We’re counting down the days until the Academy Awards! We’ll be here, breaking down each of the 23 categories, talking a bit of history, and trying to figure out who is going to win all those gold statues. So check back throughout the next three weeks for Last Cinema Standing’s Countdown to the Oscars.
Best Documentary Feature
The nominees are:
All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
A House Made of Splinters
Navalny
This was the “Slap” category. Lord only knows why Chris Rock of all people was brought on stage last year to present Best Documentary, but he was. We all know what happened next. No need to rehash it. But unfairly lost in all that commotion, there was Questlove, winning an Oscar for his wonderful music documentary Summer of Soul. I don’t know whom the Academy has tapped to present the award this year, but I think it would be a nice gesture to give the opportunity to Questlove and allow him the chance to stand on a stage untainted by others’ drama.
That victory was part of a larger batch of excellent nominees last year, and the trend continues this year with five amazing films nominated for Best Documentary Feature. One of these was one of the best films of the year of any kind. Two are concerned with wide-ranging effects of the war of Russian aggression. And, the other two deal with humankind’s place in the natural order of things. Each of these documentaries is intelligent, thoughtful, and of the moment. There would not be a bad winner in the bunch.
Navalny – There is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. We know Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is not stupid, so the only conclusion left to draw is that he is one of the bravest people on the planet. Daniel Roher’s film documents the lead up to and the immediate aftermath of the attempted assassination by poisoning of Navalny. The political candidate seems to have granted Roher access to everything, and no question is off limits. Thank god he did because Navalny serves as the most pointed and detailed account yet of the apparently equally bumbling and evil Russian leadership.
The tragedy of watching Navalny now is that while we may not know the specifics of what happened to the man – the movie covers it, but I won’t spoil it here – we do know quite a lot of what is going on in Russian politics right now. Navalny truly seems to believe in the power of a movement, not necessarily led by him, to change his nation for the better. He devotes his life to it and will likely end up giving his life to it. He knows this because as we said, he is not stupid.
All That Breathes – In watching Shaunak Sen’s captivating documentary about two brothers who operate a bird hospital in New Delhi, India, I was reminded of the religious proverb: Whoever saves one life saves the entire world. Nadeem Shehzad and Mohammad Saud have rescued and rehabilitated thousands of birds in their lives, and as ecological conditions worsen, they will be called upon to save thousands more. They cannot possibly save them all, but in watching them operate out of the makeshift hospital in their garage, we are heartened to see them save even one life.
Sen’s camera is observational, and he keeps explanatory voiceover to a minimum. We watch as the brothers venture out, or sometimes are called out, under polluted, darkening skies to rescue sick and injured black kites. We watch them operate, sometimes in the dark because the power has gone out. We are enthralled by the rhythms of their lives. But, Sen is not interested only in the work of these two men. He is interested in the ways the modern world encroaches on the natural world and the ways in which the natural world adapts. The opening shot of the film is an empty lot, absent humans but teeming with life. Nature will absolutely find a way. Sen’s film suggests it is on us to make that way harmonious.
Fire of Love – As much a feat of montage as reportage, Sara Dosa’s film about husband and wife volcanologists Katia and Maurice Krafft is by turns a riveting science documentary, a heartbreaking love story, and a philosophical inquiry into what makes humans test the limits of nature. Any of those would have been an interesting film on its own, but what makes Fire of Love such a tremendous accomplishment is the way Dosa blends all of those thematic threads into a single narrative about two people obsessed with the mysteries of the world around them.
The Kraffts loved the volcanoes they studied, and it is Dosa’s good fortune and ours that they were meticulous about documenting their observations and discoveries. Dosa’s film is culled from hundreds of hours of archival footage the Kraffts shot as they traveled the world in search of their own brand of enlightenment. The narration by Miranda July is perfectly restrained, sharing just enough insight into the couple’s actions to get us through but never so much as to be overbearing. Dosa lets the footage speak for itself, and it speaks volumes.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed – Laura Poitras’ chronicle of Nan Goldin’s decades-long fight against the injustices of the world is not only the best documentary of the year, rather it is one of the best films of the year period. I placed it at No. 2 on my year-end best-of list, and here weeks later, I have not second-guessed that decision once. To borrow a phrase, it truly is a heartbreaking work of staggering genius.
Goldin’s battle against the Sackler family and the opioid epidemic is but one part of this immense film. In other sections – structured by the filmmaker to mirror many of Goldin’s own exhibitions – we see the famed photographer’s advocacy for those stricken with AIDS, we see her speak out on domestic abuse, and we watch as she calls for changes to ways we talk about and treat mental illness. It is without doubt one of the great lives lived in the 20th and 21st centuries, and Poitras’ film is a valuable window into that life.
A House Made of Splinters – The first thing you notice in Danish director Simon Lereng Wilmont’s crushing documentary is the universality of childhood. Set in a shelter for neglected children less than 20 miles from the frontline in war-torn Ukraine, the children dance, they celebrate holidays, they act out, they develop crushes, and any of the other thousand things kids all over the world are doing regardless of circumstance.
But, Wilmont’s film is not sentimental. It is a tough, unflinching look at the cycles of alcoholism and neglect that land children in this place, from where the lucky will be taken in by foster families and many will be sent to state-run orphanages. The children are fully aware of their circumstances, and they talk frankly about their parents’ alcohol abuse and their desire to find loving, stable homes. Some as young as 5 or 6 confess to each other they have shared alcohol with their parents. You see the cycle beginning anew, right before your very eyes, and as the movie makes clear, no matter how many children are saved, there are more who will need shelter.
The final analysis
A convincing case could be made for just about any of these films. I would be most skeptical of A House Made of Splinters, only because its limited availability through much of the season means fewer voters will have had the chance to watch it. It is impossible not to be moved by the stories of these Ukrainian children, though, so if enough voters see it, a win is not out of the question. Nominated producer Monica Hellström was twice nominated last year for the groundbreaking animated documentary Flee.
Fire of Love was a minor box office success, raking in nearly $2 million, which is big money for a documentary. Its widespread availability on Disney+ also means voters will have had it available to them for quite a while now. To anyone who watches it, its charm is undeniable, its artistry unmissable.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed ranks second in terms of box office, with just under a million dollars. It’s still playing on a few screens in Los Angeles, and if you’re in the area, it is absolutely a worthwhile in-theater experience. Poitras is the only previous winner nominated this year, having won the award in 2014 for her Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour. A second statue would make Poitras just the eighth person and second woman after the legendary Barbara Kopple to win two Documentary Feature Academy Awards.
But for the win, I actually think it comes down to All That Breathes and Navalny. Sen’s film is the closest thing to a feel-good movie in the lineup, and its lowkey, unassuming grace stands out on a list of darker, heavier films. This is not to say All That Breathes doesn’t tackle a number of serious topics – it does – but rather it does so in such a quiet, uplifting way that it leaves the viewer with hope rather than despair.
That said, I’m placing my bet on Navalny. It is the film of the moment and gives viewers a unique view into a regime that threatens to upset the balance of global politics. There are sequences in the film that will stick with audiences long after the credits have rolled, and its call for the developed world to battle tyranny is pressing and passionate.
Will win: Navalny
Should win: All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Should have been here: Retrograde
A note about my favorite snub: No one is making documentaries like Matthew Heineman. From Cartel Land to City of Ghosts to The First Wave and now this, he puts himself in the heart of every battle he covers, unafraid to stand in harm’s way if it means sharing the stories that need to be shared. He will be standing on that stage one of these days.
Next time: Original Screenplay
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