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Lack of diversity in Hollywood has been well documented thanks to #OscarSoWhite, but lack of diversity in the documentary world is less talked about. While the documentary community is way ahead of Hollywood, it is still nowhere near where it needs to be. Filmmakers of color rarely get hired by the powerful production companies, and they are not getting supported enough by broadcasters and funders to tell their own stories. All too often, white documentary filmmakers are the ones telling the stories of people of color.

Full Frame has taken this topic on in a big way with their #DocSoWhite Speakeasy panels. But they are not just citing the problem; they are coming up with solutions. One of these solutions is a high school program called “School of Doc,” which is helping to build a diverse community of filmmakers by reaching them early.

As in most public schools across the country,...

The filmmaker returns to the subject of alienation with his new documentary about a young autistic man who uses Disney films to make sense of the world

Three years ago, Roger Ross Williams was looking around for the subject of his next documentary. He had become the first African American filmmaker to win a directing Oscar, awarded for his short film Music By Prudence, which was about a severely disabled Zimbabwean woman, Prudence Mabhena, who overcame prejudice to become a singer-songwriter. In the feature-length God Loves Uganda he charted the campaign in that country to make homosexuality punishable by death. Then an old friend, the Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, told him about the book he and his wife Cordelia were writing about their son, Owen, who developed autism at the age of two. Owen had only begun to make contact again through dialogue from his beloved Walt Disney films.

Chicago – The mystery of the particulars within an autistic mind is a theme in a new documentary, as a man named Owen Suskind is profiled through his personal breakthroughs using the animated films of the Walt Disney Studios. Director Roger Ross Williams introduces the unusual journey in the compelling “Life, Animated.”

Based on the book by main subject’s father, Ron Suskind, the story is about Owen’s struggle to understand the world around him, while his autistic condition prevents clear comprehension. Now a grown man, he must transition into a halfway house to live on his own. All the while, it has been the animated films of the Walt Disney studios that have been his guiding life force, from boyhood to manhood.

The Disney Life of Owen Suskind is Explored in ‘Life, Animated’

Photo credit: The Orchard

Roger Ross Williams is a former broadcast journalist, and won an Oscar...

Disney characters are so beloved that it’s easy to forget they’re also commercial products, united by the marketing heft of a massive corporate entity. Their history is also riddled with culturally problematic representations, from the Middle Eastern stereotypes of “Aladdin” to the black crows of “Dumbo.” But such a skeptical reading is irrelevant to the appeal of “Life, Animated,” documentarian Roger Ross William’s straightforward but innately touching look at a young man with autism for whom Disney characters represent salvation from his condition. It’s the best Disney movie that Disney didn’t make.

Williams (who won an Oscar for his short “Music By Prudence”) follows up his look at homophobia in “God Loves Uganda” with a far more intimate project. Based on Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind’s book, “Life, Animated” revolves around the plight facing Suskind’s autistic son Owen, who spent several years of...

Another uplifting, inspirational documentary on the subject of autism and one family’s struggles, Life, Animated follows the story of the Suskind family and the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, Owen. Ron, in direct address, tells us the painful story of Owen’s decline, from a happy child to one with failing motor and social skills at age three. Like last year’s Sundance hit How To Dance in Ohio, Life Animated is a personal portrait of youth and family afflicted by autism. Providing some comfort to affected families, Owen slowly learns to live on his own, he falls in love, gets his heart broken, lands a job and helps others in his community.

Although he doesn’t yet resort to online dating as seen in Julie Sokolow’s witty Aspie Seeks Love (a film that was on the festival circuit last year that is worth mentioning alongside...

While not all receive the golden ticket for a Park City premiere, the invaluable support available at the Sundance Institute is ongoing and takes several shapes and forms. Last year’s batch of Documentary Edit and Story Labs attendees included Anna Sandilands & Ewan McNicol who trimmed Uncertain, while Lyric Cabral & David Felix Sutcliffe spliced into shape (T)Error. As underlined in the press release, this year’s eight projects touches of subjects of transgender parents, the aftermath of Sandy Hook tragedy, exonerated death row inmates and AIDS. Among the noteworthy names attending (June 19-27 and July 3-11) we find Lost in La Mancha duo of Keith Fulton & Lou Pepe (see pic above) and Informant director Jamie Meltzer’s tentatively titled Freedom Fighters. Here are the participants and creative folk for ’15.

Editors serving as Creative Advisors for the June 19-27 session are Marshall Curry (Point and Shoot), Ra’anan Alexandrowicz (The...

