‘Lakota Nation vs. United States’ Takes Top Prize at 2024 News & Documentary Emmy Awards

Lakota Nation vs. United States was named best documentary on night two of the 2024 News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

The film counts Mark Ruffalo and Marisa Tomei among its executive producers. It was directed by Jesse Short Bull and Laura Tomaselli and produced by Benjamin Hedin and Phil Pinto, with all four serving as writers.

The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences handed out the awards, which were presented at the Palladium Times Square in New York City, on Thursday night. W. Kamau Bell hosted the ceremony.

Also during the ceremony, documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by fellow documentarian Sheila Nevins. 

The News & Documentary Emmys are handed out at two individual ceremonies: Categories honoring TV news programming were presented Wednesday, while awards in the documentary categories were presented Thursday. On night one, CNN, ABC and National Geographic were among the top winners.

The 45th annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards honor programming content from more than 2,200 submissions that originally premiered in 2023. They were judged by a pool of 980 peer professionals from across the television and streaming/digital media news and documentary industry.

A full list of night two winners follows.

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Lakota Nation vs. United States (AMC+) [Unceded Films, LLC | IFC Films]

OUTSTANDING CURRENT AFFAIRS DOCUMENTARY
Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food (Netflix) [Campfire Studios | Atlas Films]

OUTSTANDING POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTARY
Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court; Frontline (PBS)

OUTSTANDING SOCIAL ISSUE DOCUMENTARY
Eat Your Catfish; POV (PBS) [Zela Film | American Documentary, POV]

OUTSTANDING INVESTIGATIVE DOCUMENTARY
Global Spyware Scandal: Exposing Pegasus; Frontline (PBS) [FRONTLINE | Forbidden Film | the Forbidden Stories Consortium]

OUTSTANDING HISTORICAL DOCUMENTARY
Free Chol Soo Lee, Independent Lens (PBS)

OUTSTANDING ARTS AND CULTURE DOCUMENTARY
Little Richard: I Am Everything (CNN Films | Max) [Bungalow Media + Entertainment]

OUTSTANDING SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DOCUMENTARY
Science Fair: The Series (National Geographic) [Muck Media]

OUTSTANDING NATURE DOCUMENTARY
Path of the Panther (National Geographic) [Grizzly Creek Films | Wildpath | National Geographic | Common Pictures | Appian Way]

OUTSTANDING BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DOCUMENTARY
Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul (Netflix) [Amblin Television | This Machine (a part of Sony Pictures Television) | TIME Studios]

OUTSTANDING CRIME AND JUSTICE DOCUMENTARY
Murder in Boston: Roots, Rampage & Reckoning (HBO | Max) [HBO Documentary Films | The Boston Globe | Little Room Films

OUTSTANDING SHORT DOCUMENTARY
The Silent Witness: Life Stories

OUTSTANDING WRITING: DOCUMENTARY
Nazis at Nuremberg: The Lost Testimony (National Geographic) [Steve Rotfeld Productions]

OUTSTANDING RESEARCH: DOCUMENTARY
Victim/Suspect (Netflix) [Motto Pictures | Center for Investigative Reporting Studios]

OUTSTANDING DIRECTION: DOCUMENTARY
Lakota Nation vs. United States (AMC+) [Unceded Films, LLC, | IFC Films]

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY: DOCUMENTARY
Murder in Big Horn (Showtime) [Fairhaven]

OUTSTANDING EDITING: DOCUMENTARY
American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing (Netflix) [The Cut | Tillerman Films | Ventureland]

OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC DESIGN: DOCUMENTARY
World War II: From the Front Lines (Netflix) [72 Films]

OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION: DOCUMENTARY
World War II: From the Front Lines (Netflix) [72 Films]

OUTSTANDING SOUND: DOCUMENTARY
Incredible Animal Journeys (National Geographic) [Plimsoll Productions]

OUTSTANDING LIGHTING DIRECTION: DOCUMENTARY
To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb (MSNBC Films; MSNBC) [NBC News Studios]

OUTSTANDING ART DIRECTION / SET DECORATION / SCENIC DESIGN: DOCUMENTAR
Stan Lee (Disney +) [Marvel Studios]

OUTSTANDING PROMOTIONAL ANNOUNCEMENT: DOCUMENTARY
JFK: One Day in America (National Geographic) [72 Films | JAX]

OUTSTANDING REGIONAL DOCUMENTARY
The Lost Story of Emmett Till: Then and Now (WMAQ) [Chicago/Midwest Chapter]