Best Documentary Feature: Ranking Every Oscar Nominee
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
I was fairly critical of the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category, as I found that the quality ranged from pretty good to underwhelming for the majority of the nominees. However, the Best Documentary Feature nominations at this year’s Academy Awards are quite something. At their very worst, they are great. At their best, well, let’s say we may have an instant documentary classic on our hands. Which of the five nominees best projected their subject matters, uses of interviews and/or archival footage, and resonated with me the strongest? While I actually really like all five nominees, only one film is the clear winner in my eyes. Here are your nominees.
Biggest Snub: Procession
While I wouldn’t change much of the actual nominees, I am surprised that Procession wasn’t nominated. Every year in this particular category, there seems to be one major snub, where a film that is highly acclaimed and/or slated to potentially even win the category is neglected (we shall never forget Won’t You Be My Neighbor? being snubbed). Procession is a hard hitting essay on a difficult subject matter (abuse in organized religion) done so cleverly, through the perspectives of survivors that are given the opportunity to share their experiences in their own way. It felt like a unique take on such a topic, and a strong usage of the documentary medium.
5. Ascension
While ranked last, I still was hypnotized by Ascension. Its focus on the dichotomy between aspirations and the mundane, punishing ways of reality is felt throughout, with very little talking to accompany us with these beautiful-yet-shocking images. Ascension doesn’t have to tell us how to feel when we see these shots of factories, workers, and the pushes towards a fictitious dream that has millions of citizens worldwide fighting for something non-existent to the majority of us.
4. Attica
I feel like Attica’s strong subject matter carries the film a long way. I wish it was a little fuller of a documentary with more uses of the archival footage and interviews from the opposing views of the essay here, but I otherwise found what was presented to be strong, shocking, and effective. What Attica is is a great documentary, but it could have easily been a near-perfect one. Nonetheless, it is still an important one, detailing fifty-year-old history that still pertains to the ways of corruption today.
3. Writing With Fire
Writing with Fire is a stripped down documentary that lands every statement it wishes to deliver. Spending some time with the groundbreaking Khabar Lahariya team is enriching enough to warrant watching the film, but seeing the continuous uphill battles they face as female voices in a stiflingly misogynistic community is heartbreaking. Nonetheless, Writing with Fire is an act of perseverance, and the documentary’s triumphs are just as strong as its revelations.
2. Flee
Since Flee is nominated as an animated feature and an international film, I will try and focus on how it excels as a documentary in this entry. What we experience here is the recorded confession that Amin Nawabi tells his future husband: the many tribulations he faced as an Afghani refugee. The stories of survival alone are jaw dropping, and knowing that one person went through this tears me up inside (how many other countless lives like this are there?). Feeling Nawabi’s permanent internal dilemmas — the quest to find hope and love, whilst forever wondering about the loved ones he never reconnected with — still makes me emotional to this day. Flee is highly effective as a connective bridge to someone who has been through hell and back.
1. Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
As far as music documentaries go, Questlove’s Summer of Soul is truly extraordinary. It is so faithful to its subject matter (shedding light on the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969) whilst being able to go above and beyond with its extensive usage of archival footage, reconnections with those in attendance (ranging from superstars to audience members), and the celebration of music as a whole. As poignant as it is a rush to experience, Summer of Soul is one of those documentaries that just hit me as soon as I was ten minutes in. As strong as 2021 was for documentaries, Summer of Soul is still unquestionably the best of the year.
My Review of Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
What I want to win: I’m fine with any of these features winning, but I’m rooting for Summer of Soul all the way.
What I think will win: It can be tricky to predict what the Academy will go for in this category, but I’m sticking with Summer of Soul (for now), and I think it does stand a great chance of winning. Then again, I’ve seen instant documentary classics fall before (I’ll never forget The Act of Killing somehow not winning).
Tune in tomorrow for our next Academy Award category! We’re reviewing every single nominee on every weekday.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.