By Glenn Dunks
The Academy has released the longlist of titles in competition for the Best Documentary Feature category. The number is 138, a significant reduction from previous years that were well over the 200 mark. According to The Wrap, it is the lowest number since 2015. That certainly makes our job easier as well as that of the Academy’s documentary branch members who now have to get this down to a list 15 before the final five are announced on nomination morning.
Why is the number so much lower? Well, there are three good reasons for that...
- There’s still a pandemic happening, so fewer documentaries have been made let alone released.
- The eligibility year is also shorter given those first few months of 2021 don’t count.
- A new Emmy rule states that any film on the Academy’s viewing portal cannot then qualify for the television academy’s awards so if producers make this choice now they can't unmake it.
The full list, links to reviews, thoughts and other musings after the jump…
Regarding point number three, this has been a bone of contention for years now. Many films in the past have earned both Oscar and Emmy nominations, further blurring a line that—for documentary and non-fiction especially—was already blurry before streaming became the norm. In theory, I think this change is a good rule because the eligible number of titles was getting absurd. In practice, I think there’s still work to be done. I for one am extremely glad that Kirsten Johnson’s Dick Johnson is Dead can call itself an Emmy winner given it missed out on that Oscar nomination. I’m not sure what middle ground can be found while keeping numbers managable, but we’ll have to see how it all plays out.
Some films this year I have liked a lot (Listening to Kenny G, Civil War) are not on this list, which makes us suspect they’re going for the Emmy instead. Others that aren’t on the list, like Jia Zhang-ke’s Swimming Out til the Sea Turns Blue, A Glitch in the Matrix, or Bulletproof… well, I don’t know. Every year there are some that just don’t get submitted, which is a shame.
Below are the 138 titles with links to Film Experience reviews where possible. Additionally, I have added some thoughts for some of the movies I have seen but not reviewed. I still have a whole bunch to watch before bringing you my best of the year list in the new year. * denotes my predictions for the 15-wide shortlist.
THE LIST
Ailey (review)
All About My Sisters
*All Light, Everywhere (review)
The Alpinist
American 965
*Ascension
This may be the artsy choice for the branch. Jessica Kingdon finds stark yet cinematically witty ways to portray China's economic shift. From sex doll factories to butler school and the pomp and circumstance of performative capitalistic excess. It uses cinematography, editing and music in some really extraordinary ways.
*Attica (review)
Aulcie
Aware: Glimpses of Consciousness
Barbara Lee: Speaking Truth to Power
*Becoming Cousteau
Beijing Spring
A bit dry for the doc branch, I suspect, with more of an emphasis on education that cinematic form. Still interesting, though, for those who are interested in political revolutions and the role of artists within a nation like China.
Bill Traylor: Chasing Ghosts
Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry
One of the few films to be eligible for Emmy and Oscar in 2021. It’s an over-long portrait of an artist who—let’s be honest here—doesn’t deserve it just yet. If you’re not already a big fan, you will probably come away with some additional respect for Eilish and her work ethic, but it feels very much like C-O-N-T-E-N-T to bring in viewers to AppleTV+.
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road
Bring Your Own Brigade (from two-time Oscar nominee Lucy Walker)
My favourite of the many documentaries about bush- and wild-fires (Burning, Rebuilding Paradise, etc). Hypothesises some interesting ideas around class and capitalism that I’m not sure I have seen in movies before, although its structure is lopsided.
Can You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters (review)
The Capote Tapes
*Captains of Za’atari
Docs about Syria have quietened down (Hong Kong has taken over as the most prolific international subject), but this really well-shot doc from Ali El Arabi will likely find fans in anybody who actually watches it as it charts the journey from the streets of civil war to the professional soccer field.
Children of the Enemy
Citizen Ashe
Convergence: Courage in a Crisis
A Cop Movie (review)
Courage
A Crime on the Bayou (review)
Cusp
Dave Chappelle Live in Real Life
The Deadliest Disease in America
Dying to Divorce
Enemies of the State
Ennio
The Faithful: The King, the Pope, the Princess
Far Eastern Golgotha
Fathom
*Faya Dayi (review)
Ferguson Rises
*Final Account
Finding Kendrick Johnson
Fire Music
The First Wave (review)
Five Years North
*Flee (review)
45 Days: The Fight for a Nation
Found
Francesco (from Oscar-nominated Evgeny Afineevsky)
Hell or High Seas
Home Room (review)
*In the Same Breath
One of these days, Nanfu Wang will be nominated. It seems wild that she hasn’t yet considering her earlier films include Hooligan Sparrow and One Child Nation, both of which (I think!) made the 15-wide shortlist. This COVID-themed doc seems like a logical nominee, but who can tell if the Academy are ready to nominate those.
Introducing: Selma Blair
Obviously emotional viewing for any fan of hers (or generally empathetic human). But what I appreciated most was Blair's candid thoughts about her place in Hollywood and the opportunities made and lost as well as her admission of vanity even in crisis.
