Fifteen documentary feature films have been shortlisted to receive an Oscar nomination. I was surprised this happened today and it caught me off guard. Busy day between NYFCC and this announcement. They are listed in alphabetical order by title, followed by their production companies, of course:

-“Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,” Never Sorry LLC
-“Bully,” The Bully Project LLC .
-“Chasing Ice,” Exposure
-“Detropia,” Loki Films
-“Ethel,” Moxie Firecracker Films
-“5 Broken Cameras,” Guy DVD Films
-“The Gatekeepers,” Les Films du Poisson, Dror Moreh Productions, Cinephil
-“The House I Live In,” Charlotte Street Films, LLC
-“How to Survive a Plague,” How to Survive a Plague LLC
-“The Imposter,” Imposter Pictures Ltd.
-“The Invisible War,” Chain Camera Pictures
-“Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God,” Jigsaw Productions in association with Wider Film Projects and Below the Radar Films
-“Searching for Sugar Man,” Red Box Films
-“This Is Not a Film,” Wide Management
-“The Waiting Room,” Open’hood, Inc.

I am proud to say I have seen ten of these movies! Last year I had seen 5 of the 15 nominated because of some major screw ups on the committees fault neglecting quality films like “Page One” and “Senna.” I am ashamed to say that “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” “Central Park Five,” and “Queen of Versailles” didn’t make the cut. Once again doc fans will be very upset with the exclusions of those exceptional docs. The documentary committee chair Michael Moore has some explaining to do. There needs to be additional reform for the selection process. Expect a lot of controversy from their omissions. Because of those being disqualified, I’m easily rooting for “Invisible War” all the way. It’s a powerful film that every tax paying American must watch. A pleasant surprise qualifying doc is “Ethel,” the heartfelt documentary about the Kennedys I had a chance to see way back in March. This was a TV doc and the rules were supposed to weed out non-theatrical features. Last year I was one of the few who correctly predicted that the high school football documentary “Undefeated” would be victorious on Oscar night!

May the best, or most beloved, documentary win!