The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today the films that are eligible for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. 124 films in total have been submitted for consideration, and they cover a vast array of subjects and filmmaking styles. This massive list will be narrowed down to a shortlist of 15 in December, followed by the announcement of the five nominees in January.
This year’s crop of contenders is as formidable as ever. If there’s something of a “frontrunner” at this point it might be the Amy Winehouse doc Amy, which devolved yours truly into a puddle of tears on a recent international flight despite my having little interest in its subject. The buzzworthy Sundance pic The Wolfpack also appears, as does one of the most intense films of the year, Cartel Land. There’s also the accomplished Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck and timely campus sexual assault film The Hunting Ground, and of course Michael Moore’s new documentary Where to Invade Next. One doc I hope doesn’t get lost in the shuffle is Joshua Oppenheimer’s Act of Killing companion film The Look of Silence, which is a similarly devastating look at the same subject matter from the victims’ points of view.
Anyway, as always the Best Documentary Feature category at the Oscars can be something of a surprising (and infuriating) little beast. It’s hard to predict exactly what voters will respond to—remember, the high school football doc Undefeated beat Paradise Lost 3, a film that literally saved a dude’s life.
So take a look at the full list of contenders below, and let us know what your favorite documentary of the year is thus far. The 88th Oscars, hosted by Chris Rock, will be held on February 28th.
Above and Beyond
All Things Must Pass
Amy
The Armor of Light
Ballet 422
Batkid Begins
Becoming Bulletproof
Being Evel
Beltracchi — The Art of Forgery
Best of Enemies
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
Bolshoi Babylon
Brand: A Second Coming
A Brave Heart: The Lizzie Velasquez Story
Call Me Lucky
Cartel Land
Censored Voices
Champs
CodeGirl
Coming Home
Dark Horse
Deli Man
Dior and I
The Diplomat
(Dis)Honesty — The Truth about Lies
Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll
Dreamcatcher
dream/killer
Drunk, Stoned, Brilliant, Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon
Eating Happiness
Every Last Child
Evidence of Harm
Farewell to Hollywood
Finders Keepers
The Forecaster
Frame by Frame
Gardeners of Eden
A Gay Girl in Damascus: The Amina Profile
Godspeed: The Story of Page Jones
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
He Named Me Malala
Heart of a Dog
Hitchcock/Truffaut
How to Change the World
Human
The Hunting Ground
I Am Chris Farley
In Jackson Heights
In My Father’s House
India’s Daughter
Ingrid Bergman — In Her Own Words
Iraqi Odyssey
Iris
Janis: Little Girl Blue
Karski & the Lords of Humanity
Killing Them Safely
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Lambert & Stamp
A Lego Brickumentary
Listen to Me Marlon
Live from New York!
The Look of Silence
Meet the Patels
Meru
The Mind of Mark DeFriest
Misery Loves Comedy
Monkey Kingdom
A Murder in the Park
My Italian Secret
My Voice, My Life
1971
Of Men and War
One Cut, One Life
Only the Dead See the End of War
The Outrageous Sophie Tucker
Peace Officer
The Pearl Button
Pink & Blue: Colors of Hereditary Cancer
Poached
Polyfaces
The Prime Ministers: Soldiers and Peacemakers
Prophet’s Prey
Racing Extinction
The Resurrection of Jake the Snake
Ride the Thunder — A Vietnam War Story of Victory & Betrayal
Rosenwald
The Russian Woodpecker
Searching for Home: Coming Back from War
Seeds of Time
Sembene!
The Seven Five
Seymour: An Introduction
Sherpa
A Sinner in Mecca
Something Better to Come
Song from the Forest
Song of Lahore
Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine
Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans
Stray Dog
Sunshine Superman
Sweet Micky for President
Tab Hunter Confidential
The Tainted Veil
Tap World
(T)error
Thao’s Library
Those Who Feel the Fire Burning
3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets
The Touch of an Angel
TransFatty Lives
The True Cost
Twinsters
Very Semi-Serious: A Partially Thorough Portrait of New Yorker Cartoonists
The Wanted 18
We Are Many
We Come as Friends
We Were Not Just … Bicycle Thieves. Neorealism
Welcome to Leith
What Happened, Miss Simone?
What Our Fathers Did: A Nazi Legacy
Where to Invade Next
Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom
The Wolfpack