2010 Oscar Predictions
Best Documentary Feature
The Beaches of Agnes, Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
The Cove, Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
Food, Inc., Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
Like in the best foreign language film category, the best documentary feature Academy Award nominations are decided by a relatively small group of people. Like in the best foreign language film category, controversies have plagued the Academy's documentary branch since its inception decades ago.
Four of the five films above have been widely talked about, especially The Beaches of Agnes, which earned veteran Agnes Varda a Cesar last year, and The Cove, a topical and multiple award-winning documentary about the merciless slaughter of dolphins in the fishing town of Taiji, Japan. Depending on when ballots for this category were due, the Haiti earthquake may have helped Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders. That's why we've included it here. Admittedly, it's a wild guess.
Other strong possibilities are Greg Barker's Sergio, about the United Nations representative killed in Iraq; Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey's Mugabe the White African, a portrait of a white family fighting to keep their land in today's Zimbabwe; and James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo's Every Little Step, about auditions for a Chorus Line revival.
But this being the feature documentary category, any of the 15 semi-finalists may land a nomination. And some of the absolute favorites may be left out.
The Beaches of Agnes, Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
The Cove, Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
Food, Inc., Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)