Categories One-by-One: Documentary Feature

For the films of 2019
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anonymous1980
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Documentary Feature

Post by anonymous1980 »

I just saw The Cave so I've finished this category. I must say, this is a strong category. Even my least favorite film in this is pretty strong. Anyway, these are my rankings:

In order of personal preference:

1. For Sama
2. Honeyland
3. The Edge of Democracy
4. American Factory
5. The Cave

In order of chances of win:

1. American Factory
2. For Sama
3. Honeyland
4. The Edge of Democracy
5. The Cave
dws1982
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Documentary Feature

Post by dws1982 »

Despite all of the films being easily available to me, I've still managed to only watch For Sama. This season is too short, and I am too busy. Even under the now normal late February Oscar schedule, I would still have three weeks to catch up with everything, as opposed to a little more than one.

But if, as many are predicting, American Factory wins this award, I'll be happy. Bognar's and Reichert's A Lion in the House is easily one of the top five or so movies of the 2000's. I've watched it once, about eleven years ago, and I've never forgotten it.
taki15
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Re: Categories One-by-One: Documentary Feature

Post by taki15 »

I have read many people saying that the best documentary this year was "Apollo 11" which wasn't even nominated. The documentary branch seems to have a thing for ignoring great, popular films like "Wouldn't You Be My Neighbor" and "Life Itself".
Mister Tee
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Categories One-by-One: Documentary Feature

Post by Mister Tee »

The nominees:

American Factory
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland

I’ve spent the past week or so bringing myself up to speed on this category. Thanks to Netflix/Amazon/NatGeo/pay-per-view, I’ve achieved perfect attendance. Notes to anyone planning to do the same: 1) Keep your reading glasses handy; these are mostly “International” films, and there’s substantial subtitling in even the one English-language effort; 2) Also have your mood-elevator of choice nearby: these are, collectively, as depressing a set of films as you’re going to find. The only relief for me has been the fact I’m simultaneously catching up on the animated features, and they’ve provided comic interludes to offset the gloom.

I think, even if I hadn’t seen them so close back-to-back, The Cave and For Sama would be blending together in my head, as they’re very close to the same movie: a central female narrator is located in a Syrian hospital, trying to keep people alive during a period of sustained Russian/Assad-backed bombing. The only real differences: The Cave is centered on a doctor herself, while For Sama focuses on an activist married to a doctor; The Cave deals also with the sub-issue of sexism, while For Sama’s secondary concern is the safety of the activist’s newborn girl. Some may find the latter a deeper point of emotional engagement, but I couldn’t help being angry at this woman for putting her young child in such obvious danger (when relatives were constantly offering to keep her safe). I generally preferred The Cave anyway -- though that may have something to do with the fact I saw it first.

The Edge of Democracy offers a completely different reason for despair: it chronicles how a Brazil that had at long last begun gravitating toward democracy (and away from oligarchy) found itself undone by wealthy elites launching questionable ethics investigations that effectively negated electoral choice and moved the country back toward fascism. Sound familiar? There are two ways Americans might look at this tale: “Whew, I thought we were in trouble, but they make us look healthy”…or else, “Maybe we’re only a season or two away from the same fate.” Some will question the reliability of the film’s narrator (it’s another female-centered film, and she makes no bones about which side she supports), but I think the mere facts on the ground are hard to defend. This is probably the film I’d vote for.

People I respect have been telling me how much they liked Honeyland, and I’d entertained the thought it would benefit from being nominated for both this and International Film – that voters would be so grateful a two-fer shortened their watch list they’d vote its way. But I have to say I found the movie something of a slog. It’s quite aimless to start, with the main conflict – the arrival of moron/asshole neighbors who wreck the central character’s livelihood – slow to emerge (it doesn’t really get sharp until an hour into the 90-minute film). I guess many will appreciate the eco-consciousness of the narrative (it’s remarkably similar to the thesis of The Overstory, which I’m currently reading), and it might get votes on that basis. But I feel much less sanguine about is chances now that I’ve seen it.

American Factory won at DGA last weekend, and has a decent chance of repeating at the Oscars, not least because it’s substantially in English, and deals with subject matter more familiar to Americans. But this, too, is a pretty grim narrative: a Chinese company invests in a recession-suffering Ohio factory, but soon makes it clear it’s determined to impose third-world labor and environmental standards as the price of its participation. And, for an ending, it offers the second-level downer that pretty soon most of these workers will be replaced due to automation, anyway. Solidarity forever! The movie is pretty even-handed as to which side it takes in the dispute, but the filmmakers have been quoted as ardent union-supporters, and that kind of shines through despite the attempt at poker face.

I think American Factory would be most likely to triumph here, but I’m not really sure what the standards of the category are these days, so it could be a wild spot on the ballot.
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