2017 Awards Season: Oscar Highlight: Best Feature-Length Documentary
February 15, 2018
With our annual Oscar Prediction contest underway, now is the best time to look at the nominees and try to figure out who the favorites are and which films should just feel honored to be nominated. Today we look at Best Feature-Length Documentary. This category had an overwhelming favorite, Jane, but then it wasn’t even nominated. This left the category wide open. Has a new favorite emerged? Or is it still a tossup?
Best Feature-Length Documentary of the Year
Faces, Places
Icarus
Last Men in Aleppo
Strong Island
Conclusion: I really thought Jane was a lock to win this Oscar, so much so, that I hadn’t really bothered to research the competition before the nominations were announced. After a bit of research, it appears Faces Places is the overwhelming favorite among the nominees. Not only are its reviews 100% positive, but it is about the right subject matter and one of the nominees has a long filmmaking career without winning an Oscar. Last Men in Aleppo might be able to score an upset, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
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Tomatometer Score: 93% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: DGA
Previous Major Wins: None
Notes: Like every film on this list, this one earned more than 90% positive reviews. However, three of the other films earned 100% positive reviews, so this film’s chances of winning are very slim. That said, the nomination very likely helped it on the home market, so that’s something.
Tomatometer Score: 100% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: Independent Spirit Awards
Previous Major Wins: None (One Pending)
Notes: One of three films on this list that are earning 100% positive reviews. It also earned the highest box office, which isn’t technically a measure of quality, but it does mean the voters are more likely to have seen it. Finally, the film is co-directed by Agnès Varda, who is turning 90 years old this year and she’s been making films for 60 years and this is her first Oscar nomination. Oscar voters love a storyline like this.
Tomatometer Score: 92% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: BAFTA and DGA
Previous Major Wins: None (One Pending)
Notes: This film has the weakest reviews on this list. It’s only real asset is its timely nature. The Winter Olympics are currently happening and Russia was banned from participating, due to the doping scandal this film reports on.
Tomatometer Score: 100% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: Independent Spirit Awards
Previous Major Wins: None (One Pending)
Notes: Another film with 100% positive reviews. This one is a hard political documentary and those can win Oscars; however, Oscar voters prefer films that celebrate films, so it is not the favorite.
Tomatometer Score: 100% Positive
Previous Major Nominations: None
Previous Major Wins: None
Notes: The third film with 100% positive reviews. However, it never got a real theatrical release and it is too low profile to win the Oscar.
Filed under: Awards Season, Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Last Men in Aleppo, Visages villages, Jane, Agnès Varda