Documentary Shortlist Announced

From AMPAS:

Beverly Hills, CA — 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 79th Academy Awards®. Eighty-one pictures had originally qualified in the category. The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order:

“Blindsight"
“Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?"
“Deliver Us from Evil”
“The Ground Truth”
“An Inconvenient Truth”
“Iraq in Fragments”
“Jesus Camp”
“Jonestown: The Life and Death of People’s Temple”
“My Country, My Country”
“Shut Up & Sing”
“Sisters in Law”
“Storm of Emotions”
“The Trials of Darryl Hunt”
“An Unreasonable Man”
“The War Tapes”

The Documentary Branch screening committee viewed the eligible documentaries in a preliminary round of screenings. Documentary Branch members will now select the five 2006 nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.

Nominations for the 79th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, 2007, at 5:30 a.m. PST in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2006 will be presented on Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST, beginning with a half-hour arrival segment.

What!? No Why We Fight? No Wordplay? Argh. They always give the shaft to some great docs, and Why We Fight is the most powerful documentary I have seen this year. It's good to see The Trials of Darryl Hunt on the list, as it trials the wrongful accusation of a man for a murder in my hometown of Winston-Salem, NC. I still have yet to see Jesus Camp and Deliver Us From Evil, so right now I'm pulling for An Inconvenient Truth. That is, as always, subject to change.