FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: FIFTEEN DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILMS

Chances are if you haven’t heard of it, it is an HBO documentary. Otherwise, the rest of the entries are about what we expected, minus maybe Weinstein’s “Salinger” and “Let The Fire Burn” not finding spots on the list. Without having seen most of these, I feel like I can already pick my winner in “Blackfish”, which was my favorite documentary of the year. But with the Werner Herzog produced “The Act Of Killing”, I’m willing to bet that it gives the Orca tale a run for its money. Both of these will likely find themselves on the nomination list. Not to mention Sarah Polley’s “Stories We Tell”, which could easily give both of those films a run for it, already landing as New York Film Critics Circles Best Documentary of the year and continuing to gain praise wherever it goes. Then you have “The Armstrong Lie” and “Tim’s Vermeer” from Sony Pictures Classics which both have strong word of mouth and “20 Feet From Stardom” that got a fairly decent wide release push this summer. I’ve also seen the trailer for “Cutie And The Boxer”, which is just artsy enough to grab some attention. All in all, three out of five nominations will be “Blackfish”, “The Act Of Killing”, and “Stories We Tell”.

• “The Act of Killing,” Final Cut for Real
• “The Armstrong Lie,” The Kennedy/Marshall Company
• “Blackfish,” Our Turn Productions
• “The Crash Reel,” KP Rides Again
• “Cutie and the Boxer,” Ex Lion Tamer and Cine Mosaic
• “Dirty Wars,” Civic Bakery
• “First Cousin Once Removed,” Experiments in Time, Light & Motion
• “God Loves Uganda,” Full Credit Productions
• “Life According to Sam,” Fine Films
• “Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer,” Roast Beef Productions
• “The Square,” Noujaim Films and Maktube Productions
• “Stories We Tell,” National Film Board of Canada
• “Tim’s Vermeer,” High Delft Pictures
• “20 Feet from Stardom,” Gil Friesen Productions and Tremolo Productions
• “Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington,” Tripoli Street