The Sundance Institute has announced the eight projects that will take part in their Documentary Edit and Story lab at the Sundance Resort in June and July. All participating projects are in the advanced stages of post-production and will work on their rough cuts in the two-part lab. This year’s Creative Advisors include Marshall Curry (Point and Shoot), Geoffrey Richman (Racing Extinction), Kate Amend (The Case Against 8), Richard Hankin (God Loves Uganda), Victor Livingston (The Queen of Versailles) and more. The full list of projects and synopses is below. The Bad Kids Director: Keith Fulton & Lou Pepe Editor: Jacob Bricca At […]...

The Sundance Institute has announced the eight projects that will take part in their Documentary Edit and Story lab at the Sundance Resort in June and July. All participating projects are in the advanced stages of post-production and will work on their rough cuts in the two-part lab. This year’s Creative Advisors include Marshall Curry (Point and Shoot), Geoffrey Richman (Racing Extinction), Kate Amend (The Case Against 8), Richard Hankin (God Loves Uganda), Victor Livingston (The Queen of Versailles) and more. The full list of projects and synopses is below. The Bad Kids Director: Keith Fulton & Lou Pepe Editor: Jacob Bricca At […]...

Award-winning "Selma" director Ava Duvernay, founder of the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement, along with other filmmakers, have taken over Twitter today for a "Rebel-a-Thon" in support of the Affrm. Moderated by DuVernay, an all-star lineup of more than 40 black filmmakers including Ryan Coogler ("Fruitvale Station"), Dawn Porter ("Spies of Mississippi"), Roger Ross Williams ("God Loves Uganda"), Rick Famuyiwa ("Dope"), Justin Simien ("Dear White People"), Gina Prince-Bythewood ("Beyond the Lights"), John Singleton ("Boyz 'N The Hood") and many more are taking to Twitter from 10am Et to 10pm Et to raise funds for the Affrm. Read More: Ava DuVernay on How to Move the Film Industry in the Right Direction DuVernay started Affrm in 2011 with the goals of empowering black, independent filmmakers with theatrical and multi-platform distribution through Array...

Read More: Truth or Fiction? Tribeca Directors Grapple with Reality Making a documentary can mess with your head in more ways than one -- just ask Roger Ross Williams ("God Loves Uganda"), Rachel Boynton ("Big Men") and Liz Garbus ("What Happened, Miss Simone?"). All three award-winning documentary filmmakers participated in a Tribeca Film Festival Master Class on "capturing reality" last week and shared quite a few anecdotes from their experiences making documentaries over the years.  We've compiled highlights from the discussion, which you can read below: The story changes through the process of filmmaking. "You want to be really angry and you want to really hate them, [but] it was a growing process for me. As I grew, so did the story. I think that is what is surprising about it. Through the process I actually learned so much," said Williams, whose film "God Loves Uganda" examines the impact that the.

Documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams, whose last film was the highly acclaimed and controversial documentary, "God Loves Uganda," among other documentary projects and series for network and cable television, has been hard at work during the past few months on his latest work - a film version of Ron Suskind’s best-selling book “Life Animated: A Story of Sidekicks, Heroes and Autism." In his book, the Pulitzer prize award winning political writer chronicles his and his wife Cornelia’s real life personal story raising their son Owen, who has autism, and the experiences that bought the family closer than ever. Williams, who in 2010 was the first black...

Gun culture, racism and the court system are revolving themes in docu subject matters and if there is a common thread to find between his Marc Silver’s latest docu 3 and ½ and his 2013 Sundance premiered docu-narrative mixer Who is Dayani Cristal? it might be that homicides are hardly ever an open and shut case. There are unfathomable long term repercussions. Surely combining his investigative and probing docu-style, while his last film featuring Gael García Bernal was about the silenced, this spiritual cousin to Fruitvale Station is about a longer fight for justice in the face of injustice. Having received some coin from Britdoc Foundation, 2014 Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, Good Pitch donation from Candescent, this past September the filmmaker was invited to Sundance Institute’s annual Music and Sound Design Lab. Currently somewhere between production and the post-production phase, my thinking is that everyone involved would be pressed to get this...

Margaret Brown's documentary The Great Invisible stands as a Very Important Film, and not just because of its impressive pedigree. Collectively, the creative team behind Invisible is responsible for the films The Order of Myths, God Loves Uganda, Night Catches Us, Food Inc., and dozens more socially conscious works. Invisible traces the history behind and fallout from British Petroleum's incalculably devastating rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Unfortunately, given both its content and the media's collective failure to fully report the (ongoing) story, the film only intermittently has a pulse. It's meant to be a multi-layered look at the issue, focusing on several rig workers who survived the blast, an elderly African...

