Timely Oscar-nominated documentaries take on race and refugees
If you're searching for humanity behind today's glaring headlines, seek out this year's crop of Oscar-nominated documentaries. The five films chosen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are arresting and timely, from 13th, Ava DuVernay's investigation into the prison industrial complex, to Fire at Sea, a moving portrait of Europe’s migrant crisis. Here's a look at the documentaries in competition this year.
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO
A mesmerizing rendering of James Baldwin's eloquent '60s and '70s prose on race relations, I Am Not Your Negro is a documentary that feels like a biopic. Built on the author's prophetic, searing Civil Rights work and narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, director Raoul Peck's I Am Not Your Negro begins with Baldwin's meditation on a book he never finished, meant to be an account of the lives of his friends Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers and Malcolm X. "I want these three lives to bang against and reveal each other," wrote Baldwin. "As in truth, they did."
Where to watch: In select theaters in cities including Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York and Miami.
O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA
There's been debate over whether ESPN's five-part, 7-plus-hour documentary is a film (it showed in a few theaters across the country) or a TV series, but critics have overwhelmingly crowned the O.J. Simpson documentary a masterpiece of context. Filmmaker Ezra Edelman's biography starts in the 1960s, delving into decades-old racial tensions with the Los Angeles police before moving on to Simpson's ascent as a football and Hollywood star, and finally, his trial. With fresh perspective from key members of the defense and prosecution teams, you'll never look at Simpson's story the same way again.
Where to watch: Hulu, iTunes, WatchESPN, Google Play, Amazon Video. It also will air again Feb. 12 on ESPN2.
13TH
DuVernay's documentary examining racial bias in the U.S. criminal system is an eye-opener. 13th, named for the Constitutional amendment abolishing slavery — except as punishment for crime — starts at the end of the Civil War, when freed slaves convicted of petty crimes were forced into labor. Fast forward, and 13th unpacks harsh policies enacted by the Reagan and Clinton administrations during the war on drugs, which disproportionately affected black communities and, the documentary argues, led to mass incarceration rates today. Among the shocking statistics: If current trends continue, 1 in 3 black men are expected to go to prison in their lifetimes.
Where to watch: Netflix
FIRE AT SEA
Thanks to President Trump's recent refugee ban, Fire at Sea arrives at a particularly poignant moment. The documentary focuses on the tiny Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, where hundreds of thousands of refugees, fleeing war and poverty, have landed. Filmmaker Gianfranco Rosi's cameras find exhausted men, women and children soaked in their shoddy boats' leaking fuel and in danger of drowning. Pulled to shore, their faces display loss and trauma; for some, tentative hope. Their prospects are made all the more stark as countries around the world slam their borders shut.
Where to watch: In select theaters in cities including Los Angeles, Boca Raton, Fla., Columbus, Ohio, and Atlanta.
LIFE, ANIMATED
Simba and Ariel will warm hearts anew in Roger Ross Williams' documentary, which charts the evolution of Owen Suskind, a child with autism who learned to speak and express himself through Disney films and identifying with the characters. The audience watches Owen grow up and strive for independence, with the lens weaving between his beloved Disney films, original animation and scenes from family home videos.
Where to watch: iTunes, Amazon Prime, video on demand