In profile: the Oscar and Bafta documentary contenders

76 Days 

Dirs. Hao Wu, Weixi Chen, Anonymous
Premiering in TIFF Docs at Toronto last September, 76 Days sees festival regular Wu (a SXSW 2018 grand jury award winner for People’s Republic Of Desire) collaborate with Chen and an anonymous partner. Filmed in four Chinese hospitals, the raw footage depicts patients and healthcare workers in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, showing human stories of resilience. MTV Documentary Films bought US rights after Toronto, releasing in early December, while Dogwoof released digitally in the UK in January. Wins so far include the documentary audience award at AFI Fest.
- Oscar shortlist

All In: The Fight For Democracy

Dirs. Lisa Cortés, Liz Garbus
Fuelled by righteous indignation over the 2018 Georgia gubernatorial election, lost by Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams following a purge of electoral rolls that smacked of voter suppression, this campaigning film tracks the history of US states’ attempts to limit African American democratic participation. Abrams — who serves as a producer of the Amazon Studios title — led subsequent efforts to register voters, and her success may be gauged by Joe Biden’s win in Georgia last November, and the state’s election of two Democratic senators in January.
- Bafta longlist
- Oscar shortlist 

Athlete A

Dirs. Bonnie Cohen, Jon Shenk
Cohen and Shenk’s disturbing documentary follows the testimony of child gymnasts whose lives and bodies were shattered by the “elite athlete” regime run by USA Gymnastics, the Romanian coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi, and, most appallingly, the smiling pederast doctor Larry Nassar. A Netflix title that debuted on the streamer in June, the story is set up via the testimony of ‘Athlete A’, revealed to be the Olympic gymnast Maggie Nichols, and the dogged reporters at TheIndianapolis Star and the district attorney who followed her case through to its bitter conclusion.
- Bafta longlist

Beastie Boys Story

Dir. Spike Jonze
Years prior to his debut feature Being John Malkovich, Jonze built his reputation as an innovative music video director with clips including the Beastie Boys’ spoofy ‘Sabotage’ from 1994. It made him an automatic choice for this stage-show memoir featuring surviving band members Adam Horovitz and Mike Diamond recounting the story of the rap trio, filmed in Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre. A SXSW premiere and limited cinema release were both victims of Covid-19; instead the film premiered on Apple TV+ last April. Kudos so far includes five Primetime Emmy nominations and one Grammy nomination.
- Bafta longlist 

Becoming

Dir. Nadia Hallgren
Like Beastie Boys Story, Becoming incorporates a performance element — in this case Michelle Obama’s live stage-show and book tour in 2019 for her titular memoir. Produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground Productions (Oscar winner American Factory, Crip Camp) alongside Big Mouth Productions (Dick Johnson Is Dead), Becoming premiered on Netflix in May and was nominated for four Primetime Emmys and a Grammy. Hallgren, making her feature debut as director, has cinematography credits including Carl Deal and Tia Lessin’s Citizen Koch (2013) and Dawn Porter’s Trapped (2016).
- Bafta longlist

Billie

Dir. James Erskine
While Lee Daniels’ The United States Vs Billie Holiday made little headway with Bafta voters, earning longlist places only for costume and hair and make-up, Erskine’s non-fiction film about the famed jazz singer pretty much lived up to its potential with a longlist placement in the documentary category. The film also netted an International Documentary Association Awards nomination for music documentary. A 2019 Telluride Film Festival premiere, Billie was released in the US in December via Greenwich Entertainment, and in the UK by Altitude Film Entertainment.
 - Bafta longlist

Boys State

Dirs. Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
A firm festival and audience favourite since it bowed at Sundance 2020, Boys State is an entertaining and thought-provoking allegory for the US democratic process as it follows hundreds of boys at an annual American Legion camp, who vie with each other to form a government. A24 and Apple splashed out $12m to acquire the film at Park City, where it won the jury prize in the US documentary section for Moss and McBaine (The Overnighters). It has looked a strong contender for further awards ever since. (See feature, page 26.)
- Oscar shortlist

