Oscar's Documentary Shortlist: No 'Anvil,' No 'Capitalism'
Filed under: Documentary, Awards, Oscar Watch
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences documentary committee has watched the 89 eligible docs that were submitted and whittled the field down to 15 finalists, from which the five Oscar nominees will be chosen. But before we even get there we gotta talk about the snubs. Notably absent from the shortlist are Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story and the highly praised Anvil! The Story of Anvil, which last month earned the distinction of being the first "for your consideration" screener sent to Academy members this year. Last year's best-reviewed documentary, Man on Wire, went on to win the Oscar; Anvil! holds that title this year (98% at Rotten Tomatoes), but it's not even going to be nominated.
Other noteworthy titles not among the top 15: Tyson (about the boxer, not the chicken company) and The September Issue (about Anna Wintour and Vogue magazine). Michael Jackson's This Is It and Chris Rock's Good Hair didn't hit theaters until October, qualifying them for next year's documentary category -- for docs, the eligibility period is September-August, not January-December. (This Is It might not be eligible anyway, since Academy rules forbid films that are "essentially unfiltered records of performances," which could apply here.) The highest-grossing documentary of the year, Earth, isn't eligible because it was mostly repackaged material that had already aired on TV.
The complete shortlist is after the jump.
The Beaches of Agnes (which Cinematical's Jeffrey M. Anderson called "a strong contender for the year's best documentary")
Burma VJ
The Cove (our review)
Every Little Step
Facing Ali
Food, Inc. (our review)
Garbage Dreams
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Mugabe and the White African
Sergio
Soundtrack for a Revolution
Under Our Skin
Valentino: The Last Emperor
Which Way Home (our review)
Any other snubs we missed? And of these 15, which would you choose as the nominees? What have you thought about documentaries in general this year?
(By the way: We Live in Public, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, was released in New York before the deadline but not in L.A. until after. Academy rules say that in order to qualify, a film must play theatrically in New York AND Los Angeles, and that both runs must occur in the same eligibility year.)
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-18-2009 @ 9:38PM
will said...
How about It Might Get Loud? I thoroughly enjoyed that movie, but maybe the academy just doesn't rock hard enough.
The only one of these that I've seen is The Cove, which I thoroughly enjoyed as well. I liked Capitalism, but can't say I'm terribly disappointed it's not here.
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11-18-2009 @ 10:36PM
Wayne said...
Based on what I've read it seems that "Anvil!" was snubbed. I am glad that Moore's latest mockumentary won't be in contention.
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11-18-2009 @ 11:01PM
Mia said...
I'm glad that Capitalism didn't make the cut. Moore is not helping his cause by whipping it up like that.
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11-19-2009 @ 2:59PM
claireg said...
Uhm, maybe Capitalism didn't make it cuz it **sucked**? Typical MM schlock, very tiring at this point.
Glad Food Inc got in there, I felt like it was so much better than I expected and really didn't get the box office love it deserved.
Every Little Step is a very welcome surprise. I adored that movie and love to see that douche judge from SYTYCD in his younger douche days. It won't win, and it may not even make the cut, but hopefully more people will see it now.
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11-19-2009 @ 11:40AM
Garrett said...
That's so weird that you have this article, cause I was just talking with my friend about how strong this year's documentary category is going to be and we decided the five would be:
Good Hair, Capitalism, Food Inc, The Cove, and Tyson.
Now only one of those made it, although we had no idea about the September - August rule.
Ebert called the Cove "a certain oscar nominee". Sounds like a snub.
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11-19-2009 @ 11:40AM
Garrett said...
Ooops, the Cove made it, so Ebert gets one right again.
11-19-2009 @ 1:04PM
Jane said...
“Living in Emergency” is really good, and Doctors Without Borders is screening one night only followed by a live panel discussion with some of the doctors featured on December 14th.
You can see it live in New York or at movie theaters everywhere:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/livinginemergency
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12-05-2009 @ 1:30PM
Alan Teasley said...
I've seen only two of these ("Every Little Step" and "Food, Inc.,." which are quite deserving of top 15 status). The only glaring omission for me is "The Way We Get By," about a group of senior citizens in Maine who greet all soldiers returning to the US from Iraq and Afghanistan. It's a very engaging and surprisingly emotional, without being either pro- or anti-war. I honestly don't know if it had a qualifying run in NY and LA.
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