Iron Temple
Jacinta
The Jesus Music
*Julia
Julie Cohen and Betsy West felt like surprise nominees for RBG a few years ago, and they return with another portrait of a beloved American icon. Given the heavy subject matter as usual, the branch could either respond to its lightness or veer from it. Keep an eye out for Rachel Portman’s score, though.
The Jump
Karen Dalton: In My Own Time
Kill the Indian Save the Child
Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time
The Last Forest
The Last Shelter
Like a Rolling Stone: The Life & Times of Ben Fong-Torres
LFG
Lily Topples the World
Little Girl
The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52
Los Hermanos/The Brothers
The Lost Leonardo
Love It Was Not
Magaluf Ghost Town
Man in the Field: The Life and Art of Jim Denevan
Marx Can Wait
Mayor Pete (review)
The Meaning of Hitler
Minnesota! The Modern Day Selma
Misha and the Wolves
Missing in Brooks County
Moby Doc
At one point Moby asks why he’s making this movie. While I am probably a bigger fan of his than most these days, there is an odd vibe about Moby Doc that never settles. Like it’s aiming for something a bit different to the standard music bio-doc, but not quite reaching it.
The Most Beautiful Boy in the World (review)
Mr. Bachman and His Class
I have heard nothing but good things about this Wisemanesque film out of DOC NYC, but I haven’t heard much in terms of a release. I suspect it hasn’t the profile to get far, which would be a shame if it's as good as people are saying.
The Mustangs: America’s Wild Horses
My Childhood, My Country — 20 Years in Afghanistan
A strong film, particularly if you have seen director Phil Grabsky’s earlier features The Boy Mir and The Boy Who Played on the Buddhas of Bamiyan, to which this is something of a sequel. Or at least, a continuation.
My Name Is Pauli Murray
The Neutral Ground (brief thoughts)
A New Dawn
No Ordinary Man (review)
No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics
Not Going Quietly
Nothing But the Sun
On Broadway (review)
Operation Varsity Blues
Ostrov – Lost Island
Paper & Glue
The Paradigm of Money
The People vs. Agent Orange
The Phantom
Playing With Sharks (review)
*Pray Away
Whatever side of the Cameron Post / Boy Erased conversion camp divide you were on, Kristine Stolakis’ Pray Away should be effective. I wasn’t entirely sold on the film, but the combination of Netflix, Blumhouse and Ryan Murphy can only help it get attention on the circuit.
President
*Procession (review)
In a year lacking in truly audacious documentaries to get people excited, I am feeling more and more confident that Robert Greene will finally push through to a nomination. Netflix can only help, but now feels like the right time for the Academy’s doc branch to embrace him and his unique style of non-fiction.
Qazaq History of the Golden Man
Quiet Explosions, Healing the Brain
The Race to Save the World
Radiograph of a Family
The Real Charlie Chaplin
Rebel Hearts
The Repentants
*The Rescue (review)
Revolution of Our Times
Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It (review)
I was surprised to see this on here given it feels much more natural as an Emmys play—which is to say, I think it is fine as a bio-doc, but hardly pushing any boundaries. It gets by almost solely on Moreno’s vivacious energy. She gives the film so much. Still, the Academy rarely go for these career tribute docs even when they feel like naturally up the Academy’s alley.
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (from Oscar-winner Morgan Neville)
I wonder what the Academy think of the ruckus that was caused by Morgan Neville’s use of AI in this popular doc. Neville won the Oscar for 20 Feet from Stardom, but was a surprise omission for Best of Enemies. I suspect a celebrity portrait like this isn’t going to get him back into the race, but if the branch feel like he was unceremoniously beat up then they could gravitate towards it nonetheless.
Ruth: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words (from Oscar-winning director Frieda Lee Mock)
Sabaya
Seyran Ates: Sex, Revolution and Islam
*Simple as Water (review)
Sisters on Track
So Late So Soon
The Sparks Brothers
Edgar Wright as director gave this film a lot of attention it may not have otherwise gotten. He has tricks up his sleeve, but I highly doubt this extensive career retrospective can get by on name brand (maybe the doc branch are also big Annette fans, though!)
Speer Goes to Hollywood
Storm Lake
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (review)
Summer Nights
*Summer of Soul (Sundance review, Sheffield DocFest review)
Tigre Gente
Tina (review)
Torn
Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation (review)
Truth to Power
Try Harder!
2020: The Dumpster Fire
Two Gods
Val
What a way for Val Kilmer to finally become an Oscar nominee (he is a producer, although enough of one to be nominated I don’t know).
The Velvet Queen
*The Velvet Underground (review)
Whirlybird (review)
Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America
Wojnarowicz (review)
*Writing With Fire
Wuhan Wuhan
You can see the full Doc Corner review archive featuring those and more by clicking here. And Nathaniel's Oscar charts are here with his own take on which films will make the doc shortlist. Voting for the shortlists runs from December 7th through the 15th and the Academy will announce the 15 titles that are vying for nominations on December 21st.