmes chats with attendees following the discussion portion of the 2020 edition of the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event.
DGA members and guests attend the reception following the 2020 edition of the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event.
Nominee Steven Bognar chats with attendees during the reception following the 2020 edition of the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event.
DGA members and guests enjoy the reception following the 2020 edition of the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event.
DGA members and guests enjoy the reception following the 2020 edition of the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event.
Nominee Julia Reichert chats with attendees during the reception following the 2020 edition of the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event.
Former DGA Board Member Scott Rindenow and UPM Suzanne Stanford attend the reception following the 2020 edition of the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event.
DGA members and guests enjoy the reception following the 2020 edition of the Meet the Nominees: Documentary event.
DGA Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Award nominees for 2019: Alex Holmes (Maiden) and Julia Reichert and Steven Bognar (American Factory). [Not pictured: Nominees Feras Fayyad (The Cave), Ljubomir Stefanov & Tamara Kotevska (Honeyland) and Nanfu Wang & Jialing Zhang (One Child Nation).]

Calendar

5/30/2025 - 6/5/2025

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Meet the Nominees: Theatrical Feature Film
72nd Annual DGA Awards
Meet the Nominees: Commercials
72nd Annual DGA Awards
17th Annual Meet the AD/UPMs of the DGA Award-Nominated Projects
A Western AD/UPM Council Education Committee Event
Meet the Nominees: Reality Programs
72nd Annual DGA Awards