Awards Daily
reports
the shortlist for the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature.
Stories We Tell is in the running, which
means that Sarah Polley is having a very good day after scooping the Best
Non-Fiction Film prize from the
New York Film Critics Circle earlier today. Other
expected frontrunners still in the race are
The
Act of Killing (which, unfortunately, I haven’t seen nor been able to get
my hands on a copy…),
20 Feet from
Stardom, and
Blackfish. The
documentary shortlist is usually one of upsets and controversies, and has
traditionally been the place where acclaimed favourites come to die, but recent
revamps in screening and voting practices are bringing improvement. There’s no
significant omission in this list. I might have liked to have seen
Muscle Shoals or
Blood Brother and (especially)
The
Ghosts in Our Machine, but it’s hard to argue with the choices on the list.
(Although
Pussy Riot is a somewhat
dubious choice since it’s a crudely shot piece of reportage without much
penetrating analysis.) The only omission that really surprises me is
Let the Fire Burn, since it's blood-boiling Oscar fodder... but its use of archival footage is nothing in the league of the formal play of truth and storytelling going in
Stories We Tell. Best of luck to the selected docs!
The shortlist is as follows, with links to reviews:
The Act of Killing
The Armstrong Lie
Blackfish
What docs are you
rooting for?
