January saw Summer of Soul continue to sweep wins from the critics groups. It’s now up to 35 victories thus far, making it the clear critics choice this season. But as every pundit continues to shout, the presumed frontrunner in the documentary race consistently misses a nomination from the Academy, especially those constructed of archival footage. Films like Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Apollo 11, and Jane suffered that fate. Is Summer of Soul next?
There’s every chance I’m wrong, but history is always hard to argue with. The documentary branch loves to thumb their nose at what awards season tells it to do, especially when it comes to acknowledging archival footage docos. Maybe this will be the year they agree with the critics and Summer of Soul does sneak in.
We know it’s probably not winning Animated Feature or International Feature Film, so Flee continues to strengthen as the frontrunner in the documentary race. In January, it picked up a key nod from the PGA and collected a stack of wins from the critics including the National Society of Film Critics. Neon have been ramping up their Oscar campaign for the film (including an FYC quote from the one and only Bong Joon Ho), so I think it’s starting to look like our potential winner.
It’s still rather difficult determining which documentaries will join Flee in the final five. The Rescue seems like a safe bet. Likewise with Procession aka Netflix’s great hope this season. Faya Dayi and Ascension both have critical acclaim, but I can’t shake the feeling one of the covid documentaries is sneaking in, so perhaps either The First Wave or In the Same Breath slip in.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE PREDICTIONS:
1. Flee (Neon)
2. The Rescue (National Geographic)
3. Procession (Netflix)
4. Faya Dayi (Janus Films)
5. Ascension (MTV Documentary Films)
IN CONTENTION
Attica (Showtime)
Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry (Neon/Apple TV+)
The First Wave (Neon)
In the Same Breath (HBO Documentary Films)
Julia (Sony Pictures Classics)
President (Greenwich Entertainment)
Simple as Water (HBO Documentary Films)
Summer of Soul (Searchlight Pictures)
The Velvet Underground (Apple Original Films)
Writing with Fire (Music Box Films)
