The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences officially narrowed at least one category down, selecting the 15 documentaries that will be further shortened to five final nominations in the Best Documentary Feature category.
Although a few of this year’s more prominent documentaries, such as the gleefully foul-mouthed The Aristocrats, the Iraq war-set Gunner’s Palace and the tragic nature tale Grizzly Man did not make the cut, according to the Hollywood Reporter, the Academy’s documentarians drew up an eclectic list with subjects that range from the long-suffering birds of March of the Penguins to fiercely competitive paraplegics in Murderball to corporate sharks of Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.
In lending some perspective on the volume of eligible films, it’s important to note that the 15 were whittled down from 82 possible contenders in the category. All nominations for the 78th Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 31, at 5:30 a.m. PST, with the ceremony set to air March 5, 2006, at 5 p.m. PST on ABC.
Below is the list of the 15 documentaries competing for nominations in the category:
After Innocence The Boys of Baraka Darwins Nightmare The Devil and Daniel Johnston Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room Favela Rising Mad Hot Ballroom March of the Penguins Murderball Occupation: Dreamland On Native Soil: The Documentary of the 9/11 Commission Report Rize Street Fight 39 Pounds of Love Unknown White Male
