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Netflix has dominated the documentary Oscar race in recent years, winning the feature documentary in 2020 and 2018, but the release of the Academy’s preselections on Tuesday confirms it faces a battle this time around, from a rival streamer.
Amazon Studios landed two films on the feature film list—Time, directed by Garrett Bradley, and All In: the struggle for democracy, directed by Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés. Time, which touches on mass incarceration through the experience of a black family in Louisiana, must be considered a solid favorite in the Oscar race, having tied for the Gotham Award and amassing several critics’ awards.
Netflix made the Oscar finalist list, as expected, with its top two contenders –Camp Crip, directed by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht, and Dick Johnson is dead, from director Kirsten Johnson. He also built up with the theme of mollusks My octopus teacher, capturing in its tentacles a fifth of the 15 shortlisted locations. But Netflix failed to make the shortlist along with several of its other contenders, including The social dilemma, Athlete A and Disclosure.
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The feature film list shattered a record 238 out of just 15 qualifying films, so there were bound to be plenty of disappointed filmmakers. Three of the documentary’s most revered talents received the coldness of Doc Branch voters: Errol Morris (My psychedelic love story), Frederick Wiseman (Town hall) and Werner Herzog (Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds). Oscar-winning director Ron Howard and his National Geographic documentary were also left out. Rebuild paradise.
These omissions cannot be regarded as surprises. But A thousand cuts can be considered the biggest snub. Ramona Diaz’s film about brave journalist Maria Ressa, who ran into Filipino strongman Rodrigo Duterte, shared best documentary with Time in Gothams and won a Producers Guild Award nomination last week.
The inclusion of Night, quite simply because Gianfranco Rosi’s documentary does not have a leading distributor (Super LTD) and was only released in virtual theaters at the end of last month. It was enhanced after hitting Hulu on Jan. 29, just before the shortlist vote began, and being named Italy’s official selection for the Oscar International Film category. Rosi won an Oscar nomination for her previous documentary, 2016 Fire at sea.
Night was not on the shortlist of international feature films that was also released today.
In the absence of big surprises, what emerges from the announcement of the preselection is the incredible recognition of international filmmakers. There is Italy (Rosi); Chile (Maite Alberdi, Mole agent, also on the shortlist of international feature films); Norway (Benjamin Ree, The painter and the thief); Romania (Alexander Nanau, Collective, another international finalist); Russia (Victor Kossakovsky, Gunda); South Africa (Pippa Ehrlich, My octopus teacher); and the United Kingdom (James Reed, My octopus teacher). Hao Wu, director of preselection 76 days, is based in New York but is originally from China. Continuing the international theme, The truffle hunters is located in the mushroom-rich hills of the Piedmont region of Italy, and Welcome to Chechnya tackles LGBTQ hate crimes in the Russian Chechen Republic.
Among the national films, what is striking is the number of them which in one way or another address the topical issue of racial injustice. With the above Time, there is All in, which explores the long history of suppressing the African-American vote, and the recent work of former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams in breaking down barriers at the ballot box. MLK / FBI, from director Sam Pollard, examines J. Edgar Hoover’s sustained FBI campaign to harass and discredit Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
Oscar Selection: Full Deadline Coverage
The Academy also released its shortlist of short documentaries, slashing the list of films still in the running for Oscar nomination to 10. Skye Fitzgerald’s Hunger room makes the list, despite the director’s fear that his subject – children at risk of starvation in Yemen – might be too difficult for some voters to live with. Holocaust theme Colette took a spot, as did the New York Times Op-Doc A concerto is a conversation, executive produced by Ava DuVernay.
Biggest snub was the omission of Netflix’s award-winning short John was trying to contact aliens. But the streamer made up for that by dropping several other shorts on the roster: A love song for Latasha, on the 1992 murder of an African-American girl; attaching it What would Sophia Loren do?, about a New Jersey grandmother taking inspiration from the titular Italian actress; and The Speed Cubers, on people who can solve a Rubik’s Cube in less time than it took to read this article.
Below are the selection lists for feature documentaries and short documentaries. The nominations in all categories for the Oscars are on March 15 and the 93rd Oscars on April 25 live on ABC.
DOCUMENTARY FUNCTION
“All In: The struggle for democracy”
“Boys State”
“Collective”
“Crip Camp”
“Dick Johnson is dead”
“Gunda”
“MLK / FBI”
“The mole agent”
“My octopus teacher”
“Night”
“The Painter and the Thief”
“76 days”
“Time”
“The truffle hunters”
“Welcome to Chechnya”
SHORT SUBJECT DOCUMENTARY
“Abortion helpline, this is Lisa”
“Call Center Blues”
“Colette”
“A concerto is a conversation”
“Do not split”
“Hunger Ward”
“Hysterical girl”
“A love song for Latasha”
“The Speed Cubers”
“What would Sophia Loren do?”
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