Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s Peabody Award-nominated portrait of the titular beloved Superman actor 20 years after his passing, has been accepted for consideration for the Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking Emmy, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
For this special category, documentaries are submitted to the TV Academy’s documentary peer group for initial consideration, and must meet three criteria: (1) exemplary filmmaking, (2) profound social impact, and (3) innovation of form. If they clear that hurdle, as Super/Man has, they become ineligible “in any other documentary/nonfiction special or series program area,” and are forwarded to a special jury, which ultimately picks three or four titles each year for a nomination. In other words, they either end up with a nomination in this category, or none at all.
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Super/Man had its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, and received a limited theatrical release in Sept. 2024 en route to its HBO/Max debut on Dec. 7, 2024. After receiving Rotten Tomatoes scores of 98 percent from both critics and audiences, it was selected by the National Board of Review as one of the year’s top five documentary films, and won the best documentary prize of the BAFTA Awards, Producers Guild Awards and Critics Choice Documentary Awards. But when the best documentary feature Oscar shortlist of 15 titles was released, it was the most shocking omission.
HBO/Max has the strongest track record of success in the 20-year history of the Exception Merit in Documentary Filmmaking category, having won 10 times, twice as many as its nearest competitor, including last year with Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project.
This year, the cable network has also submitted Quad Gods, a documentary about New Yorkers with quadriplegia who form an esports team, for consideration for the honor.
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