Producers Guild Names Seven Documentary Contenders for 2026 PGA Awards

The Producers Guild of America has named seven films as nominees for its documentary motion picture award, cementing a tight field that runs from U.S. prison abuse to Russian propaganda and a Florida stand-your-ground killing. The group also announced five finalists for its Innovation Award, including a 4-D “Wizard of Oz” experience at Las Vegas’ Sphere.

Competing for the documentary prize are HBO titles “The Alabama Solution” and “My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay,” Netflix entries “The Perfect Neighbor” and “Cover-Up,” National Geographic’s “Ocean with David Attenborough” and “The Tale of Silyan,” and the international production “Mr. Nobody Against Putin” from Made in Copenhagen. The award will be presented at the 37th Producers Guild Awards ceremony on February 28, 2026, at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

Several contenders arrive with strong momentum. “The Perfect Neighbor,” Geeta Gandbhir’s film about the killing of Ajike “AJ” Owens and Florida’s stand-your-ground laws, recently dominated the 10th Critics Choice Documentary Awards and quickly reached the top of Netflix’s movie chart after its October launch. “The Alabama Solution,” from Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman, has drawn wide praise for its inside look at Alabama’s prison system and the case of Steven Davis, whose beating death in custody sparked a years-long probe.

“My Mom Jayne” brings a personal angle to the lineup, with Mariska Hargitay directing and producing a portrait of her mother, Jayne Mansfield, that bowed in the Cannes Classics section and later premiered on HBO and Max. “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” which won a Special Jury Award at Sundance, follows a Russian teacher who secretly documents his school’s transformation into a recruitment arm during the war in Ukraine before fleeing the country.

“Cover-Up,” directed by Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, centers on Pulitzer-winning reporter Seymour Hersh and his investigations from My Lai to Abu Ghraib, while “Ocean with David Attenborough” and “The Tale of Silyan” extend National Geographic’s awards footprint with large-scale natural-world and human-rights storytelling. PGA presidents Stephanie Allain and Donald De Line praised the nominated producing teams for “dedication and commitment to excellence” in a statement announcing the list.

On the tech side, the Innovation Award finalists—ASTEROID, Big Wave: No Room for Error, D-Day: The Camera Soldier, territory and The Wizard of Oz at Sphere—spotlight work in immersive and location-based formats. That prize will be handed out at a separate reception on February 26, two days before the main gala. Awards handicappers already view the PGA slate as a key marker for this season’s Oscar documentary race, even as last year’s winner “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” missed the Academy’s shortlist, a reminder that the branch often charts its own course.