The Academy has announced the new class of invited members for 2014 and, as is typical, many of which are among last year's nominees, which includes Barkhad Abdi, Michael Fassbender, Sally Hawkins, Mads Mikkelsen, Lupita Nyong'o and June Squibb in the Actors branch not to mention curious additions such as Josh Hutcherson, Rob Riggle and Jason Statham, but, okay. The Directors branch adds Jay and Mark Duplass along with Jean-Marc Vallee, Denis Villeneuve and Thomas Vinterberg. I didn't do an immediate tally of male to female additions or other demographics, but at first glance it seems to be a wide spread batch of new additions on all fronts. The Academy is also clearly attempting to aggressively bump up the demographics as this is the second year in a row where they have added a large number of new members, well over the average of 133 new members from 2004 to 2012. As far as...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 271 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures.

Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership in 2014.

“This year’s class of invitees represents some of the most talented, creative and passionate filmmakers working in our industry today,” said Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs. “Their contributions to film have entertained audiences around the world, and we are proud to welcome them to the Academy.”

The 2014 invitees are:

Actors

Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”

Clancy Brown – “The Hurricane,” “The Shawshank Redeption”

Paul Dano – “12 Years a Slave,” “Prisoners”

Michael Fassbender – “12 Years a Slave,” “Shame”

Ben Foster – “Lone Survivor,” “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints”

Beth Grant – “The Artist,” “No Country for Old Men”

Clark Gregg – “Much Ado about Nothing,” “Marvel’s The Avengers”

Sally Hawkins – “Blue Jasmine,...

Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong’o of 12 Years a Slave were two of the 271 artists and industry leaders invited to become members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which determines nominations and winners at the annual Oscars. The entire list of Academy membership—which numbers about 6,000—isn’t public information so the annual invitation list is often the best indication of the artists involved in the prestigious awards process. It’s worth noting that invitations need to be accepted in order for artists to become members; some artists, like two-time Best Actor winner Sean Penn, have declined membership over the years.

Pop quiz: What do Chris Rock, Claire Denis, Eddie Vedder and Josh Hutcherson all have in common? Answer: They could all be Oscar voters very soon. The annual Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences invitation list always makes for interesting reading, shedding light on just how large and far-reaching the group's membership is -- or could be, depending on who accepts their invitations. This year, 271 individuals have been asked to join AMPAS, meaning every one of them could contribute to next year's Academy Awards balloting -- and it's as diverse a list as they've ever assembled. Think the Academy consists entirely of fusty retired white dudes? Not if recent Best Original Song nominee Pharrell Williams takes them up on their offer. Think it's all just a Hollywood insiders' game? Not if French arthouse titans Chantal Akerman and Olivier Assayas join the party. It's a list that subverts expectation at every turn.

Not all docu films that make the cut into the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Edit and Story Labs are fortunate enough to then land a coveted spot at the festival (recent examples include Roger Ross Williams’ God Loves Uganda and Tracy Draz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo’s Rich Hill) but some fresh air and supportive pounding from the Institute’s Advisors surely contributes to the realization of passion projects that are buckets filled in blood, sweat and tears. Among the press release mentions below, we’ll surely be discussing them in Park City setting in a January to too far off from now. Here are the selection of 20 Fellows representing eight documentary film projects to participate in the 2014 Documentary Edit and Story Labs, June 20-28 and July 4-12 at Sundance Resort in Sundance, Utah.

Artists and projects selected for the June 20-28 Documentary Edit and Story Lab:

A Flickering...

News

AMC has ordered three reality series including All-Star Celebrity Bowling, which sounds ridiculous but could be a lot of fun with the right guests (the pilot features Jon Hamm and the cast of Mad Men playing against Chris Hardwick‘s Nerdist pals).

EW reports that Michael Malarkey will be a series regular on The Vampire Diaries next season. I’d be happier if Malakey weren’t so infuriatingly good at being such a hate-inspiring character, but he’s a great addition to the cast.

Oh, Enzo, why can’t you be pretty and bearable? You too, Damon.

Vulture argues that Grey’s Anatomy failed Cristina Yang. Her exit lacked the grandiose symbolism and narrative impact that Grey’s does well. As emotional as Cristina’s exit may have been, it failed to live up to the drama’s standards. What did you think, Grey’s watchers?

