What does it take to make the Oscars Feature Documentary Shortlist? At least three things: a top-tier festival premiere, a theatrical run, and a great movie. Oh, that’s all?!
It’s a winding road, that’s for sure. This year, 124 films were submitted after having qualified for the Academy Awards — a huge feat all on its own. Of the 124, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have now chosen 15 for the shortlist. From this shortlist, featuring a dizzying array of good films, only five will emerge after a final voting round for the prime-time red carpet event that is the Oscars.
In the breakneck evolution of the documentary genre and the accompanying growth of mesmerizing docs being made, it’s been a challenge for the Academy to keep up. Over the last few years, the Academy has repeatedly changed its criteria for doc eligibility to thin the numbers of submissions. And while the stiffening rules have have irked independent filmmakers who can’t afford increasingly strenuous theatrical runs — reports claim that there are still too many films for the 240 voting members of the Academy to watch.