AMPAS published December 21 the 15 feature-length and 15 short films shortlisted for the Documentary Film and Documentary Short Film categories of the 2024 Academy Awards.
Two feature documentaries make the cut in both Feature Doc and International Feature Film categories. These are Mstyslav Chernov’s 20 Days In Mariupol (Ukraine) and Kaouther Ben Hania’s Four Daughters (Tunisia). The Moroccan feature doc Morocco, The Mother of All Lies by Asmae el Moudir is also shortlisted for the International Feature Film category.
The Netflix doc American Symphony by Matthew Heineman receives a Feature Doc nod and is further short-listed in the Original Score and Original Song categories.
In the Documentary Feature Film category, nine of the short-listed documentaries are from US while three are from Europe (the Danish Apolonia, Apolonia; the Polish In The Rearview, and 20 Days in Mariupol from Ukraine). One of the shortlisted films is from North Africa (the Tunisian Four Daughters) and one is from South America (The Eternal Memory by Chilean Maite Alberdi). The hotly-tipped Bobi Wine: The People’s President is a United Kingdom/Uganda/United States production while Canada is represented by Nisha Pahuja’s To Kill A Tiger.
Films surprisingly overlooked for the Feature Doc shortlist are Irish Laura McGann’s Netflix doc The Deepest Breath, Wim Wenders’ Anselm and the Sundance/European Film Award-winning Smoke Sauna Sisterhood by Anna Hints.
In the Documentary Short Film category 10 films are from the US, with two from Europe (Bear by Swiss filmmaker Morgane Frund & Last Song from Kabul by Kevin Macdonald, Ruhi Hamid). Taiwan is represented by Island in Between by S. Leo Chiang. Wings of Dust by Giorgio Ghiotto hails from Peru, while Canadian Justine Martin gets the nod for Oasis.
The short-listed films are:
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM (all US unless marked otherwise)
- American Symphony by Matthew Heineman
- Apolonia, Apolonia by Lea Glob (Denmark)
- Beyond Utopia by Madeleine Gavin
- Bobi Wine: The People’s President by Christopher Sharp/Moses Bwayo (UK/Uganda/US)
- Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy by Nancy Buirski
- The Eternal Memory by Maite Alberdi (Chile)
- Four Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia)
- Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project by Michèle Stephenson, Joe Brewster
- In the Rearview by Maciek Hamela (Poland)
- Stamped from the Beginning by Roger Ross Williams
- Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie by Davis Guggenheim
- A Still Small Voice by Luke Lorenzen
- 32 Sounds by Sam Green
- To Kill a Tiger by Nisha Pahuja (Canada)
- 20 Days in Mariupol by Mstyslav Chernov
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM (all US unless marked otherwise)
- The ABCs of Book Banning by Trish Adlesic, Nazenet Habtezghi, Sheila Nevins
- The Barber of Little Rock by John Hoffman, Christine Turner
- Bear by Morgane Frund (Switzerland)
- Between Earth & Sky by Andrew Nadkarni
- Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games by Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson
- Camp Courage by Max Lowe
- Deciding Vote by Robert J. Lyons, Jeremy Workman
- How We Get Free by Geeta Gandbhir, Samantha M. Knowles
- If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis by Ramin Bahrani
- Island in Between S. Leo Chiang (Taiwan)
- The Last Repair Shop by Kris Bowers, Ben Proudfoot
- Last Song from Kabul by Kevin Macdonald, Ruhi Hamid (United Kingdom, Germany, Portugal, Qatar, Afghanistan)
- Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó by Sean Wang
- Oasis by Justine Martin (Canada)
- Wings of Dust by Giorgio Ghiotto (Peru)
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM (documentaries)
- Morocco: The Mother of All Lies by Asmae el Moudir
- Tunisia: Four Daughters by Kaouther Ben Hania
- Ukraine: 20 Days in Mariupol by Mstyslav Chernov
Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23. The ceremony will be held on March 10 2024.
