Documentary Oscar short list
By Craig Kennedy - November 18th, 2009; 4:15 pm
For better or for worse, here are the 15 documentaries that will vie for the Oscar next March.
I haven’t seen all of them, but I can tell you No Impact Man should’ve been included in favor of one of them. Here’s a hint: it rhymes with The Shmove.
I’m not terribly shocked to see Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story ignored since almost no one really seemed to go for it.
- The Beaches of Agnes – Agnès Varda
- Burma VJ – Anders Østergaard
- The Cove – Louie Psihoyos
- Every Little Step – James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo
- Facing Ali – Pete McCormack
- Food, Inc. – Robert Kenner
- Garbage Dreams – Mai Iskander
- Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders – Mark N. Hopkins
- The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers – Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
- Mugabe and the White African – Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey
- Sergio – Greg Barker
- Soundtrack for a Revolution – Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman
- Under Our Skin – Andy Abrahams Wilson
- Valentino The Last Emperor – Matt Tyrnauer
- Which Way Home – Rebecca Cammisa
Source: Awards Daily
Filed under: Awards, Documentaries
Tags: Oscars
For worse, I’m afraid, since in my humble opinion the best of the year so far, without much competition (of the ones I’ve seen), is Anvil.
And dang it, I knew missing Burma VJ on two opportunities this year would come back to bite me. Same with my championing of The Way We Get By, which I still haven’t even watched.
But no Anvil, wow.
Haven’t seen the Cove, but man, Food, Inc. was not a good film at all, and it’s inclusion baffles me.
Wow, talk about championing the little guys. I’ve seen *one* of these and it was the most accessible of the entire year (Food Inc) so I sorta feel left out. Missed Burma VJ too, Daniel, so don’t feel bad.
“Living in Emergency” is excellent. The best doc about doctors and war zones that I’ve seen. It’s also, for lack of better words, a lot of fun.
Really, really strong.
The year’s BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Rembrandt’s J’Accuse (Greenaway)
Runner-Up:
La Danse (Wiseman)
Did I miss something? Has the Academy announced the feature documentary short list? Was Michael Moore’s film not among them?
I saw more than half the films on the list:
Hand down, my two favorite films on this list: THE WAY WE GET BY and GARBAGE DREAMS. I saw both of them at SXSW.
Wait! – THE WAY WE GET BY is not there! What a shame. It was a great film.
I am glad GARBAGE DREAMS made it. I love how the filmmaker told the larger political story through the eyes of such wonderful characters.
It is rare to see such intimate verite films.
Lolli Girl,
I agree with you about Garbage Dreams, but didn’t enjoy The Way We Get By as much, to me honest with you, it is a great cause, but Garbage Dreams was way better in my opinion. I actually saw almost all 15 of them, the Cove is another great one.
I need to spend some time looking up what each of these is about. Haven’t seen a one of them, though I should be seeing Food, Inc. soon.
I’ve heard great thing about Garbage Dreams, Lolli & J.G.. And I know Craig rather liked Burma VJ.