2016 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Feature-Length Documentary
February 9, 2017
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try and figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Feature-Length Documentary. Like last year, this category has an overwhelming favorite, despite it not being a Feature-Length Documentary.
Best Feature-Length Documentary of the Year
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made in America
Conclusion: O.J.: Made in America is a nearly eight-hour TV mini-series that was shown once in theaters before airing on TV. That’s all it needed to do to be considered for an Oscar. It is amazing, but gaming the system like this is a little cheap. It is almost guaranteed to win, so I guess it worked.
13th
Tomatometer Score: 97% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: BAFTA and Independent Spirit Awards
Previous Major Wins: None (Two Pending)
Notes: This film has earned excellent reviews and has managed two major Awards Season nominations. If it wins those two, its chances will go way up. However, it would still be an underdog to O.J.: Made in America.
Tomatometer Score: 93% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: None
Previous Major Wins: None
Notes: This nomination was one of the more surprising Oscar nods this year. It has earned excellent reviews, but its chances of winning are nearly zero.
Tomatometer Score: 96% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: Independent Spirit Awards and DGA
Previous Major Wins: None (One pending)
Notes: This film is a long shot to win, but if it does win, it likely won’t be the biggest upset of the night. The only Oscar nominated feature-length documentary to earn an Independent Spirit Award nomination. This helps it a little, but it is still a huge long shot to win.
Tomatometer Score: 94% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: PGA and DGA
Previous Major Wins: None
Notes: This film was nominated for two previous awards, but lost out to the Oscar favorite both times. It would be a shock if it won on Oscar night.
Tomatometer Score: 100% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: Independent Spirit Awards, PGA, and DGA
Previous Major Wins: PGA and DGA
Notes: This “film” has 100% positive reviews and won the only two Awards Season events that have Feature-Length Documentary categories that have already handed out their awards. Nearly everyone thinks it will win.
Filed under: Awards Season, Life, Animated, Fuocoammare, I Am Not Your Negro