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Every January, the Sundance Film Festival launches a slew of documentary Oscar contenders, and 2021 was no exception. While notable recent examples of fall openers winning Oscars include \u201cCitizenfour\u201d and \u201cFree Solo\u201d \u2014 and last year\u2019s Netflix winner \u201cMy Octopus Teacher\u201d played no festivals at all \u2014 most eventual Oscar nominees got their initial boost at Sundance and became must-sees for the expanding list of increasingly international documentary branch voters.<\/p>\n
Emerging strong from Sundance 2021 was Nanfu Wang\u2019s daring China Covid expose \u201cIn the Same Breath\u201d (HBO Documentary Films), which went from opening the festival to winning the SXSW audience award and is shortlisted for the IDA, as well as \u201cRBG\u201d directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West\u2019s \u201cMy Name Is Pauli Murray\u201d (Amazon Original Documentary), an archive portrait of a powerful influencer over decades of activism from the \u201940s through the \u201980s, which was nominated for several Critics Choice Awards, along with Danish filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen\u2019s innovative animated documentary \u201cFlee,\u201d which scored rave reviews and the Grand Jury Prize. This moving story of a refugee survivor reveals the identity-crushing dangers and humiliations of an immigrant trying to find sanctuary in a harsh world. Neon knows how to mount an Oscar campaign in multiple categories.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlee\u201d landed an early Gotham Awards nomination, along with other Sundance debuts \u201cFaya Dayi\u201d (Janus Films), Jessica Beshir\u2019s dive into Ethiopia\u2019s cash crop khat; Camilla Nielsson\u2019s look at contemporary Zimbabwe, \u201cPresident\u201d; and \u201cSummer of Soul\u201d (Searchlight), Ahmir \u201cQuestlove\u201d Thompson\u2019s first film, about a legendary 1969 concert in Harlem, which back in January won the Sundance U.S. Documentary Grand Jury and Audience awards, and also nabbed six Critics Choice Documentary Award nominations.<\/p>\n
So did another Gotham nominee and first-time filmmaker, Jessica Kingdon, whose China portrait \u201cAscension\u201d (MTV Documentary Films) won two key awards at the Tribeca Film Festival, for directing and Best Documentary Feature. Also debuting at Tribeca was biodoc \u201cRoadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain\u201d (Focus Features), from Oscar-winner Morgan Neville (\u201c20 Feet from Stardom\u201d), which played well with audiences at the summer box office but also ignited controversy about his creation of an artificial Bourdain voice narration using words from an email. Nonetheless the movie landed on the influential DOC NYC Shortlist.<\/p>\n
So did Cannes debut \u201cVelvet Underground\u201d (AppleTV+), an innovative musical portrait from narrative-filmmaker-turned-documentarian Todd Haynes, which later played Telluride and New York. Also at Cannes was A24 production \u201cVal,\u201d featuring a wealth of archive footage shot by actor Val Kilmer, who is looking back on his turbulent career after a throat cancer diagnosis.<\/p>\n
The fall circuit introduced several non-fiction movies gaining momentum. Telluride introduced Robert Greene\u2019s searing \u201cProcession\u201d (Netflix), which tracks a group of male survivors of childhood sex abuse by Catholic priests. The Toronto International Film Festival opening nighter \u201cAttica\u201d (Showtime), an archive dive from prolific two-time Emmy winner Stanley Nelson (\u201cFreedom Riders\u201d), premiered on September 9, the 50th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising. Also at TIFF was Amazon Studios\u2019 \u201cBurning,\u201d from Australian Oscar-winner Eva Orner (she produced \u201cTaxi to the Dark Side\u201d), which tracks the many causes of the record-breaking Australian fires of 2019-2020, when 59 million acres of land were destroyed.<\/p>\n
Two NatGeo titles playing on the fall festival circuit scored five Critics Choice nominations each: \u201cBecoming Cousteau\u201d (Picturehouse), directed by two-time Oscar nominee and Emmy-winner Liz Garbus (\u201cWhat Happened, Miss Simone?\u201d), digs into the rich restored archives of French filmmaker Jacques Cousteau and reveals things we did not know about the explorer and his merry band of Calypso ocean adventurers, and Thai cave-diver thriller \u201cThe Rescue\u201d (NatGeo and Greenwich Entertainment), from Oscar-winning \u201cFree Solo\u201d filmmakers E. Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. Also from NatGeo were John Hoffman and Janet Tobias\u2019 \u201cFauci\u201d (Magnolia), about the most famous epidemiologist in the world, and hard-hitting, emotional heart-tugger \u201cThe First Wave,\u201d turned down by a surprising number of major film festivals, from Oscar-nominated Matthew Heineman (\u201cCartel Land\u201d), which opened to raves at The Hamptons Film Festival and moved on to the regional festival circuit.<\/p>\n
