I’m not familiar with most. Glad to see Pina included. As with most other categories, the Academy usually doesn’t have a clue and US dominates of course. The mediocrity and insularity are tiresome.
A pity they didn’t even include a masterpiece like “Whores’ Glory” and instead went for harmless, inoffensive documentaries like “Jane’s Journey”.
What’s on the list is still interesting -
One on the Earth Liberation Front, one on the war in Afghanistan, a cowboy victim of child abuse that helps other people look after their horses, a pro fashion one, a New Yorker prostesting against new housing developments, a globe trotting activist training chimps to act like humans, an interacial love-story, wrongly convicted prisoners released due to DNA evidence, celebration of a great German choreographer, an always faithful US marine finds threat to health, another activist fighting for global civil rights, about poor kids winning a football game, psychological and emotional toll of war on journalists, the liberation of homosexuals and the battle against AIDS.
The doc category, like the foreign film category, is a disaster and mess. I’ve seen a lot of great documentaries this year and it’s baffling that only one of them made this list of 15 (Project Nim). But this is the case every year, right? Last year Waiting for Superman wasn’t even nominated, in spite of all the dialogue that film created. And going back several years, Ebert listed *Hoop Dreams as the best film of the 1990s and that film wasn’t even nominated for best documentary in 1994!
In my opinion, Steve James is getting shafted again: The Interrupters is the best documentary that I’ve seen this year. This is a tremendous film and a must see for anyone interested in the power of cinema. Into the Abyss is also a very good film and in my opinion, one of Herzog’s best. And Black Power Mixtape was equally impressive. Others include:
1. The Interrupters
2. Into the Abyss
3. Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
4. Woody Allen: A Documentary
5. George Harrison: In a Material World
6. Project Nim
7. Tabloid
8. Page One: A Year Inside the NY Times
9. The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
10. Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
11. Life in a Day
12. Rebirth
About the only good thing that I’ve seen come out of this category was two years ago the Academy gave Ellen Kuras a nod for her film The Betrayal. Man on Wire ended up winning that year (which is fine, it’s a great film) but it was at least nice to see Kuras’s 20 year project get noticed (it was definitely my favorite doc that year).
Is it me or most of the time, the 5 documentaries nominated are relatively unknown except one or two? I just think it’s a weird category.
“Is it me or most of the time, the 5 documentaries nominated are relatively unknown except one or two?”
Yes.
They do the same thing with the foreign category.
(and usually these “unknown” films aren’t that good)
I’m shocked that The Interrupters is absent, I was convinced that would be a major contender. Same with Page One, the academy people adore shit like that. They must have some beef with Herzog because he obviously deserves credit that they don’t give hin…
The Academy feels there is only room for one German and that slot got scooped up by Wenders based solely on having a cooler first name.
No Herzog = the category is, once again, nothing more than a hollow shell of what it should be.
Here’s what I think. Women directors under-rated, again: http://wellywoodwoman.blogspot.com/2011/11/women-and-documentary-feature-academy.html
MORE GREAT DOCS NOT ON THE SHORTLIST:
Vigilante Vigilante: The Battle for Expression (one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking films on street art/graffiti issues that has ever been made) by Max Good and Julien de Benedictis
Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest (great for hip hop fans, not surprising that the Academy excluded it) by Michael Rapaport
Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop (an insightful look into the workings of a comedy show and a man addicted to applause) by Rodman Flender
AND THE ACADEMY REQUIRES A THEATRICAL RELEASE, LEAVING SOME EXCELLENT FEATURE-LENGTH TELEVISION PRESENTATIONS OUT IN THE COLD, LIKE:
Catching Hell (ESPN 30 for 30) by Alex Gibney (about Chicago Cubs fan Steve Bartman’s infamous interference at Wrigley Field, and an examination of scapegoatism)
WikiSecrets (PBS Frontline) by Marcela Gaviria (a fascinating piece of journalism exposing the genesis of the WikiLeaks scandal)
Foo Fighters: Back and Forth (MTV Rock Docs) by James Moll (a career retrospective that’s not just for fans, but those who watch will become Foo fans)
Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero (Discovery Channel series) Produced by Steven Spielberg (an enthralling look inside the amazing construction work being done at the World Trade Center site leading up to the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Stunning architecture, touching stories, and a beautiful spirit of transformation and tribute)
Well the Martin Scorsese doc on George Harrison did get a theatrical release so I’m even more sad that wasn’t included in the short list.
MUBI
The Academy has officially narrowed down the list of eligible Documentary Features to fifteen before announcing the five nominees on January 24th. Once again, Werner Herzog‘s name is absent, and he looks to be in good company. Other big names you won’t find on the short list include Frederick Wiseman, Crazy Horse; Jonathan Demme, I’m Carolyn Parker: The Good, the Mad, and the Beautiful; Morgan Spurlock, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold; Mika Kaurismäki, Mama Africa; Michael Glawogger, Whores’ Glory; Steve James, The Interrupters; and the biggest snub belonging to past winner Alex Gibney who didn’t see a single one of his three 2011 films make the cut. Festival favorites like Marie Losier’s The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye, Asif Kapadia’s Senna, Matthew Bate’s Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure, Michael Rappaport’s Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest, Andrew Rossi’s Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times, Göran Hugo Olsson’s The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 and Peter D. Richardson’s How to Die in Oregon were just a few of the omissions. So we ask you… Which of the fifteen do you think should have been left off? What do you think is the best documentary of 2011? How do you feel about the Academy’s recent track record in this category? [Hint, the past five winners: Charles H. Ferguson and Audrey Marrs’ Inside Job, Louie Psihoyos’ The Cove, Simon Chinn and James Marsh’s Man on Wire, Alex Gibney’s Taxi to the Dark Side and Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth].
–Joe