From top left: Niema Jordan (MJ/MPH ’16), Bo Kovitz (’19), Lauren Capps (’12), Tommy Nguyen (‘05), Bret Sigler (’03), Singeli Agnew (’07) and Carrie Lozano (’05).
A stunning four out of five of the films nominated in the International Documentary Association’s IDA Awards for Best Episodic Series this year are from the UC Berkeley Journalism community — setting up a friendly showdown of J-Schoolers in what is considered among the most prestigious awards in doc filmmaking.
Directors Bret Sigler (’03) and Singeli Agnew (’07) are nominated for the four-part PBS series “Citizen Nation”; Producer Lauren Capps (’12) for the four-part docuseries “The Sing Sing Chronicles” (NBC News Studios in association with Trilogy Films, MSNBC Films); Producer Niema Jordan (MJ/MPH ’16) for the six-part HBO documentary series “Eyes on the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest 1977–2015” (Emeritus Professor Jon Else is a series advisor, Rafael Roy (’18) is director of photography for Episode 5 and Katie Bernstein (’21) was lead assistant editor and post-supervisor across the series) and Producers Bo Kovitz (’19) and Tommy Nguyen (’05) for the five-part Netflix documentary series “Turning Point: The Vietnam War,” examining the harrowing consequences of the Vietnam War, from the Gulf of Tonkin incident to the fall of Saigon.
Alum and Advisory Board member Carrie Lozano (’05) is nominated for Best Curated Series for “Independent Lens” (PBS), a leading incubator and presenter of independent documentaries made by diverse filmmakers.
Jennifer Redfearn
“Many of our alumni are now producing and directing deeply reported, award-winning documentary series,” Jennifer Redfearn, professor and director of the documentary program, said. “Creating nonfiction series at that level is a formidable challenge, and we’re thrilled to see their work celebrated.”
This year, IDA received 550+ entries in all categories from 85 countries, an increase over last year in the total number of countries represented. IDA Documentary Awards entries were reviewed by jurors consisting of many dozens of documentary professionals from around the world. The 41st IDA Documentary Awards will be presented on December 6.
Tommy Nguyen (‘05) on location producing the five-part series “Turning Point: The Vietnam War” for Netflix.
Watch the Trailers
About the Nominees
Singeli Agnew (’07) is a director, writer and cinematographer currently based in Washington DC. In 2018, she helped launch “The Weekly,” —The New York Times’ first original tv-documentary series — and prior to that was a cinematographer and producer for the HBO nightly news series “Vice News Tonight,” responsible for driving coverage from their Middle East Bureau. Her work for the series garnered six Emmy nominations —including two nominations and a win for her camera work — as well as an Overseas Press Club Award and a Murrow Award. From 2011–2016, Agnew was a principal cinematographer and a producer for Al Jazeera’s flagship current affairs show,“Fault Lines,” where she made the Peabody-winning film “Haiti in a Time of Cholera.” Agnew grew up on a sheep ranch in rural Montana and started her career as a newspaper photographer in the American west.
Lauren Capps (’12) was a producer for the four-part docuseries “Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court” for Trilogy Films and Showtime/Paramount +, which received the 2024 Television Academy Honors and was nominated for the Film Independent Spirit Awards, Critics Choice Documentary Awards and International Documentary Association Awards. Lauren was story producer for the Trilogy Films projects “Rise Again: Tulsa and The Red Summer” for National Geographic, “John Lewis: Good Trouble” for CNN Films and “Bobby Kennedy for President” for Netflix. She co-produced “Harvest Season,” broadcast on PBS’ Independent Lens and produced several episodes of the series “Fault Lines,” including “Forgotten Youth: Inside America’s Prisons,” which was nominated for two 2016 News and Documentary Emmy Awards.“Captive Radio,” a short documentary Capps produced, directed and edited, screened at film festivals around the world, won Best Short Documentary at the San Diego Latino Film Festival and was nominated for the International Documentary Association Awards. She was associate producer for “Rape in the Fields/Violación de un Sueño,” which was broadcast on PBS FRONTLINE and Univisión and won a 2014 duPont-Columbia Award and Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. She worked with MediaStorm on “Crisis Guide: Iran,” which won a 2012 Emmy Award, and has produced content for PBS NewsHour, Center for Investigative Reporting and the George Lucas Educational Foundation, among others. Read our recent interview with her here.
