By Glenn Dunks
Elizabeth Chai Vasarheyi & Jimmy Chin won just 4 years ago with "Free Solo". They're back again with "The Rescue"
Cutting a list down from 138 to 15 is always going to be a daunting and even cruel task, but the shortlist is here for Best Documentary Feature so it is the end of the line for 123 of this year’s non-fiction works. I have been churning through a very long list of titles before even contemplating doing my Top 25 Documentaries list, but I can say that my personal list is looking very different.
AMPAS has selected the following titles to battle it out for a nomination and then the Oscar statue...
“Ascension”
“Attica”
“Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”
“Faya Dayi”
“The First Wave”
“Flee”
“In the Same Breath”
“Julia”
“President”
“Procession”
“The Rescue”
“Simple as Water”
“Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)”
“The Velvet Underground”
“Writing with Fire”
I correctly predicted 12 of the 15, which I think is a pretty good statistic (Nathaniel got 9!) and is clear vindication of… something! I would have to admit that the biggest surprise is R.J. Cutler’s Billie Eilish doc. Surprising because it’s not the sort of thing they usually go for or an unimpeachable feat of documentary. If nominated, Eilish will have double reason to return to the ceremony given she’ll surely be a nominee for her No Time to Die song. I'm not a fan of the film, but Cutler has had a long career so he's about due for some recognition at the very least.
Time for some fun facts...
-Branch favourites include Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhleyi (The Rescue; previous winners for Free Solo), Megan Mylan (Simple as Water; previous winner for Smile Pinki in doc short), Betsy West and Julie Cohen (Julia; previous nominees for R.B.G.), and Matthew Heineman (The First Wave; a previous nominee for Cartel Land).
-Directors making the list with their debut feature include Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh (Writing with Fire), Jessica Kingdon (Ascension), Jessica Beshir (Faya Dayi) and Questlove (Summer of Soul).
Nanfu Wang discussing her previous finalist "One Child Nation"
-Nanfu Wang is now 3 for 3 at getting her films on the shortlist. After Hooligan Sparrow and One Child Nation both failed to gain nominations (a surprise for the latter, I maintain), maybe the third time's the charm for this prolific Chinese-American filmmaker. In the Same Breath is COVID-themed as is another shortlisted doc The First Wave. Last year’s 76 Days couldn’t make the leap to a nomination, so we’re still unsure how they’re taking the subject matter.
-South America, Australia and Antarctica are not represented by any of the titles.
Robert Greene (right) with his cinematographer Robert Kolodny for "Procession"
-Robert Greene is a filmmaker with a dedicated following (and is popular on Twitter, too), but whose boundary-pushing works have so far been a bit too much for the branch and only just landed his first shortlisting with the Catholic Church abuse doc Procession. I think he could make it, but last year’s miss by Kirsten Johnson’s Dick Johnson is Dead lingers to cause skepticism of its formalistic playfulness.
-Attica co-director Stanley Nelson has won three Emmy Awards (one for Jonestown: Life and Death in the People’s Temple and two for Freedom Riders). In 2016, he received a lifetime achievement award from the International Documentary Assocation, which means he is well-liked if you’re thinking about final nominee possibilities…
-With The Velvet Underground, Todd Haynes is gunning for just his second nomination in any category if you can believe it!?!