Collective

Dir. Alexander Nanau
Nanau’s compelling documentary — a Venice Film Festival premiere in 2019 — tells the story of a 2015 Bucharest nightclub fire and the exposure of rotting corruption at the heart of the Romanian state. Nanau (2014’s Toto And His Sisters) follows journalists at the country’s Sports Gazette as they ask the right questions of the country’s medical sector, and find answers that are bracing and dangerous. The film’s inspired story­telling has helped it to international prizes, including the European Film Award for documentary. Cinephil handled sales, with Magnolia and Participant collaborating on its US release.
- Bafta longlist
- Oscar shortlist 

Crip Camp

Dirs. Jim LeBrecht, Nicole Newnham
The audience award winner for documentary at Sundance 2020, this Netflix-backed film is directed by Newnham and one of the film’s anchors LeBrecht, and is executive produced by the Obamas’ Higher Ground label. Based around footage of Camp Jened, a 1970s retreat in the Catskills for children with disabilities (“a summer camp for the handicapped run by hippies”), it tracks the disabled-rights movement and how it grew out of that liberation. Winner of the prestigious International Documentary Association prize.
- Bafta longlist
- Oscar shortlist

David Attenborough: A Life On Our Planet

Dirs. Alastair Fothergill, Jonnie Hughes, Keith Scholey
The only documentary to land on the 20-strong Bafta longlist for outstanding British film is likewise longlisted for documentary and score. Considered to be at the populist end of the non-fiction titles competing for awards kudos this year, the film offers veteran broadcaster and natural historian Attenborough’s “witness statement” regarding the impact of the human species on our planet. Produced by Fothergill’s Silverback Films with Altitude Film Entertainment, the film enjoyed a theatrical window before landing on Netflix in October.
- Bafta longlist

Dick Johnson Is Dead

Dir. Kirsten Johnson
A year on from winning the US documentary special jury award at Sundance, this critics’ darling has garnered nominations from circles in Florida, Boston, St Louis, Philadelphia, Houston and London, plus wins from Chicago, Columbus, North Carolina and three Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. A blend of comedy and pathos plus a broad availability (it launched worldwide on Netflix in October) may help Johnson’s film, which pre-creates her father’s death in consideration of his dementia and coming demise.
- Bafta longlist
- Oscar shortlist

The Dissident

Dir. Bryan Fogel
Despite a buzzy debut at last year’s Sundance, this explosive investigation into the last days of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was not picked up for US distribution until later in the year (by Briarcliff Entertainment), perhaps because of its sensitive subject matter. The film exposes the laby­rinth of deceit behind the October 2018 murder of The Washington Post journalist and outspoken critic of the Saudi government inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Director Fogel previously won the documentary Oscar in 2018 with Russian sports-doping scandal exposé Icarus.
- Bafta longlist

Gunda

Dir. Viktor Kossakovsky
Russian filmmaker Kossakovsky’s follow-up to Aquarela (2018) is an observational black-and-white documentary — depicting the daily life of animals on a farm — that proved a critical hit when it premiered at Berlin in 2020, described by Screen International’s reviewer as “intensely moving, transfixing and genuinely unique”. Two cows and a one-legged chicken make their appearances, but the star attraction is the titular sow and her litter, whose lives are presented minus any commentary. Joaquin Phoenix added international cachet by signing on as executive producer, and Neon picked up US rights shortly after Berlin.
- Oscar shortlist

I Am Greta

Dir. Nathan Grossman
Premiering out of competition at Venice last September, then crossing the Atlantic to Toronto, this film from Swedish documentarian Grossman tracks teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg from the first school strikes in August 2018 to being named Time’s Person of the Year in 2019. Produced in association with Hulu and a number of international broadcasters, including BBC Storyville, I Am Greta landed on Hulu in the US in November, and enjoyed UK theatrical play last October between lockdowns courtesy of Dogwoof.
- Bafta longlist

MLK/FBI

Dir. Sam Pollard
This archive-led documentary, which premiered at Toronto 2020, follows US civil-rights activist Martin Luther King Jr as he is investigated and harassed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is directed by award-winning veteran documentary maker Pollard, who was nominated for an Oscar in 1998 as the producer of Spike Lee’s 4 Little Girls. IFC Films snapped up North American rights at Toronto and released it on January 15. The film also won best archival documentary at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards and the festival award at San Diego International Film Festival.
- Bafta longlist
- Oscar shortlist

