88th Academy Awards: Best Documentary – Feature

With just over a week to go until the Oscars I thought I will go through some of thoughts (about the nominees, who should've been nominated, my personal favorites as well as who will and should win) of the categories that I have seen every nominee for. I'll start small with Best Documentary – Feature and work my way up to Best Picture.

And if you weren't aware the nominees are

Amy (Dir. Asif Kapadia)

Cartel Land (Dir. Matthew Heineman)

The Look of Silence (Dir. Joshua Oppenheimer)

What Happened, Miss Simone (Dir. Liz Garbus)

Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom (Dir. Evgeny Afineevsky)

Most of you reading this probably haven't seen any of the nominees but you should probably watch two or three of them, depending on your interests. There are three politically driven films (Winter on Fire, Look of Silence and Cartel Land) while the other two are about singers and their highs and lows (Amy and What Happened, Miss Simone)

Note: I will write about not only about subject matter but how it is presented as well

AMY

About the singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse's career this documentary starts just before she starts her rise to fame and ends at her death at the age of 27. The movie contains mostly unseen footage that come from the Winehouse residence. I have never been a fan of Amy Winehouse's music and I wasn't about to connect to what was on show here. I did respect how we were shown how and why she wrote her lyrics and the suffering behind them. I think people should watch this even if you are not a Winehouse fan because you can understand the pain and suffering people go through when it comes to substance abuse.

Cartel Land

Mexico. Is there any other word that instantly comes to mind for the US presidential race? Following both a group of Mexican people who are sick of the local drug cartel ruling over their town and a group of Americans who are trying to stop the Cartel members who are on American soil. We see both vigilante groups in action fighting the cartels and hear their opinions on what their respective governments. Unfortunately the movie focuses more on the Mexicans and their leader (El Doctor) as the Americans didn't receive much of the spotlight. The addition of seeing both groups in action fighting the cartels was eye opening for both sides. If you are interested in drug cartels and drug smuggling between the USA and Mexican check out Sicario then if you want more come back and check Cartel Land out.

The Look of Silence

The slowest pace of all nominees but it doesn't mean it will bore your mind in fact it will focus it and let it think when you hear what some of the people have to say in it. We follow Adi Rukin whose brother was framed as a communist and killed in 1960s Indonesia when the military took power and tried to seek out and rid of communism in their country. Adi seeks out the killers to ask about their thoughts of the events around his brother's death and ask to be at peace with each other.

I could tell you about what is said in the film but I think it's better left if you saw the film for yourself. Adi also talks about the events of his brother's murder with his parents who recount what happened. It also has one of the best titles for anything film related in the last couple of years based on what Adi's job is and several reaction shots. I would ask for everyone to watch this film as it is by far the most eye opening.

What Happened, Miss Simone?

What Happened, Miss Simone? is about the singer Nina Simone who is known for her music during the civil rights movement of the 1960s in the USA. The movie is like Amy and shows the highs and lows of her personal and professional career. Also like Amy the movie uses old video and voice recordings of Simone to tell her story. I wish the movie used the lyrics of her songs more to get into Simone's head, the movie goes over the song 'Mississippi Goddamn' but not the way I would've like to have seen. Overall I think Amy did a better job of what both movies were trying to do. This is by far the weakest of the five nominees and the most skippable but if you are into 60s music or the civil rights movement it might be up your alley.

Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom

In terms of what I find interesting this is easily my favorite of the five films. Following the widespread protests in Ukraine's capital city Kiev about the President (who had a shady history in politics already) opted not to sign a treaty to join the European Union which would be a huge step forward for the country. We meet several people and follow their stories during the protests. What I loved about his film was how well we are able to grasp what freedom means to the people we meet but to ourselves as well.

The film starts when a call was put out to everyone to join the protests and ends about 90 days later. We see how violent it got in a country that is considered a first world country and with the exception of Cartel Land this all happens in real time and they're not talking about something that has happened. When you compare the scale of this to Cartel Land and the cartels; watching this it's hard to believe that this was never in the headlines when it should've been. Along with The Look Silence this is one that everyone should see.

Results

Overall I happy with the nominees with the exception of What Happened, Miss Simone? and I would've like to have seen The Wolfpack nominated as it was favorite documentary not nominated for the category (I have only seen six documentaries for 2015 but there are several others I have planned to watch)

Who Will Win

Amy

Who Should Win

The Look of Silence

Who I want to Win

A tie between The Look of Silence and Winter on Fire

#oscars #documentary #2015