The Academy has just sent over the list of 15 documentary films up for nomination in the Documentary Feature category for the 81st Academy Awards. A record 94 pictures had originally qualified in the category and I am actually quite shocked Bill Maher’s Religulous is not among the list of contenders. However, I am not a huge documentary watcher so my opinion here is not exactly the best.
The 15 films in contention are listed below in alphabetical order:
- At the Death House Door
- The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
- Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh
- Encounters at the End of the World
- Fuel
- The Garden
- Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
- I.O.U.S.A.
- In a Dream
- Made in America
- Man on Wire
- Pray the Devil Back to Hell
- Standard Operating Procedure
- They Killed Sister Dorothy
- Trouble the Water
The Documentary Branch Screening Committee viewed all the eligible documentaries for the preliminary round of voting. Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.
The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
You can stay up-to-date with everything Oscar in my continuous coverage in “The Contenders” section right here.