TVline talked with Grimm producer David Greenwalt.

Filmmaker and screenwriter Dwayne Johnson-Cochran’s new and acclaimed documentary film about avant garde jazz musician Kahil El’Zabar, titled Be Known, will be screened at the 8th annual Black Association of Documentary Filmmakers – West, which takes place at the American Film Institute facilities in Los Angeles on Saturday April 12th.Showing along with Roger Ross Williams’ God Loves Uganda and D. Channsin Berry’s The Black Line (Profile of the African-American Woman), Be Known is a “warts and all” exploration of the life and career of a truly original artist who has been "modern jazz's kept secret” for decades. Unique and totally someone who moves to the beat of...

The Committee of African Studies at University of Chicago will begin next month the “Intimacy in Africa” film series open to everyone, set to start on April 1st through early June.Curated and organized by Comparative Human Development graduate student Erin Moore, the series was created to feature and explore films that deal with “domesticity, intimacy, sexuality, subjectivity and affect in Africa.”All screenings will be followed by a short discussion.For more information, go Here.All screenings will start at 5:30Pm (with the exception of God Loves Uganda – see below).The current lineup will include:1 April. Black Girl (1966) – Ousmane Sembène (Senegal). Sembène’s first...

Earlier this week, a law was signed by the president of Uganda that makes homosexuality an offense punishable with life imprisonment. While this legislation is being called reprehensible by human rights advocates around the world, many Ugandan politicians and citizens stand adamantly by it, holding fast to Christian-based beliefs that God-approved, male-female relationships are right and everything else is wrong.

How did such an anti-gay climate -- one that often results in acts of violence committed against both open and suspected homosexuals and their allies -- come about in this small East African nation in the first place? This is the complex and important question that God Loves Uganda attempts to answer.

Director Roger Ross Williams interviews several observers and activists from both sides of Uganda’s culture wars but largely focuses on the efforts and effects of missionary workers from Kansas City. Part of a megachurch operation known as...

A hat-tip to Dylan Marchetti and his Variance Films posse for making another bold pick-up - going where others typically avoid. The company has been responsible for the releases of a handful of films we've covered on this blog - from Spike Lee's Red Hook Summer in 2012, to Terence Nance's An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty, John Sayles' Go For Sisters, and Roger Ross Williams' God Loves Uganda (the last 3 released in 2013).Today, Variance Films has announced that it will partner with director Chris Eska to release his powerful Civil War drama The Retrieval - a film we've covered quite comprehensively, reviewing...

With two big ceremonies coming up (April 12th in Los Angeles and May 3rd in New York City), the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards has a ton of great nominees all vying for a trophy.

On the film end of things, “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Blue is the Warmest Color” both received nods, and “Orange is the New Black” and “Pretty Little Liars” lead the way for television.

The GLAAD Media Awards honors the biggest and brightest stars in entertainment, journalism and real-life Lgbt movements.

The nominees for the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards are:

Outstanding Film – Wide Release

Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance Selects)

Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)

Kill Your Darlings (Sony Pictures Classics)

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Philomena (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Film – Limited Release

Concussion (RADiUS-The Weinstein Company)

Geography Club (Breaking Glass Pictures)

Out in the Dark (Breaking Glass Pictures)

Reaching for the Moon...

This morning the national Lgbt media advocacy organization GLAAD announced nominees for the 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. According to GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis, the year “has brought momentous progress for Lgbt people and families – and our nominees have created images and stories that continue to challenge misconceptions, shatter stereotypes, and change hearts and minds of millions all across the globe.”

There are 130 nominees in 29 categories but a few notable honorees include wide release films Dallas Buyers Club, Philomena and Kill Your Darlings, all of which were previously reviewed here on TheBacklot.

In the limited release category, Geography Club scored a nod. (The film is based on the classic Ya novel by AfterElton alum Brent Hartinger.)

In the outstanding TV drama category, ABC Family scored 2 nominees: The Fosters and Pretty Little Liars.

In the TV comedy category, perennial nominees Modern Family and Glee were joined by Brooklyn Nine-Nine and...

Making a documentary about religion can be a tightrope walk. While there is frequently much to criticize within religious communities and cultures, the trick is investigating these issues without belittling the subjects’ beliefs; when done poorly, films like Bill Maher’s Religulous come off as nothing more than ill-informed and ridiculous themselves. Now Kate Logan, a Los Angeles-based documentary filmmaker with an evangelical background herself, is entering that arena with her first feature, Kidnapped for Christ, which plays at Slamdance this week. The film joins others like last year’s God Loves Uganda and 2010′s Sons of Perdition in looking closely at […]...

