While the real bulk of awards season is still yet to begin, the race for Best Documentary Feature has already delivered some precursor wins. Summer of Soul swept the Critics Choice Documentary Awards with six wins from six nominations including Best Documentary Feature. It also scored four nominations from the International Documentary Association. That may give a false impression it’s our current frontrunner, but consider the last four winners of this award not only didn’t win the Oscar, they weren’t even nominated. Rules are made to be broken, but it’s a tough curse to overcome.
Given Flee is in serious contention for Best Documentary Feature, International Feature, and Animated Feature, it’s still too early to know which category it stands the best chance of winning. Personally, I think it’s the latter, but it kicked off its documentary campaign with a win at the Gotham Awards for Best Documentary, two nominations from the International Documentary Association, and a field-leading seven nominations at the Cinema Eye Honours.
The other two documentaries that keep ticking all the right boxes are Ascension and Faya Dayi. Both were nominated at the Gotham Awards, Critics Choice, and IDA. Both landed multiple nods at the Cinema Eye Honours. And the former landed on the nominations for the Satellite Awards as well.
Keep an eye on two contenders that both lay their focus on the health problems of two Hollywood stars. Val is an intimate portrait of Val Kilmer’s career and his battle with throat cancer. Introducing Selma Blair is the deeply personal story of Blair’s diagnosis with multiple sclerosis. Both films landed nominations at Critics Choice and the Satellite Awards, so they’re in the mix here too.
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE PREDICTIONS:
1. The Rescue (National Geographic)
2. Flee (Neon)
3. Summer of Soul (Searchlight Pictures)
4. Procession (Netflix)
5. President (Greenwich Entertainment)
IN CONTENTION
Ailey (Neon)
Ascension (MTV Documentary Films)
Attica (Showtime)
Becoming Cousteau (Picturehouse)
Burning (Amazon Studios)
Faya Dayi (Janus Films)
The First Wave (Neon)
In the Same Breath (HBO Documentary Films)
Julia (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Lost Leonardo (Sony Pictures Classics)
Mayor Pete (Amazon Studios)
The Real Charlie Chaplin (Showtime)
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (Focus Features)
The Sparks Brothers (Focus Features)
Val (Amazon Studios)
The Velvet Underground (Apple TV+)