Obama Doc on Track for Oscar

It’s one thing to award the Gore doc the big prize during the Bush administration; it’s something else entirely to award the Obama doc during the Obama administration. Nonetheless, the new doc about the Obama campaign is getting a qualifying run, according to AJ Schnack over at ATWT.

The trick appears to be to get the qualifying run but also not dampen any buzz a bigger opening, with proper reviews, could cause – thus, as Schnack points out, the Doc will be screened in just a couple of venues and currently has no critical blowback. Gee, I wonder what Ann Coulter is going to think of it? This doc comes at a time when the right is coming at Obama with claws outstretched so reception of this film, no doubt, is going to be somewhat controversial. Oscar will be in the mix, especially if the film is shortlisted and even nominated. Here is a great piece about the filmmakers and the doc itself.

Food for thought: could a movie made about the Republicans ever get anywhere near the Kodak?

More docs are getting their qualifying, says Schnack – and, as it seems to be going lately, the doc and foreign language race are among Oscar’s most fascinating:

This week also marks week 2 of the IDA’s DocuWeeks Oscar qualification explosion. Now playing at the Arclight in Los Angeles: KIMJONGILIA, ROCK PROPHECIES, SEVERE CLEAR, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION, SPLIT ESTATE and TAPPED. At the IFC Center in NYC: DIRT! THE MOVIE, MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN, SMILE ‘TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY, SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION, SPLIT ESTATE, SUNRISE/SUNSET: DALAI LAMA XIV and a shorts program.