PGA Awards 2026 documentary nominees and Innovation Award finalists: Complete list explored

The Producers Guild of America (PGA) has officially announced its 2026 nominees for Documentary Motion Pictures and the finalists for the 2026 PGA Innovation Award. The Producers Guild of America Awards are relatively significant for producers, studios, audiences, and more who take an interest in the awards season.

The documentary race at the Producers Guild of America Awards is one of the most notable categories. This year's slate highlights films backed by HBO Documentary Films, Netflix, National Geographic, and independent companies. Seven titles have been nominated.

Alongside the documentary nominees, the Producers Guild of America also revealed the finalists for the Innovation Award. The Innovation Award finalists are chosen from filmmaking with new technologies, virtual production, and other interactive experiments.

PGA Awards' latest official Instagram post features a note from the producer of Anora, Samantha Quan. It reads:

"Producers are fixers. On an independent film, you’re constantly solving problems with limited time and money you don’t have the luxury of throwing cash at an issue, so you have to get creative fast. On Anora, for example, we needed extra days to shoot a crucial real-time home invasion scene. We reallocated funds from the music budget, since we hadn’t planned on licensing many big-ticket songs."

Her statement continues:

"Naturally, once we were in post, the director fell in love with several expensive tracks while editing. We managed to work most of them out, but there was one song in particular he was really attached to a cool but very pricey track that became a bit of a thorn in our side. So we searched high and low, digging through endless libraries and playlists ourselves, working with the music supervisor, and even asking dancers and consultants for their go-to tracks. Eventually, one of those suggestions led us to a perfect ‘deep cut’ that felt authentic and fresh. We had it cut into the scene to make the best case possible, and when we showed it to the director, he immediately changed his mind — he loved it even more than the original. It was one of those eleventh-hour saves that remind you what producing really is: staying resourceful, keeping calm, and somehow turning constraints into something better."

PGA Awards also issued an official press release to announce the 2026 documentary nominees and Innovation Award finalists. It mentioned:

"Today, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced the nominees for Documentary Motion Pictures and finalists for the PGA Innovation Award. As part of the 37th Annual Producers Guild Awards, these categories recognize productions that demonstrate exceptional achievement in documentary filmmaking, and significant accomplishments in the application of emerging technology. The winner of the Documentary Motion Picture will be named during the awards ceremony on Saturday, February 28 at the Fairmont Century Plaza. The winner of the PGA Innovation Award will be announced at a pre-awards ceremony reception in Los Angeles on Thursday, February 26."

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Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Pictures

The following seven titles have been nominated for the PGA Awards 2026:

The Alabama Solution

HBO Documentary Films

Cover-Up

Netflix

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Made in Copenhagen

My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay

HBO Documentary Films

Ocean with David Attenborough

National Geographic

The Perfect Neighbor

Netflix

The Tale of Silyan

National Geographic

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PGA Innovation Award Finalists

Asteroid

Doug Liman's 30 Ninjas and Google’s 100 Zeros

Big Wave: No Room for Error

Cosm

D-Day: The Camera Soldier

Targo and TIME Studios

territory

Double Eye Studios and Kinetic Light

The Wizard of Oz at Sphere

Sphere Entertainment Co.

Congratulations to the nominees and finalists of the Producers Guild of America Awards 2026, documentary nominees and Innovation Award finalists, respectively.

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