The Needing-to-Win Documentary: Netflix Targets the Oscar, But Rivals Fire Back
Pushed into the spotlight by a high-stakes Oscar race, Netflix is aiming to reclaim its position in the Best Documentary Feature category with The Perfect Neighbor, a gripping look at a 2023 case that sparked national debate. Directed by Geeta Gandbhir and built largely from police body cam and dash cam footage, the film chronicles the shooting of Ajike Owens by a white neighbor and delves into Florida’s stand-your-ground statute. The documentary has already earned several accolades, including a Critics’ Choice Documentary Award and a directing nod at Sundance, placing it squarely in the conversation for the Academy Awards.
Netflix’s pursuit is, however, part of a crowded field. The Perfect Neighbor shares the stage with two other acclaimed features: Cover-Up, from Oscar-winning director Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus, which looks into investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, and Apocalypse in the Tropics, Petra Costa’s examination of the rise of Christian nationalism in Brazil. These films reflect Netflix’s evolving strategy: invest in serious, premium documentaries that tackle thorny political issues rather than chasing celebrity-driven content.
Geeta Gandbhir emphasizes the importance of such work, hoping streaming platforms recognize the commercial and cultural value of non-celebrity, non-sensational documentaries. The goal is to show that hard-hitting topics can attract broad audiences when presented with rigor and nuance.
Yet Netflix isn’t the only player in the race. Kino Lorber, which earned an Oscar nomination for Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat last year, is fielding strong contenders like Riefenstahl (Andres Veiel’s study of the German filmmaker) and Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk from Sepideh Farsi—the latter tracing Palestinian poet and photographer Fatma Hassona amid the Gaza siege. Farsi recalls how a rapid, intimate bond formed with Hassona through video calls, only for Hassona to be killed in a drone strike just as Cannes accepted the film.
Two Cannes premieres are also positioned as serious Oscar contenders: My Mom Jayne, Mariska Hargitay’s documentary about her mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, and Orwell: 2+2=5, Raoul Peck’s reflective analysis of George Orwell’s work and its resonance amid rising global authoritarianism. Peck argues we’re living in an era of “Newspeak,” with Orwell’s observations providing a troubling lens on today’s political climate.
Other notable entries include Cover-Up from Poitras and Obenhaus, and The Tale of Silyan from Tamara Kotevska, which debuted at Venice. National Geographic picked up Silyan, a North Macedonian fable about a man who befriends an injured stork and confronts broader questions of care and humanity during hardship.
Mstyslav Chernov returns with 2000 Meters to Andriivka, a follow-up to his war reportage 20 Days in Mariupol, offering a ground-level view of Ukraine’s struggle to reclaim territory and the human toll of conflict. Chernov describes a claustrophobic forest setting that becomes a metaphor for the entire war: a cycle of defense, endurance, and inescapable danger.
Russian repression-themed documentaries also push for Oscar recognition. My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow, by Julia Loktev, and Mr. Nobody Against Putin, from David Borenstein and Pavel Talankin, examine the price of dissent in a climate of tight control. In recent years, films without U.S. distribution have still found their way onto the Oscar shortlist, and several hopefuls this season are pursuing DIY campaigns to boost visibility and eligibility, following the model of last year’s Hollywoodgate and Union campaigns.
Other strong contenders include Holding Liat, a Berlin winner by Brandon Kramer about an American-Israeli family affected by the October 7 crisis, and Come See Me in the Good Light, Ryan White’s portrait of poet Andrea Gibson, which earned multiple Cinema Eye Honors nominations with Apple TV backing. Seeds, Brittany Shyne’s acclaimed documentary, also stands out as a potential wild card, having earned Sundance’s top U.S. documentary prize and continued festival praise.
Kim A. Snyder returns to the race with The Librarians, a look at the growing pressure on librarians and educators amid political attacks in the United States. Executive producer Sarah Jessica Parker voices alarm over the consequences for education and access to information.
Documentary filmmaking is also a family affair this year, with Andrew Jarecki (an Oscar-nominated director and Emmy winner) presenting The Alabama Solution, and Eugene Jarecki countering with The Six Billion Dollar Man, a new take on Julian Assange that recently earned Cannes honors.
With so many strong bidders and a shifting distribution landscape, the Best Documentary Feature category is unusually open this year. The Oscar shortlists for documentary feature and short, along with eight other categories, will reveal the evolving picture on December 16, offering clarity on which films have the strongest momentum and which narratives may still surprise the Academy.
