Doc Talk Podcast Debates Oscar Documentary Shortlist Shocks And Surprises

When the Oscar shortlists were published last week, the announcement brought joy to a select group of documentary filmmakers, and heartache to many more. The record-breaking tally of 201 qualifying nonfiction features was cut to a merciless 15 by the Academy’s documentary branch, sending those remaining films on to the next round of competition – nomination voting.

On the new edition of Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, hosts John Ridley and Matt Carey analyze the biggest shocks and surprises from the shortlists. The announcement was wince-inducing for National Geographic, which saw its prime contender go unrecognized, even though the film in question had just won the IDA Award for Best Feature Documentary. Likewise, HBO Documentary Films came up short with one of its top hopefuls – a documentary directed by a famed actress. HBO, however, was rewarded with recognition for The Alabama Solution, the investigative documentary directed by Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman.

Eye-opening for Oscar doc watchers — the quantity of films lacking U.S. distribution that overcame that barrier to earn a place on the feature shortlist, among them Holding Liat, Seeds, Yanuni and Coexistence, My Ass! Ridley, an Oscar winner himself (12 Years a Slave) and a member of the Academy, praises the doc branch for embracing Seeds, but he expresses outrage over the omission of a film directed by Davis Guggenheim and Nyle DiMarco.

“Really? Really?” Ridley says with incredulity regarding that snub.

One film had to cut through rocks to get onto the shortlist. Also in the mix — a documentary from a filmmaker who won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature just two years ago, and another by a filmmaker who earned her Academy Award a decade ago.

We also put the short documentaries shortlist under the microscope. Some prominent filmmakers were recognized there including Joshua Seftel, Ondi Timoner and Jay Rosenblatt. The remarkable Geeta Gandbhir made the shortlist for an acclaimed feature she directed and for short documentary she co-directed, an impressive two-fer.

That’s on the new episode of Doc Talk, hosted by Ridley and Carey, Deadline’s senior documentary editor. The pod is a production of Deadline and Ridley’s Nō Studios.

Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart and Apple.