'Good Night Oppy' wins five Critics Choice Documentary Awards

As I promised yesterday, I'm covering awards shows for today's Sunday entertainment feature. Out of several choices, I'm selecting the Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards.*

The Critics Choice Association (CCA) unveiled the winners of the Seventh Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards at a gala event in New York City. Good Night Oppy took home five trophies in all including the top award of the evening, winning Gold for Best Documentary Feature. The film’s other victories were Ryan White for Best Director, Best Score for Blake Neely, as well as Best Narration (written by Helen Kearns and Ryan White, performed by Angela Bassett), and Best Science/Nature Documentary.

An award-winning documentary about science, space, and NASA — I couldn't possibly resist! I also can't resist embedding Good Night Oppy - Official Trailer (2022) Mars Rover Opportunity from IGN Movie Trailers.

Good Night Oppy tells the inspirational true story of Opportunity, a rover that was sent to Mars for a 90-day mission but ended up surviving for 15 years. The film follows Opportunity’s groundbreaking journey on Mars and the remarkable bond forged between a robot and her humans millions of miles away.

The film is produced by Jessica Hargrave, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank, Brandon Carroll, and Matthew Goldberg.

Good Night Oppy, directed by Ryan White, will release in select theaters on November 4, 2022, and globally on Prime Video on November 23, 2022.

Fifteen years is the lifespan of a dog. I can understand why Opportunity's ground crew would get attached and people would mourn its shutdown, which would feel like a pet passing.

Gold Derby uploaded 'Good Night Oppy' director Ryan White: 'One of the best filmmaking experiences I’ve ever had' as I was writing this blog. Perfect timing!

'Good Night Oppy' director Ryan White: 'One of the best filmmaking experiences I’ve ever had, just watching that come alive.' Getting Angela Bassett to voice the Rover diaries in the film was something that blew White’s mind. This segment is part of the Gold Derby 'Meet the Experts' documentary panel hosted by contributing editor Charles Bright.

That the film would elict such a reaction from a bunch of elementary school students tells me that it's emotionally engaging. That's a good sign. Also, while Ryan White has two Emmy nominations, he has not even been nominated for an Oscar. That means he and his film won't run afoul of what I mentioned in passing about "Crip Camp": "The Documentary Branch normally does not [nominate] films by previous winners." I hope he and "Good Night Oppy" don't run afoul of the other issue with that part of the Motion Picture Academy that I mentioned in 'Summer of Soul,' my pick for best documentary of 2021.

[T]he Documentary Branch of the Motion Picture Academy...deliberately do[es] not nominate documentaries that will earn votes from the entire academy as a whole that they don't agree [are] the very best. They also don't like documentaries made with archive footage. They also have political axes to grind.

Speaking of "Summer of Soul," The Critics Choice Association concluded its press release by bragging about being among the first to recognize it.

Last year at the Sixth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) received the award for every category in which it was nominated, including the evening’s most prestigious award for Best Documentary Feature, as well as Best Director (TIE), Best First Documentary Feature, Best Editing, Best Archival Documentary, and Best Music Documentary. Subsequently, the film took home the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.

May the same be true for "Good Night Oppy," which can become the "My Octopus Teacher" of 2022 and 2023, a science documentary with popular and critical appeal.

*The other possibilities were the 2022 EMA Awards, 2022 Saturn Awards, News & Documentary Emmy Awards, and the 2022 Primetime Emmy Awards. I plan on resuming my Emmy Awards coverage tomorrow for World Television Day where I might also mention TV wins at the EMA Awards, which I plan on finishing next Sunday. As for the Saturn Awards, I'll get to their winners no later than National Science Fiction Day 2022. Stay tuned for posts about all of them.