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Best Documentary Feature

The Documentary field was unusually crowded this year, as witnessed by the fact that early favorites The Wolfpack and Iris did not even make the final bakeoff round. And, from that round, Michael Moore’s acclaimed Where to Invade Next, nor the revered Heart of a Dog could not find space in the final five. Instead, the nods went to Amy, The Look of Silence, Cartel Land, and the Netflix documentaries What Happened Miss Simone?, and Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom.

It’s hard to argue with any nominee, although the branch does seem prone to repeating itself - this lineup is almost a carbon copy of two years ago, where you had the music documentary (and eventual winner) 20 Feet From Stardom, face off against the first part of Joshua Oppenheimer’s exploration of the Indonesian massacres of the 1960s in The Act of Killing (part two is this year’s The Look of Silence), a look at current even world politics (that year, Egypt in The Square, this year, Ukraine in Winter on Fire), a look at wars, drugs, and violence (that year, Dirty Wars, this year, Cartel Land), and a cutesy, artsy movie to round it out (that year, Cutie and the Boxer, this year, What Happened, Miss Simone?).

So, logically, Amy should sail to an easy win here, despite its href="http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/column/index.cfm?columnID=18171">somewhat surprising loss to Cartel Land at the DGA. Not only does the pattern hold with two years ago, Amy is about a beloved, renowned figure, and is a very informative and overall well-crafted documentary. It is the one that members are most likely to see. Still, it is not anywhere near the best of the bunch. The Look of Silence is, like Act of Killing, a harrowing, haunting exploration of human suffering, human evil, and the consequences of genocide, complicity, and acquiescence. It follows an Indonesian optometrist whose brother was massacred, as he goes around giving eye tests to elderly people - all who turn out to have been involved in his brother’s murder in one way or another. The result is uncomfortable encounters, shocking revelations, and gruesome explanations. When coupled with Oppenheimer’s signature symbolistic elements, in this case, the bifocals, the blind father taken care of by the grumpy mother, you get what is in my view the best of the bunch.

Cartel Land is an interesting and very daring exploration of the drug wars and drug violence issue - following civilian militia leaders in Mexico and the United States, at times into dangerous gun battle - as they fight wars their governments will not. The movie loses its focus in its third act, as neither figure turns out to be particularly sympathetic and it is not necessarily clear how or why. This was one of those well-intentioned projects that simply soured as the stories of the protagonists soured. The bravery of the film is notable, but it will not win.

The same can be said of Winter on Fire: it’s an interesting procedural movie, but feels a lot like a dry newscast and less like something with a purpose. Meanwhile, What Happened, Miss Simone? is arguably the better music biopic version of Amy - it focuses on the life of Nina Simone, her journey through civil rights activism, and her paranoias and downfalls. The movie is much more seamless than the choppy and brutally edited Amy, and somehow provides a more touching picture of the subject.

Still, Amy Winehouse is of recent vintage and was beloved. I have a hard time predicting anything else here.

Will win: Amy

Could win: Cartel Land

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