ACADEMY DOCS SHORTLISTED

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences yesterday released a list of films that will continue on in the voting process in the category of Best Documentary Feature for the 77th Academy Awards. The 12 films from which the five nominees will be selected are listed below in alphabetical order:

Born into Brothels (ThinkFilm), directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kaufmann

The most stigmatized people in Sonagachi, Calcutta’s red light district, are not the prostitutes, but their children. In the face of abject poverty, abuse, and despair, these kids have little possibility of escaping their mother’s fate or for creating another type of life. Zana Briski gives these kids cameras and teaches them how to use them, igniting latent sparks of artistic genius. The photographs taken by the children are not merely examples of remarkable observation and talent; they reflect something much larger, morally encouraging and even politically volatile: art as an immensely liberating and empowering force.

Home of the Brave (Emerging Pictures), directed by Paola di Florio

Home of the Brave is about the only white woman murdered in the civil rights movement in America and why we don’t know who she is. Told through the eyes of her children, the film follows the on-going struggle of an American family to survive the consequences of their mother’s heroism and the mystery behind her killing.

Howard Zinn: You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train (First Run Features), directed by Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller

The life and times of the historian, activist and author of the best selling classic A People’s History of the United States.

In the Realms of the Unreal (Wellspring), directed by Jessica Yu

Explores the parallel lives of legendary outsider artist Henry Darger. Reclusive janitor by day, visionary artist by night, Darger’s 15,000-page novel The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is Known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, as caused by the Child Slave Rebellion details the exploits of seven angelic sisters who lead a rebellion against godless, child-enslaving men.

Riding Giants (Sony Pictures Classics), directed by Stacey Peralta

Beginning with the history of surfing from its early Polynesian roots to its rebirth in the 20th Century, Riding Giants traces the development of a fledgling surf culture along the coast of Southern California in the 1940s, highlighting a group of surfers who began searching for bigger and bigger waves, pushing the boundaries of performance to explore the “unridden realm.”

The Ritchie Boys, directed by Christian Bauer

The film follows the fates of a band of young German Jewish intellectuals, refugees from Hitler’s Germany, who had fled to the U.S and were persuaded to sign up for intelligence work in their former homeland. They trained at the super-secret Camp Ritchie, in Maryland.

The Story of the Weeping Camel (ThinkFilm), directed by Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni

An enchanting tale about a family of herders in Mongolia’s Gobi desert who face a crisis when a mother camel unexpectedly rejects her newborn calf.

Super Size Me (Samuel Goldwyn Films), directed by Morgan Spurlock

A tongue-in-cheek — and burger in hand — look at the legal, financial and physical costs of America’s hunger for fast food.

Tell Them Who You Are (ThinkFilm), directed by Mark S. Wexler

A portrait of the acclaimed cinematographer Haskell Wexler by his son Mark.

Touching the Void (IFC Films), directed by Kevin MacDonald

Two twenty-something mountain climbers descending one of the world’s highest peaks face the ultimate tragedy in this stunning true story.

Tupac: Resurrection (Paramount Pictures), directed by Lauren Lazin

The film explores the life of the slain rapper through his own words and music.

Twist of Faith, directed by Kirby Dick

The powerful story of a man who confronts the trauma of past sexual abuse by a local priest, only to find his decision shatters his relationships with his family, community, and his faith.

Eligible documentaries were screened by the AMPAS Documentary Branch Screening Committee, made up of members of the branch who serve on a volunteer basis. The above films were chosen after a preliminary round of screenings. The nominated films will be announced along with nominations in 24 other categories on Tuesday, January 25, at 5:30 a.m. PST.

Surveying the list, Anthony Kaufman asks, “Where was Tarnation? Where was Metallica: Some Kind of Monster? Where was Control Room?… The rest of the Academy lineup features some expected entries — from Super Size Me to Riding Giants — but the full list taken as a whole ignores some of the year’s most potent nonfiction work.”