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‘Gunda,’ ‘Crip Camp,’ ‘Time’ Land on DOC NYC List of Awards-Worthy Documentaries

Other films on the annual Oscar-predicting list include “Boys State,” “Collective,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “The Fight,” “MLK/FBI,” “76 Days,” “The Truffle Hunters” and “Welcome to Chechnya”

| November 9, 2020 @ 1:33 PM Last Updated: November 10, 2020 @ 9:03 AM

AWARDS BEAT

Gunda

"Gunda" / Neon

“Crip Camp,” “Gunda” and “Time” are among the films that have made DOC NYC’s 2020 “Short List,” an annual attempt by the New York-based festival to identify the nonfiction films most likely to play a significant part in awards season.

Those three films were also included in the Critics Choice Documentary Awards nominations for Best Documentary Feature, and on the International Documentary Association’s shortlist from which the IDA chooses nominees for the IDA Documentary Awards. They are the only three movies to land on all three lists.

Nine additional films on the DOC NYC list were also singled out either by the IDA or Critics Choice: “Boys State,” “Collective,” “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “The Fight,” “MLK/FBI,” “76 Days,” “The Social Dilemma,” “The Truffle Hunters” and “Welcome to Chechnya.”

Also Read: Oscars Documentary Race Gets Bigger, More Competitive With New Batch of 33 Films

Other films on the DOC NYC list, which is made up of 15 documentaries, are “I Am Greta,” “On the Record” and “A Thousand Cuts.”

High-profile docs missing from the list include “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” “Notturno,” “City Hall,” “Disclosure” and “The Painter and the Thief.”

That last film, though, has been added to the festival’s Winner’s Circle lineup, which was expanded from eight to 10 films with the addition of “The Painter and the Thief” and “The Mole Agent.”

Last year, DOC NYC’s list contained 11 of the 15 films that made the Oscars shortlist in the Best Documentary Feature category, and all five of the eventual nominees. Over the past five years, it has predicted 46 of the 75 Oscar-shortlisted docs and 23 of the 25 nominees.

Also Read: Neon to Remake 'The Painter and the Thief' Documentary as Narrative Feature

The festival also announced a short list of documentary shorts, and a daily DOC NYC Live section that will stream free of charge and is expected to include “Fireball: Visitors From Darker Worlds” directors Werner Herzog and Clive Oppenheimer, as well as filmmakers and subjects Alex Winter, Angela Davis, Representative Barbara Lee, David Mitchell, Nicole Miller, Joshua Bell, Cornel West and chefs Guy Fieri, Marcus Samuelsson, Antonia Lofaso, Maneet Chauhan and Christian Petroni.

The all-virtual DOC NYC festival, the largest American festival devoted entirely to nonfiction films, will run from Nov. 11-19.

Short List: Features
“Boys State,” Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine
“Collective,” Alexander Nanau
“Crip Camp,” Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht
“Dick Johnson Is Dead,” Kirsten Johnson
“The Fight,” Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, Eli Despres
“Gunda,” Victor Kossakovsky
“I Am Greta,” Nathan Grossman
“MLK/FBI,” Sam Pollard
“On the Record,” Kirby Dick, Amy Ziering
“76 Days,” Hao Wu, Weizi Chen, Anonymous
“The Social Dilemma,” Jeff Orlowski
“A Thousand Cuts,” Ramona S. Diaz
“Time,” Garrett Bradley
“The Truffle Hunters,” Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
“Welcome to Chechnya,” David France

Short List: Shorts
“Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa,” Barbara Attie, Janet Goldwater, Mike Attie
“Ashes to Ashes,” Taylor Rees
“Call Center Blues,” Geeta Gandbhir
“Do Not Split,” Anders Hammer
“Flower Punk,” Alison Klayman
“Hunger Ward,” Skye Fitzgerald
“A Life Too Short,” Safyah Usmani
“A Love Song for Latasha,” Sophia Nahli Allison
“No Crying at the Dinner Table,” Carol Nguyen
“Now Is the Time,” Christopher Auchter
“Sing Me a Lullaby,” Tiffany Hsiung
“Then Comes the Evening,” Maja Novaković

Winner’s Circle
“Acasa, My Home,” Radu Ciorniciuc
“Beautiful Something Left Behind,” Katrine Philp
“Influence,” Richard Poplak, Diana Neille
“Mayor,” David Osit
“The Mole Agent,” Maite Alberdi
“The Painter and the Thief,” Benjamin Ree
“The Reason I Jump,” Jerry Rothwell
“Songs of Repression,” Estephan Wagner, Marianne Hougen-Moraga
“Stray,” Elizabeth Lo
“The Walrus and the Whistleblower,” Nathalie Bibeau

15 Top Grossing Documentaries at the Box Office, From 'An Inconvenient Truth' to 'Fahrenheit 9/11' (Photos)

  • Top Grossing Documentaries Warner Bros./National Geographic Films/Paramount Classics
  • They Shall Not Grow Old Warner Bros.
  • Oceans Documentary Disneynature
  • Bowling-for-Columbine United Artists
  • Mister Rogers Won't You Be My Neighbor Jim Judkis / Focus Features
  • An Inconvenient truth Paramount Classics
  • sicko healthcare Lionsgate
  • katy perry part of me Paramount Pictures
  • One Direction This is Us TriStar
  • chimpanzee Disneynature
  • Planet Earth Aurora Borealis Disneynature
  • Dinesh D’Souza Getty Images
  • Michael Jackson This Is It Tour Getty Images
  • Justin Bieber Never Say Never Paramount Pictures
  • National Geographic Films
  • Fahrenheit 911 Miramax
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Michael Moore, Disneynature and several concert films top the list

Documentaries are rarely big money makers, but they can have the power to influence change and motivate people to action in a way narrative films cannot. So when a documentary does make a splash at the box office, it's an even bigger surprise. This list of the top-15 grossing documentaries ever is an interesting mix of political, nature and concert docs, and several of them likewise went on to win Oscars and critical acclaim. All numbers are domestic totals via Box Office Mojo.

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