Making a documentary about religion can be a tightrope walk. While there is frequently much to criticize within religious communities and cultures, the trick is investigating these issues without belittling the subjects’ beliefs; when done poorly, films like Bill Maher’s Religulous come off as nothing more than ill-informed and ridiculous themselves. Now Kate Logan, a Los Angeles-based documentary filmmaker with an evangelical background herself, is entering that arena with her first feature, Kidnapped for Christ, which plays at Slamdance this week. The film joins others like last year’s God Loves Uganda and 2010′s Sons of Perdition in looking closely at […]...

Oscar 2014 predictions: From ‘Gravity’ to ‘The Great Gatsby’ (photo: George Clooney in ‘Gravity’) See previous post: "Oscar 2014 Predictions: From ‘American Hustle’ to ‘The Hunt.’" Among those listed are Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lawrence, David O. Russell, Jared Leto, Matthew McConaughey, Cate Blanchett, Sally Hawkins, Judi Dench, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael Fassbender, Steve McQueen, Bruce Dern, June Squibb, James Gandolfini, Alfonso Cuarón, Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, and Emma Thompson. Below is the follow up list to our last-minute Oscar 2014 predictions. All lists are in alphabetical order. The only categories that feature runners-up and long shots are the two screenplay categories. Curiously, several major movies and/or widely touted potential Oscar contenders have been completely shut out of our Oscar 2014 predictions (top five films). Among these are Zack Snyder-Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel; Lee Daniels-Forest Whitaker’s The Butler; Denis Villeneuve-...

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I had high hopes for The Assets, I liked the idea of focusing the damage control necessary when a mole is leaking the identities of informants. Unfortunately, audiences weren’t so interested and it’s been pulled from the schedule.

Last night, TVLine got some red carpet scoop. James Earl Jones and Carrie Fisher will be appearing as themselves, encountering Sheldon. Er, can Sheldon’s heart handle meeting those two legends? I’m suddenly worried they’re killing him off.

The BBC America original drama The Intruders has picked a familiar face for its lead. Life on Mars and Doctor Who alum John Simm will play a former cop thrown into a supernatural conspiracy.

Wg America’s 10-part 10 Commandments mini-series will each be made by a different director with a chapter each coming from Lee Daniels and Gus Van Sant.

E! has apologized for a graphic that appeared during...

Shortlist for nominations courts controversy with entries on death squads, homophobia in Uganda and Tahrir Square

Glinting gems, red carpet couture and conspicuous grooming are all hallmarks of Oscar night that can be relied on to brighten up March. This year, however, the Academy Awards will offer more than just glamour. Hollywood is heading to the centre of global political debate.

The films now vying for a prize in the 2014 documentary category are the most politically sensitive yet to be considered for attention at the annual Los Angeles ceremony. They include excoriating cinematic treatments of Indonesian death squads, evangelical homophobia in Uganda, the uprising in Tahrir Square and an attack on the incarceration of orca whales in marine parks.

But ahead of the pack in the controversy stakes so far is Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, the film that tells the story of the trial and imprisonment of two members...

Both the Writers Guild of America, West (Wgaw) and East (Wgae) have announced nominations for the Writers Guild Awards. The biggest omission? Oscar front-runner "12 Years A Slave!" According to IndieWire, "12 Years A Slave, Fruitvale Station, Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, God Loves Uganda, 20 Feet From Stardom, and The Square are indeed ineligible for a WGA nomination because they were not written under the guild's jurisdiction."

Whatever that means! If you're wondering what happened, read the Writers Guild's rules:

Feature films eligible for a Writers Guild Award were exhibited theatrically for at least one week in Los Angeles during 2013 and were written under the WGA.s Minimum Basic Agreement (Mba) or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of the Writers Guild of Canada, Writers Guild of Great Britain, Irish Playwrights & Screenwriters Guild, or the New Zealand Writers Guild. Theatrical screenplays produced under the jurisdiction of the WGA or an affiliate...

Update: I've been informed by the WGA that 12 Years A Slave, Fruitvale Station, Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, God Loves Uganda, 20 Feet From Stardom, and The Square are indeed ineligible for a WGA nomination because they were not written under the guild's jurisdiction. Here's the original post... Hot off the presses, the Writers Guild of America, West (Wgaw) and the Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen during 2013.  Winners will be honored at the 2014 Writers Guild Awards on Saturday, February 1, 2014, at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and...

