In some years, a single film seemingly dashes unimpeded to the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature — Summer of Soul in 2022, for instance, or Citizenfour in 2015. This is not one of those years.
In a notably wide-open race, 169 feature documentaries have qualified for Academy Awards consideration in 2024, all vying for a place on the shortlist, the key step before moving on to a nomination. There are some favorites, of course, including Sugarcanedirected by Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie. The film from National Geographic is among the documentaries we’re spotlighting today at Deadline’s Contenders Film: Documentary awards-season event, which gets underway at 9 a.m. PT and serves as an essential guide to navigating a diverse and dynamic field of Academy Award hopefuls.
Sugarcane is both timely and timeless — a story of family reconciliation set in the context of the abusive Indian Residential School system that operated in Canada and the U.S. for over a century, depriving Indigenous children of their language, culture, and sometimes their lives. President Biden recently made a formal apology for the U.S. government’s role in running the boarding schools.
A young Yazidi girl’s extraordinary story of survival and resilience is told in Medihaa film set in Northern Iraq. At age 10, the titular Mediha was kidnapped by ISIS militants and sold into slavery, a fate shared by thousands of Yazidi women and girls. The documentary from Together Films, directed by Hasan Oswald, has won more than a dozen awards worldwide including the Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC.
Also at Contenders today we’re spotlighting The Last Journeywhich has earned double recognition as a contender for Best Documentary Feature and as Sweden’s official entry for the Best International Feature Oscar. In this humorous and poignant road movie from independent production company Nexiko Films, director Filip Hammar takes his aging father Lars on a trip to France, hoping to revive his dad’s flagging spirits. They’re joined on the expedition by Filip’s buddy and fellow director, Fredrik Wikingsson.
Am I Racist?from DailyWire+, also amounts to a road movie, documenting conservative commentator Matt Walsh as he goes around the country on a mission to expose what he and director Justin Folk consider “race hustlers” — authors, educators, seminar-holders and others engaged in promoting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The film is far and away the year’s most successful documentary at the box office but has attracted criticism for mocking DEI programs as a scam.
Am I Racist? is one of several films showcased in Contenders Film: Documentary with an urgent political dimension. Oscar-winning executive producer Michael Douglas and director David Smick join to discuss America’s Burningtheir film that identifies the cause of the country’s polarization, offering solutions to repair and restore our common bonds. That film is an Abramorama release.
Boat Rocker Studios and Anonymous Content bring us War Gamea bracing documentary that takes viewers inside an exercise meant to test what would happen if this scenario unfolded: a losing presidential candidate enlists elements of the U.S. military and paramilitary groups to help him grab power. We’ll hear from the filmmakers as well as the designer of the simulated war game, and from film participant (Ret.) Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who provided testimony in the first impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
Amazon MGM Studios shares two Oscar-contending documentaries — one focusing on a beloved artist and the other on one of the world’s greatest singers.
Emmy nominee Carla Gutiérrez directs Fridaher film on the legendary Mexican painter Frida Kahlo who created indelible works of self-portraiture that have been embraced across the globe. Kahlo’s canvases come to life in vivid color through the filmmaker’s use of innovative animation.
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Irene Taylor directs I Am: Celine Diona remarkably intimate look at the French-Canadian singer at a moment of extreme vulnerability in her life as she struggles with a debilitating neurological condition that threatens to end her singing career. It’s a story of willpower, grace and extraordinary artistic achievement.
Each panel discussion opens with a clip from the documentary, setting the stage for an illuminating conversation about artistic choices, storytelling challenges, and the stakes for filmmakers and their protagonists. Think of Contenders Film: Documentary as an entertaining voter guide for a different kind of election, one where the ultimate prize is Oscar gold.
Follow along all morning at Deadline.com and via social via #DeadlineContenders, and check back Monday when we launch the streaming site with the complete panel videos.
Here is today’s lineup of films and panelists:
Contenders Film: Documentary
9 a.m. PT – Livestream begins
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Sugarcane
Emily Kassie (Director/Producer/Cinematographer)
Julian Brave NoiseCat (Director)
TOGETHER FILMS
Mediha
Hasan Oswald (Writer/Director/Producer/Cinematographer
Mediha Alhamad (Subject)
ABRAMORAMA
America’s Burning
David Smick (Director)
Michael Douglas (Executive Producer)
BOAT ROCKER STUDIOS and ANONYMOUS CONTENT
War Game
Jesse Moss (Co-Director/Producer)
Janessa Goldbeck (Film Participant/Game Producer)
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Alexander Vindman (Film Particpant/Game Consultant)
Tony Gerber (Co-Director)
NEXICO
The Last Journey
Filip Hammar (Co-Writer/Co-Director/Subject)
Fredrik Wikingsson (Co-Writer/Co-Director/Subject)
DAILYWIRE+
Am I Racist?
Justin Folk (Director-Producer)
Matt Walsh (Star/Producer)
AMAZON MGM STUDIOS
Frida
Carla Gutiérrez (Director/Editor)
I Am: Celine Dion
Irene Taylor (Director/Producer)
Nick Midwig (Cinematographer)
