Oscars Obliterate Old Record With 240 Qualifying Documentaries
The Oscars Best Documentary Feature race, which set a new record for entries in December when it passed the previous record of 170, has now left all previous years in the dust with 240 eligible films.
An additional 25 documentary features were placed in the members-only online screening room devoted to the category on Saturday, in what the Academy told voters would be âthe final batchâ of this yearâs entries. It was the last of seven groups of documentaries that qualified and were placed into the screening room: 25 in July, 12 in August, 16 in September, 33 in October, 36 in November, a huge group of 93 in December and now 25 in January.
Academy rules put in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic made it easier than usual for documentaries to qualify for the Oscars this year, which opened the door for a field that obliterated the previous record, which was set in 2017. Films could qualify simply by being chosen for two film festivals from a list of 22, whether or not those festivals actually took place; by winning any one of more than 50 festival awards; or by making themselves available in the Academy Screening Room within 60 days of a streaming, VOD or a broadcast premiere.
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To guarantee that each eligible film will be viewed by a minimum number of voters, each member of the Academyâs Documentary Branch is assigned certain films as required viewing. Final assignments have yet to be made, but with the record number of contending films, the number of required films for each voter is likely to be more than three dozen.
The first round of voting, in which the 240 contenders will be narrowed down to a 15-film shortlist, will take place from Feb. 1-5.
While the December group of films included many of the highest profile documentaries in this yearâs race, the January group consisted, for the most part, of lesser-known films. They include docs about socialism (âThe Big Scary âSâ Wordâ), stem cell research (âEnding Diseaseâ), life in a simulation (âA Glitch in the Matrixâ), the Russia investigation of Donald Trump (âThe Plot Against the Presidentâ) and Terry Gilliamâs attempt to film âThe Man Who Killed Don Quixoteâ (âHe Dreams of Giantsâ).
Three additional documentary shorts were also added to the screening room, bringing the total number of contenders in that category to 114. That is also a record, topping the 104 entries in 2018.
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Here is the list of the 240 documentary features that are now eligible in the category. The Academy has not made this list public but is expected to officially release the eligible films later in January, before shortlist voting begins.
Films in the final January batch are indicated with an asterisk.
âAcasa, My Homeâ
âAddicted to Ralphieâ *
âAggieâ
âAll I Can Sayâ
âAll In: The Fight for Democracyâ
âThe American Sectorâ
âAmerican Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itselfâ
âAmericaâs Forgottenâ
âThe Antidoteâ
âApocalypse â45â
âThe Art of Living in Dangerâ *
âThe Art of Political Murderâ
âAssassinsâ
âAswangâ *
âAthlete Aâ
âBabenco â Tell Me When I Dieâ
âBe Waterâ
âBeastie Boys Storyâ
âBeautiful Something Left Behindâ
âBecomingâ
âBedlamâ
âBelly of the Beastâ
âBelushiâ
âBeyond the Visible: Hilma Af Klintâ
âThe Big Scary âSâ Wordâ *
âBillieâ
âBlack Boysâ
âBloody Nose, Empty Pocketsâ
âThe Booksellersâ
âBorn to Beâ
âBoys Stateâ
âBulletproofâ
âBully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohnâ
âCapital in the Twenty-First Centuryâ
âChicago: Americaâs Hidden Warâ *
âChildhood 2.0â
âChuck Berryâ
âCircus of Booksâ
âCity Dreamâ
âCity Hallâ
âCoded Biasâ
âCollectiveâ
âColombia in My Armsâ
âComing Cleanâ
âCoronationâ
âCoup 53â
âCreated Equal: Clarence Thomas in His Own Wordsâ
âCreem: Americaâs Only Rock âNâ Roll Magazineâ
âCrip Campâ
âCrock of Gold â A Few Rounds With Shane MacGowanâ
âThe Curveâ
âDadsâ
âDave Grusin: Not Enough Timeâ
âDavid Attenborough: A Life on Our Planetâ
âDays of Cannibalismâ
âDear Santaâ
âDeath Protocolâ *