The top stories of the week from Toh!Awards:Anne Thompson's Updated Oscar PredictionsSanta Barbara Film Fest and Film Society of Lincoln Center to Host First-Ever 'Before' Triple FeaturesTen Steps to a Best Picture Oscar Nomination, from "Quota Vote" to "Surplus Reallocation"Uganda News Puts Focus on Oscar Contender "God Loves Uganda"Box Office:Box Office Prospects for the Foreign Language Oscar ShortlistTop Ten: Pre-Holiday Weekend Brings Two Joyful SequelsTop 13: Holiday Business Spreads the Wealth, Led by "Hobbit" and "Wolf of Wall Street," "47 Ronin" Flops (Chart)Features:Crafts Roundup: Editors Talk About the Journeys of Survival and ReinventionThe Last Word on Film: Toh! Remembers the Writers the Film Community Lost in 2013Toh!'s Last-Minute Holiday Gift Guide for CinephilesTOH! Remembers the Leading Ladies the Film Community Lost in 2013Toh! Remembers the Leading Men the Film Community Lost in 2013Toh! Remembers Talent the Film Community Lost in 2013 (Part 1)Where to Stream Ten...

God would love Uganda to win an Oscar -- or rather “God Loves Uganda,” Roger Ross Williams documentary takedown of U.S. evangelicals and their poisoning of Africa’s political/spiritual atmosphere. How else to interpret Friday’s development – the passage by Ugandan lawmakers of long-pending legislation that calls for life imprisonment for “aggravated homosexuality,” in a country where being gay is already a crime? The Almighty must have picked Williams in the heavenly Oscar pool. Current events, as Oscar watchers know, can and have influenced Oscar voting. “God Loves Uganda” is on the shortlist, and seems a good bet to be among the noms when they’re announced Jan. 16. The director, of course, would have liked Friday’s developments to have gone another way. “It’s bad news for Uganda and all across Africa,” Williams said, having just arrived back in New York from Amsterdam. “Nigeria just passed a similar law.

Over the past weeks and months, we've used this space to take a close look at almost every Oscar category (bar the shorts: we'll focus on those once the nominations are out and we've seen the films), and making our rolling predictions in the process. Just in time for Christmas, we've reached the end, with just one category left: Documentary. We made our picks of the best documentaries of 2013 last week, and there's a fair amount of crossover with the 15-strong shortlist announced by the Academy a few weeks ago. We included "The Act of Killing," "Blackfish," "Cutie and the Boxer," "God Loves Uganda," "Stories We Tell" and "20 Feet From Stardom," all put forward by the Oscar nominating committee, who also picked "The Armstrong Lie," "The Crash Reel," "Dirty Wars," "First Cousin Once Removed," "Life According To Sam," "Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer," "The Square," "Tim's Vermeer" and "Which Way...

Documentaries have come a long way in the past 20 years, especially in the last decade. Documentary film has developed into a popular and visible form of entertainment, while having a bigger effect on society, usually addressing important issues with the goal of informing the public and pushing for social change. Ten years ago, it was more difficult to name 10 “great” documentaries released in one single year. Oh, how times have changed. There are so many incredible docs released each year – most never released wide – that it is impossible to catch up with each – but we try our best here at Sound On Sight. The following is a list of recent documentaries recommended most by our staff. It was hard to choose between the many great docs released this year, but we decided to narrow it down to a list of 10, based on what received the most votes from our end-year...

2014 Sundance Documentary Competitions showcase Nick Cave, Internet paranoia and more   Earlier this week, the 15 film Oscars Documentary shortlist was announced.    If you were at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, you might have caught the majority of the films on that list, including "Blackfish," "The Crash Reel," "Cutie and the Boxer," "Dirty Wars," "God Loves Uganda," "Life According to Sam," "Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer," "The Square," "Stories We Tell," "20 Feet From Stardom" and "Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington."   And the 2013 Sundance documentary slate also...

David O Russell takes early lead in Oscars race by taking three awards, while Robert Redford and Cate Blanchett also win

• Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis wins best film at Gotham awards

• Oscar predictions 2014 – American Hustle

David O Russell's star-studded period crime drama American Hustle picked up three of the top prizes at the New York Critics Circle awards last night, in the process placing itself front and centre in the race for next year's Oscars.

Russell's film was named victor in the best picture and best screenplay categories, with Jennifer Lawrence cited as best supporting actress. The film, a fictional retelling of the FBI's famous Abscam sting of the 1970s and 80s, also features Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner. It has been widely tipped as an awards seasons favourite.

