The Academy has announced the documentary hopefuls for awards consideration, with Charles Ferguson’s financial crisis investigation Inside Job, Shlomi Eldar’s human drama Precious Life and Davis Guggenheim’s education jeremiad Waiting For Superman (pictured) all in the mix.

Lucy Walker’s Countdown To Zero  is a notable absentee, although her film Waste Land did make the cut. Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg’s Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work is also off the list.

The 15 films that will advance in the voting process from an original slate of 100 eligible titles are, in alphabetical order:

Client 9: The Rise And Fall Of Eliot Spitzer by Alex Gibney:

Enemies Of The People by Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath;

Exit Through The Gift Shop by Banksy;

Gasland by Josh Fox;

Genius Within: The Inner Life Of Glenn Gouldby Michele Hozer and Peter Raymont;

Inside Job by Charles Ferguson;

The Lottery by Madeleine Sackler;

Precious Life by Shlomi Eldar;

Quest For Honor by Mary Ann Smothers Bruni;

Restrepo by Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger;

This Way Of Life by Thomas Burstyn;

The Tillman Story by Amir Bar-Lev;

Waiting For Superman by Davis Guggenheim;

Waste Land by Lucy Walker; and

William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe by Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler.

Nominees will be announced on January 25, 2011.

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