Oscar Doc Race Narrows to 15

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 15 films in the ever-controversial Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 85th Academy Awards. A whopping 126 pictures had originally qualified in the category.

This list often stirs up considerable controversy, and there are definitely a few major omissions in “The Central Park Five,” “West of Memphis,” “Samsara,” “Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present,” “Only The Young” and “The Queen of Versailles.” But overall one suspects this will be one of the most agreeable Oscar shortlists in some time.

The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

“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.

The Documentary Branch viewed the eligible documentaries for the preliminary round of voting. Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.

The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.



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