Elsewhere, Cate Blanchett picked up best actress for her much-heralded turn in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine...

A follow up to our recent discussion on contenders for the 2014 Best Documentary Oscar. The Academy has culled its list down to 15 feature documentary films still in consideration.  None of the five black female-directed films in our earlier post - Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, American Promise, Gideon's Army, Valentine Road, or The New Black - were selected for the short list.  However, two more projects we've followed at length - Roger Ross Williams' exploration of the African missionary movement, God Loves Uganda, and 20 Feet From Stardom, Morgan Neville's profile of powerhouse background vocalists - have been included in the top...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have announced that 15 documentary features are in contention for an Oscar.

The films, which qualified from an initial category of 147, include Lance Armstrong's doping tell-all The Armstrong Lie, Pussy Riot doc A Punk Prayer and New York Critics Circle Award winner Stories We Tell.

The semi-semi-finalists are, in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

The Act of Killing, Final Cut for Real

The Armstrong Lie, The Kennedy/Marshall Company

Blackfish, Our Turn Productions

The Crash Reel, Kp Rides Again

Cutie and the Boxer, Ex Lion Tamer and Cine Mosaic

Dirty Wars, Civic Bakery

First Cousin Once Removed, Experiments in Time, Light & Motion

God Loves Uganda, Full Credit Productions

Life According to Sam, Fine Films

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, Roast Beef Productions

The Square, Noujaim Films and Maktube Productions

Stories We Tell, National Film Board of Canada

Tim's Vermeer,...

We will be taking a closer look at each of the 15 contenders for Best Documentary soon, but for now let's look at the films that Oscar's doc branch decided to shortlist from that gargantuan list of 151 contenders. All of the titles are rather high profile with a few left field contenders for fun. I was surprised to not see the likes of A River Changes Course, Let the Fire Burn (the only Ida nominee which didn't make it), At Berkeley, Call me Kuchu, and my personal favourite, The Missing Picture, but this looks like a fairly well representative list of films from what has arguably been one of the strongest years ever for documentaries.

The 15 contenders are:

The Act of Killing The Armstrong Lie Blackfish The Crash Reel Cutie and the Boxer Dirty Wars First Cousin: Once Removed God Loves Uganda (Reviewed) Life According to Sam Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (Reviewed) Stories We Tell,...

Birthday shoutouts go to Brendan Fraser (above), who is 45, Darryl Hannah is 53, Julianne Moore is 53, and Ozzy Osbourne is 65. Here’s his greatest song. Is that Julie? No way.

Johnny Weir Says Gay Protestors Are “Idiots.” “Referring to the new anti-gay law in Russia, which forbids virtually all public mention of homosexuality as a threat to children, the athlete flippantly characterized it as ‘no anal sex in front of libraries.’”

Johnny tries to explain.

The list of 15 documentary films that have advanced in the Oscar race has been released, and sadly, Bridegroom is not included. On the plus side, God Loves Uganda has a shot to make it to the final five.

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 15 films that will vie for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. Out of a record 147 films qualifying in this category, we're now down to 15.

Then, the Academy's Documentary Branch will now select the five nominees that will be announced on Thursday, January 16 when the Oscar noms are revealed.

I am hoping that "The Act of Killing" will make the final cut! This is what documentary cinema is all about -- haunting, provocative, and confrontational!

And the 15 movies buying for the final five spot in the Documentary Feature category are:

"The Act of Killing," Final Cut for Real

"The Armstrong Lie," The Kennedy/Marshall Company

"Blackfish," Our Turn Productions

"The Crash Reel," Kp Rides Again

"Cutie and the Boxer," Ex Lion Tamer and Cine Mosaic

"Dirty Wars," Civic Bakery

"First Cousin Once Removed," Experiments in Time, Light & Motion

"God Loves Uganda,...

Blackfish

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 86th Oscars® . One hundred forty-seven films had originally qualified in the category.

The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:

“The Act of Killing,” Final Cut for Real

“The Armstrong Lie,” The Kennedy/Marshall Company

“Blackfish,” Our Turn Productions

“The Crash Reel,” Kp Rides Again

“Cutie and the Boxer,” Ex Lion Tamer and Cine Mosaic

“Dirty Wars,” Civic Bakery

“First Cousin Once Removed,” Experiments in Time, Light & Motion

“God Loves Uganda,” Full Credit Productions

“Life According to Sam,” Fine Films

“Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer,” Roast Beef Productions

“The Square,” Noujaim Films and Maktube Productions

“Stories We Tell,” National Film Board of Canada

“Tim’s Vermeer,” High Delft Pictures

“20 Feet from Stardom,” Gil Friesen Productions and Tremolo Productions...