The Mole Agent

Dir. Maite Alberdi
Having screened previous works at Sheffield DocFest, IDFA and True/False, Chilean filmmaker Alberdi made her Sundance bow last January, with The Mole Agent going on to Karlovy Vary, San Sebastian, Zurich and Busan. After recently losing his wife, an octogenarian is employed by a detective to investigate reports of elderly abuse at a retirement home. Dogwoof handles sales and UK rights; Gravitas Ventures released in the US in September, with PBS broadcasting in January 2021 in its acclaimed POV series.
- Bafta longlist for film not in English language
- Oscar shortlist

My Octopus Teacher

Dirs. Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed
Ten years in the making, Netflix’s first South African nature documentary was a word-of-mouth hit when it debuted on the streaming platform in September. The film explores the relationship that developed between nature documentarian Craig Foster and a wild octopus, from life in its den to devastating shark attacks. Directed by Royal Television Society award winner Reed and first-time filmmaker Ehrlich, it was shot by Roger Horrocks, known for his underwater work on the BBC’s Our Planet and Blue Planet II series.
- Bafta longlist
- Oscar shortlist

Notturno

Dir. Gianfranco Rosi
Chosen to represent Italy for the international feature Oscar — but failing to make the category’s shortlist of 15 — Notturno is the latest from director Rosi, who won the Golden Bear at Berlin for Fire At Sea in 2016. This haunting elegy is set on the borders of Iraq, Syria, Kurdistan and Lebanon, and played in Competition at Venice (where it won three awards), Telluride, Toronto, London and New York. Neon division Super Ltd picked up this emotional story of life in these disputed badlands from Submarine.
- Oscar shortlist 

The Painter And The Thief

Dir. Benjamin Ree
Winner of Sundance 2020’s special jury prize for documentary, the film follows a Czech artist as she befriends the career criminal who stole two of her paintings from an Oslo gallery in 2015. It marks the second feature by Norway’s Ree, whose first Magnus (2016) was a portrait of chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen. Neon acquired The Painter And The Thief shortly after its Sundance debut and gave it a US release last May. It was nominated for two Critics’ Choice documentary awards and visited festivals including Rotterdam, Zurich and London.
- Bafta longlist for film not in English language
- Oscar shortlist

The Social Dilemma

Dir. Jeff Orlowski
This 2020 Sundance premiere combines testimony from former executives at major social-media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with a scripted narrative: a cautionary tale illustrating the perils of one family’s addiction to its electronic devices. Released via Netflix last September, this latest feature from Orlowski (Chasing Ice, Chasing Coral) also investigates the dangers of users becoming cocooned in bubbles where conspiracy theories can flourish — a tendency that was amply witnessed in the aftermath of the recent US presidential election.
- Bafta longlist

Time

Dir. Garrett Bradley
Amazon Studios’ reported $5m purchase out of Sundance 2020 — where it won the documentary directing award — has picked up notable prizes in recent months including best documentary at the Gotham Awards and best director from the International Documentary Association. It also picked up an Independent Spirit nomination. Bradley’s non-fiction feature debut takes a formally innovative approach to mother-of-six Sibil Fox Richardson’s 20-year effort to free her husband from a 60-year prison sentence in Louisiana. Amazon released theatrically and digitally last October.
- Oscar shortlist

The Truffle Hunters

Dirs. Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Heralded as one of the best documentaries to come out of Sundance 2020, this feelgood feature was foraged by Sony Pictures Classics in a reported $1.5m deal for worldwide rights. It follows a small group of elderly Italian men and their faithful hounds as they search for the elusive Alba truffle in the forests of Piedmont. Luca Guadagnino is among the executive producers of the film, which secured a Cannes 2020 label and enjoyed a long festival run that included Toronto and New York. The Truffle Hunters is one of seven titles this year to secure places on both the Bafta documentary longlist and Oscars shortlist. 
- Bafta longlist
- Oscar shortlist

Welcome To Chechnya

Dir. David France
A raft of accolades has already been awarded to this gripping feature, in which a group of activists risk their lives fighting for LGBT rights in Chechnya. Accolades include winning the editing award at Sundance, where it premiered; a hat-trick at the Berlinale, including the Panorama audience award; and the top award and Fipresci prize at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Director France was Oscar-nominated in 2013 for How To Survive A Plague. Welcome To Chechnya was released by HBO Films in June 2020.
- Oscar shortlist

• Has Bafta’s documentary category become too populist?