Oscar Winner Predictions: Best Documentary Feature

The competition: American Factory, The Cave, The Edge of Democracy, For Sama, Honeyland

Previous winners: Free Solo, Icarus, OJ: Made in America, Amy, Citizenfour, Twenty Feet from Stardom, Searching for Sugar Man
My winner: The Silence of Others
The facts: “American Factory” co-director Julia Reichert was previously nominated in 1977 for “Union Maids” and in 1983 for “Seeing Red.” “The Cave” director Feras Fayyad was nominated two years ago for “Last Men in Aleppo.” “The Edge of Democracy” co-producer Joanna Natasegara was nominated in 2012 for “Virunga.” “Honeyland” becomes the first film nominated in this category to also be up for Best International Feature. Four of these films are foreign-language productions, which have won this category ten times since its inception, most recently in 2005 for “March of the Penguins.” “For Sama” won the International Documentary Association Award and the BAFTA, while “Apollo 11,” which isn’t nominated, won both the PGA and the Critics’ Choice Documentary Award.

Who should win: “American Factory” is my choice, though “The Edge of Democracy” was also very good.
Who will win: It’s possible double nominee “Honeyland” prevails, but I think American Factory can still win.