Niema Jordan (MJ/MPH ’16) is a journalist, TEDx Speaker, and an award-winning filmmaker from Oakland, California. She has a passion for character-driven stories and harnessing the power of media for positive community impact. Early in her career, Jordan navigated the New York media landscape and got her start at Essence magazine. She later returned home to pursue graduate degrees in journalism and public health. Her work has been published in Ebony, and Glamour. Her production credits include “Oasis, The Chosen Life, Bobby Kennedy for President,” “The Me You Can’t See, Eyes On The Prize: Hallowed Ground,” and “Bree Wayy: Promise, Witness, Remembrance.” She is also a producer on HBO’s, “Eyes On the Prize III: We Who Believe in Freedom.”
Jordan is the co-director of Cinemama and serves on the board of Oakland Kids First. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Sorority, Inc., and an alum of Northwestern University.
Bo Kovitz (’19) is an independent documentary filmmaker, producer and journalist. She has a passion for untold histories and social justice stories, and has brought that sensibility to a variety of documentary projects from feature films to high-profile docu-series. She produced Luminant Media’s critically-acclaimed “Turning Point: The Vietnam War,” Trilogy Films’ “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” and “Legacy,” a 10-part Hulu docu-series that chronicles the family succession saga behind the storied Los Angeles Lakers franchise. Kovitz previously worked in print and investigative journalism, starting as a city beat reporter in Berkeley. In 2019, she completed her masters at UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism, where she was the Marlon T. Riggs Fellow in documentary film.
Carrie Lozano (’05) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, journalist and media executive. She is currently President and CEO of ITVS, public media’s leading incubator and co-producer of independent film, and presenter of the series “Independent Lens.” Prior to ITVS, she was director of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film and Artist Programs, which serves hundreds of filmmakers each year with funding, labs, fellowships and intensive artist support. She previously launched and directed the International Documentary Association’s Enterprise Documentary Fund, where she supported filmmakers with funds and professional development on projects at the intersection of documentary and journalism, including “Welcome To Chechnya,” “A Thousand Cuts,” “Through the Night,” “Always In Season” and “One Child Nation.”
Lozano was also a documentary executive at Al Jazeera America and a senior producer of the network’s investigative series “Fault Lines,” where her team garnered numerous honors including an Emmy, a Peabody and several Headliner Awards.
Among other work, Lozano led BAVC Media’s MediaMaker Fellowship and was a lecturer in the Documentary Program at U.C. Berkeley Journalism. She produced the Academy Award-nominated documentary “The Weather Underground,” the live cinema piece “Utopia In Four Movements” and produced, directed and edited the Teddy Award nominee “Reporter Zero.” Her most recent film, the 2016 documentary “The Ballad of Fred Hersch,” is a portrait of one of today’s foremost jazz pianists. In addition to serving on ProPublica’s board of directors, Lozano serves on the advisory boards of U.C. Berkeley Journalism and PBS Frontline, and is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Tommy Nguyen (‘05) is a journalist and documentary filmmaker who produced the five-part series “Turning Point: The Vietnam War” for Netflix. He produced the documentary film “Every Body” (Focus Features) and episodes for the TV series “Trafficked” (Nat Geo) and “American Greed” (CNBC). Tommy spent 15 years at NBC News, producing in-depth stories on topics ranging from criminal justice reform to breakthrough medical treatments. A former print reporter, he has written for The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and other outlets. He has received more than a dozen Emmy Award nominations (News, Documentary and Daytime Emmys) and is an Edward R. Murrow Award recipient.
Bret Sigler (’03) is an Emmy Award winning (five-time nominated) filmmaker and showrunner who has directed, edited and shot documentaries for PBS, Netflix, ABC, Prime Video, Hulu, MSNBC, VICE, Peacock, NatGeo, Bravo, TIME, and The New York Times. His work has also been recognized by the Independent Spirit Awards, the International Documentary Association, the Mirror Awards, the CINE Masters’ Series, the Chris Awards, the Brooklyn Arts Council, the Webby Awards, FOCAL International, the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Scripps Howard Foundation, the Institute for Nonprofit News and the American Bar Association. It has screened at MOMA, The Kennedy Center, HotDocs, Tribeca, and at numerous other film festivals around the world.
–Marlena Telvick
