Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary

This year, Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 15th. I’ll be offering detailed predictions in most of the major categories, saving some of the biggest categories for last.

Last year’s nominees: The Act of Killing, Cutie and the Boxer, Dirty Wars, The Square, Twenty Feet from Stardom

This year’s contenders: Art and Craft, The Case against 8, Citizen Koch, CitizenFour, Finding Vivian Maier, The Internet’s Own Boy, Jodorowsky’s Dune, Keep On Keepin’ On, The Kill Team, Last Days in Vietnam, Life Itself, The Overnighters, The Salt of the Earth, Tales of the Grim Sleeper, Virunga

The rundown: This category has been winnowed down to fifteen finalists already. Like at this point last year, I’ve seen four of the finalists: Citizen Koch, Citizenfour, Jodorowsky’s Dune, and Life Itself. I’m not sure about the first, but the other three seem like sure things to contend. Likely to join them is The Case Against 8, and other strong possibilities include The Internet’s Own Boy, The Overnighters, and The Kill Team. More on this category as I have a chance to see more of the films.

One possible crazy scenario: The ultimate movie about someone who loved movies - Life Itself - gets snubbed.

Forecasted winner: I’ll bet on Life Itself.