Just over a week ago, I completed my annual quest to see all of the shortlisted entries up for the Oscar for Documentary Feature. I recapped the journey here on the blog, and gave my alphabetical top five, i.e. the films I would nominate were I a member of the Academy's Documentary Branch. But the … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Documentary Feature
Oscar nominations are just over a day away, and when they come down on Monday morning, five filmmakers are going to get the thrill of a lifetime, as their movie will be up for the Documentary Feature prize. Late last month, the Academy narrowed over 190 submissions down to a lucky 15, which were then … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The 2019 Doc Feature Shortlist
Last year was the first time that I was able to accomplish my goal of seeing every shortlisted documentary feature before the Academy Award nominations came out. I had been trying for a few years, mostly because the Documentary Branch seems to nominate the most dense and inaccessible films as opposed to the rare docs … Continue reading Time to Begin Your Blitz – Academy Announces Oscar Spotlight: Documentaries Program
The next phase of Awards Season is on! This afternoon, the Academy announced its shortlists for nine categories, repeating the efficient method they started last year, rather than staggering out the lists like they had before. Not only do we get to see how far the fields have narrowed for International Feature, Documentary Feature, and … Continue reading Shorties Watching Shorties! – 92nd Academy Awards Shortlists Announced!
I'm really running low on "doc" puns at this point. Anyway, tomorrow the Academy announces its shortlists for several categories outside the main ballot, including Documentary Feature. Since the list of submissions was announced, I've tried to find time to view as many that are available as possible. Sadly, at the moment I'm working two … Continue reading DownStream – Doc Around the Clock
Time for the latest news for next year's Academy Awards. Earlier this week, AMPAS announced the 159 films submitted for the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. The list of submitted films can be found at the Academy's official website here. Obviously, I've only seen a fair few of the movies so far, but there's still … Continue reading The First Step Up the Mountain – Documentary Feature Submissions Announced
This year the Academy has been all about pleasing the audience, for better or worse. On the plus side, more crowd favorites are up for major awards, including Black Panther and Bohemian Rhapsody, which makes the ceremony more accessible to the audience at large, even if it's something of a stopgap measure to stave off the possibility … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2019 – Documentary Feature
Well folks, I finally did it. As of Monday I have completed the Documentary Feature shortlist. No matter which five films are nominated next Tuesday, I will have seen and processed them. It turns out that the reason I could see them all was through an Academy program called "Oscars Spotlight: Documentaries." It's a new … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Achievement Unlocked!
At last check, I had seen seven of the 15 shortlisted films in the Oscar Documentary Feature category. The goal for the last few years has been to see all of them before the nominees were announced, thereby saving myself one more group during the annual blitz. A couple years ago I saw all but … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – Continuing Documentation
There are 15 films that have been shortlisted for the Documentary Feature Oscar. When the list was announced, I had seen a grand total of three. I have endeavored each of the last two years to see all 15 potential nominees before they're announced at the end of January, as it tends to be a … Continue reading Back Row Thoughts – The To-Doc List
I Actually Paid To See This 