Especially if you win a prize, playing at Sundance enhances the film’s profile through word of mouth, social media, and reviews, and if a distributor supports an awards campaign, there’s a long runway to get the movie seen by as many documentary Oscar voters as possible. This year, their lineup is stronger, and all three of their frontrunners boast serious pedigrees that should counteract the Netflix branding: Oscar-nominated Petra Costa (“The Edge of Democracy”) has much support for her return to Brazilian politics with “Apocalypse in the Tropics”; Oscar-winner Laura Poitras (“Citizenfour”) tracks the career of investigative journalist Seymour Hersh in “Cover-Up“; and director Geeta Gandbhir (“The Perfect Neighbor”), who applied her editing skills to police cam footage to narrate a true crime story, is a well-known and respected member of the documentary community. But the New York, Los Angeles, and National film critics groups have more clout than the Critics Choice Documentary Awards and the IDA, which has lost stature in recent years, or the Gothams, voted on by only a few people.
Author: Anne Thompson
Published at: 2025-12-03 22:12:12
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