The Academy’s documentary branch has revealed its list of the 15 films eligible for the Oscar this year, reducing from a total of 147 movies.

Among the semi-finalists is Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell, about her quest to untangle her family history. The movie was a question mark for the short list since it includes some fictionalized elements and re-creations of events from the past. Ultimately, it made the cut, voted in by the 210 members of the doc branch.

Left off the list: One Direction: This Is Us, the documentary with the biggest box office tally of the year at $29 million.

It’s been an extremely rich year for doc film and while The Academy appear to have included some of the year’s most critically acclaimed items (mostly Sundance preemed) in Dirty Wars, The Act of Killing (Gotham award winner yesterday), Cutie and the Boxer (pictured above) and Stories We Tell (Nyfcc winner today) among their 15 short film list (semi-finalists are then lassoed into a category containing five), there are always a handful of titles that receive a cold shoulder and this year After Tiller, Let the Fire Burn and the too experimental, but nonetheless brilliant Leviathan were among those snubbed. Update: Jordan mentions that quality docs such as Caucus, American Promise, 12 O’Clock Boys and Narco Cultura are no shows that in some circles could have made the cut.

Here’s the list of fifteen.

The Act of Killing

The Armstrong Lie

Blackfish

The Crash Reel

Cutie and the Boxer...

Well, after we had the temerity to predict the Oscar shortlist, we didn't do half bad. Of the 15 documentary features selected by the beleagered Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences documentary branch--out of 147 qualifying films that they were supposed to watch on screeners--our top five all made the list.  We listed Academy shortlisted docs "God Loves Uganda" and "Life According to Sam" as long shots, and failed to predict that "First Cousin Once Removed," "Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer," or Sebastian Junger's HBO eulogy for his fallen comrade, "Which Way is the Front Line from Here: The Life and Death of Tim Hetherington," would make the shortlist.  Among the films we predicted that didn't make the cut are Sundance abortion doc "After Tiller," show business behind-the-scenes doc "Casting By," Errol Morris's high-profile interview with Donald Rumsfeld, "The Unknown Known," and AIDS story "Blood Brother." (We listed "Inequality for All,...

We're still over a month away from the Oscar nominations announcement, but to tide us over for now, the Academy released their short list for Best Documentary Feature. Blackfish, The Act of Killing, Stories We Tell, The Armstrong Lie, and Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer all made the cut. You can read the full list below and update your Netflix queue accordingly. The Act of Killing The Armstrong Lie Blackfish The Crash Reel Cutie and the Boxer Dirty Wars First Cousin Once Removed God Loves Uganda Life According to Sam Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer The SquareStories We TellTim’s Vermeer 20 Feet from Stardom Which Way Is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington...

So the countdown continues toward the Oscars, with the potential nominees in the Documentary category now narrowed from 147 films to a slim 15. From here, only 5 will eventually make it to the Dolby Theater. It speaks to the amazing breadth of docs this year that even though acclaimed and high profile fare like "After Tiller" and "We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks" missed out, there is still a very strong batch of movies contending to become an Oscar nominee. From the already hugely praised "The Act Of Killing," to celebrated festival faves like "Cutie And The Boxer," "God Loves Uganda" and "Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer" to word of mouth buzz builders like Sarah Polley's "Stories We Tell," we don't envy having to choose just one. Here's the shortlist:    "The Act of Killing," Final Cut for Real    "The Armstrong Lie," The Kennedy/Marshall Company    "Blackfish," Our Turn Productions    "The Crash Reel,...

The Academy’s rules for Best Documentary are so arbitrary and asinine that I always hold my breath when it comes to their shortlist. A list of final nominees is frustrating in any category, but it’s infuriating when a good film doesn’t even get a chance to compete. Thankfully, there are plenty of good choices among this year’s shortlist. The films eligible for a Best Documentary Oscar nomination include The Act of Killing (I’d be ballistic if this wasn’t in the running; my review), Cutie and the Boxer, God Loves Uganda, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, Stories We Tell (my review, although the movie didn't hold up as well on a repeat viewing), and 20 Feet From Stardom (my review). If you have HBO Go, you can check out Pussy Riot along with other shortlisted docs The Crash Reel, First Cousin Once Removed, and Life According to Sam.