Another famous person, French chef Julia Child, carries the delightful, sensuous, and romantic \u201cJulia\u201d (Sony Pictures Classics), from Oscar nominees Betsy West and Julie Cohen (\u201cRBG\u201d), which audiences adored.<\/p>\n
Truth is, the reconfigured documentary branch is leaning toward more international titles, and as before, away from celebrity profiles, especially of the hagiographic variety. As always, getting seen is half the battle. Even if early awards groups spread their attention over a wide range of worthy but less-hyped titles, the well-marketed movies that the most people have seen will rise to the top.<\/p>\n
Contenders for the shortlist of 15 are listed in alphabetical order. No one will be deemed a frontrunner unless I have seen it.<\/p>\n
Frontrunners
\n\u201cAscension\u201d
\n\u201cBecoming Cousteau\u201d
\n\u201cFaya Dayi\u201d
\n\u201cThe First Wave\u201d
\n\u201cFlee\u201d
\n\u201cIn the Same Breath\u201d
\n\u201cThe Lost Leonardo\u201d
\n\u201cMy Name Is Pauli Murray\u201d
\n\u201cProcession\u201d
\n\u201cRebel Hearts\u201d
\n\u201cThe Rescue\u201d
\n\u201cRoadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain\u201d
\n\u201cThe Sparks Brothers\u201d
\n\u201cSummer of Soul (\u2026Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)\u201d
\n\u201cThe Velvet Underground\u201d<\/p>\n
Contenders:
\n\u201cThe Alpinist\u201d
\n\u201cAttica\u201d
\n\u201cBernstein\u2019s Wall\u201d
\n\u201cBillie Eilish: The World\u2019s a Little Blurry\u201d
\n\u201cBring Your Own Brigade\u201d
\n\u201cBurning\u201d
\n\u201cConvergence: Courage in a Crisis\u201d
\n\u201cA Cop Movie\u201d
\n\u201cA Crime on the Bayou\u201d
\n\u201cThe Crime of the Century\u201d
\n\u201cDon\u2019t Make Me Over\u201d
\n\u201cFauci\u201d
\n\u201cIntroducing, Selma Blair\u201d
\n\u201cJacinta\u201d
\n\u201cJulia\u201d
\n\u201cLFG\u201d
\n\u201cMayor Pete\u201d
\n\u201cNothing but the Sun\u201d
\n\u201cPray Away\u201d
\n\u201cPresident\u201d
\n\u201cRita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It\u201d
\n\u201cVal\u201d
\n\u201cWuhan Wuhan\u201d<\/p>\n
Long Shots
\n\u201cAiley\u201d
\n\u201c9\/11: Inside the President\u2019s War Room\u201d
\n\u201cBitchin\u2019: The Sound and Fury of Rick James\u201d
\n\u201cBlack Power: A British Story of Resistance\u201d
\n\u201cCan You Bring It: Bill T. Jones and D-Man in the Waters\u201d
\n\u201cChanging the Game\u201d
\n\u201cCharm Circle\u201d
\n\u201cCitizen Ashe\u201d
\n\u201cThe Day Sports Stood Still\u201d
\n\u201cEnemies of the State\u201d
\n\u201cEyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground\u201d
\n\u201cFinal Account\u201d
\n\u201cFour Hours at the Capitol\u201d
\n\u201cFruits of Labor\u201d
\n\u201cInfluence\u201d
\n\u201cJagged\u201d
\n\u201cKevin Garnett: Anything Is Possible\u201d
\n\u201cLife of Crime 1984-2020\u201d
\n\u201cLike a Rolling Stone: The Life and Times of Ben Fong-Torres\u201d
\n\u201cThe Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52\u201d
\n\u201cMiguel\u2019s War\u201d
\n\u201cMissing in Brooks County\u201d
\n\u201cNasrin\u201d
\n\u201cThe Neutral Ground\u201d
\n\u201cNo Ordinary Man\u201d
\n\u201cNorth By Current\u201d
\n\u201cNot Going Quietly\u201d
\n\u201cPlaying With Sharks: The Valerie Taylor Story\u201d
\n\u201cPuff: Wonders of the Reef\u201d
\n\u201cThe Real Charlie Chaplin\u201d
\n\u201cSo Late So Soon\u201d
\n\u201cStorm Lake\u201d
\n\u201cTaming the Garden\u201d
\n\u201cThis Stained Dawn\u201d
\n\u201cTiger\u201d
\n\u201cTina\u201d
\n\u201cTorn\u201d
\n\u201cTulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre\u201d
\n\u201cThe Year Earth Changed\u201d
\n\u201cWho Are You, Charlie Brown?\u201d
\n\u201cWojnarowicz: F**k You F*ggot F**ker\u201d
\n\u201cWriting With Fire\u201d<\/p>\n
View this article at IndieWire<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oscars 2022: Best Documentary Feature Predictions: Every January, the Sundance Film Festival launches a slew of documentary Oscar contenders, and 2021 was no exception. While notable recent examples of fall openers winning Oscars include \u201cCitizenfour\u201d and \u201cFree Solo\u201d \u2014 and last year\u2019s Netflix winner \u201cMy Octopus Teacher\u201d played no festivals at all \u2014 most eventual
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