âDescentâ
âDesert Oneâ
âDiana Kennedy: Nothing Specialâ
âDick Johnson Is Deadâ
âDisclosureâ
âThe Dissidentâ
âThe Dog Docâ
âThe Donut Kingâ
âDope Is Deathâ
âDown a Dark Stairwellâ
âDownstream to Kinshasaâ
âThe Earth Is Blue as an Orangeâ
âElementaâ
âEnding Diseaseâ *
âEpicentroâ
âErased, ____ Ascent of the Individualâ
âEscape From Extinctionâ
âEverybody Fliesâ
âF11 and Be Thereâ
âFandango at the Wallâ
âFather Soldier Sonâ
âFeels Good Manâ
âThe Fightâ
âFind Your Grooveâ
âFinding Yingyingâ
âFireball: Visitors From Darker Worldsâ
âFirst Voteâ
âFirst We Eatâ *
âFlanneryâ
âFor They Know Not What They Doâ
âThe Forbidden Reelâ
â40 Years a Prisonerâ
âThe Ghost of Peter Sellersâ
âGiving Voiceâ
âA Glitch in the Matrixâ *
âFreak Power: The Ballot or the Bombâ
âFreedia Got a Gunâ
âThe Go-Goâsâ
âGordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mindâ
âGundaâ
âHarry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Somethingâ
âHe Dreams of Giantsâ *
âHouse of Cardinâ
âThe Human Factorâ
âHuman Natureâ
âI Am Gretaâ
âI Am Not Aloneâ
âI Owe You a Letter About Brazilâ
âiHumanâ
âIn My Skinâ *
âIndian Space Dreamsâ
âInfluenceâ
âIrmiâ
âThe Infiltratorsâ
â(In)visible Portraitsâ
âIrradies (Irradiated)â
âJimmy Carter: Rock & Roll Presidentâ
âJohn Lewis: Good Troubleâ
âJourney to Royal: A WWII Rescue Missionâ *
âKate Nash: Underestimate the Girlâ
âA Kid from Coney Islandâ
âKingdom of Silenceâ
âKings of Capitol Hillâ
âKiss the Groundâ
âLa Madrina: The (Savage) Life of Lorine Padinaâ
âLanceâ
âLandfallâ
âThe Last Blockbusterâ
âLast Call for Tomorrowâ
âLennox: The Untold Storyâ *
âLessons of Loveâ
âThe Letterâ
âLibelu â Down With the Dictatorshipâ
âLife Is Deadlyâ
âLift Like a Girlâ
âLost Courseâ
âLost in Faceâ
âThe Lost Paradiseâ
âLove Childâ
âMade You Look: A True Story About Fake Artâ
âMan in the Arenaâ
âMartin Margiela: In His Own Wordsâ
âMayorâ
âMighty Iraâ
âMiss Americanaâ
âMLK/FBIâ
âThe Mole Agentâ
âThe Monster Inside Meâ
âA Most Beautiful Thingâ
âMother to Earth: The Untold Story of Earth Boundâ
âMr. Soul!â
âMucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercadoâ
âMusic Got Me Hereâ
âMy Darling Vivianâ
âMy Darling Supermarketâ
âMy Octopus Teacherâ
âMy People: The Jews of Greeceâ
âMy Psychedelic Love Storyâ
âMy Rembrandtâ
âNapoli Edenâ
âNarciso Em Feriasâ
âNasrinâ
âThe New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequelâ
â9/11 Kidsâ
â915â *
â9to5: The Story of a Movementâ
âNotturnoâ
âOliver Sacks: His Own Lifeâ
âOlympiaâ
âOn the Recordâ
âOnce Upon a Time in Venezuelaâ
âOnce Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Bandâ
âOttolenghi and the Cakes of Versaillesâ
âOur Time Machineâ
âPahokeeâ
âThe Painter and the Thiefâ
âA Pandemic: Away From the Motherlandâ
âThe Phenomenonâ
âPlanet of the Humansâ
âThe Plot Against the Presidentâ *
âThe Pollinatorsâ
âThe Power of Movementâ
âPray: The Story of Patrick Peytonâ
âPublic Trustâ *
âQueen of Hearts: Audrey Flackâ
âThe Reason I Jumpâ
âRebuilding Paradiseâ
âRed Penguinsâ
âReunitedâ
âRewindâ
âThe Right Girlsâ *
âRingsideâ
âRising Phoenixâ
âRiver City Drumbeatâ
âRiver Talesâ
âRunnerâ *
âSearching for Mr. Rugoffâ
âSelf Portraitâ
â17 Blocks the Final Cutâ
â76 Daysâ
âSky Blossomâ
âSlay the Dragonâ
âThe Social Dilemmaâ
âSoftieâ
âSome Kind of Heavenâ
âSongs of Repressionâ
âSorosâ
âSpaceship Earthâ
âStars and Strifeâ
âThe State of Texas vs. Melissaâ
âStrayâ
âStrip Down, Rise Upâ
âSystem Kâ
âThey Call Me Babuâ *
âThis Is Not a Movieâ
âThis Is Parisâ *
âA Thousand Cutsâ
âThrough the Nightâ
âTimeâ
âThe Times of Bill Cunninghamâ *
âTotally Under Controlâ
âTranshoodâ
âThe Truffle Huntersâ
âTrust Meâ *
âUncle Tomâ *
â#Unfit: The Psychology of Donald Trumpâ
âUs Kidsâ
âThe Walrus and the Whistleblowerâ
âThe Way I See Itâ
âWBCN and the American Revolutionâ
âWe Are the Radical Monarchsâ
âWe Donât Deserve Dogsâ
âWelcome to Chechnyaâ
âWhite Noiseâ
âWho Is Gatsby Randolphâ *
âWild Dazeâ
âWim Wenders, Desperadoâ
âWith Drawn Armsâ
âA Womanâs Work: The NFLâs Cheerleader Problemâ *
âWomen in Blueâ
âYou Cannot Kill David Arquetteâ
âYusuf Hawkins: Storm Over Brooklynâ
âZappaâ
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