“Pina,” “Paradise Lost 3,” “Undefeated” vie for doc Oscar

January 24, 2012 by Adam Benzine

The five films nominated for the 84th annual Academy Awards’ best documentary feature Oscar are Hell and Back Again, If A Tree Falls, Paradise Lost 3, Pina and Undefeated.

The culling of the 15-strong shortlist sees James Marsh’s Project Nim and Cindy Meehl’s Buck both failing to make the cut.

The five nominees with director and producer credits follows:

Hell and Back Again – Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
Pina – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
Undefeated – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

And in the best documentary (short subject) category, the five documentaries nominated are:

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom by Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
Saving Face by Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
Incident in New Baghdad by James Spione
God Is the Bigger Elvis by Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement by Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin.

Tags: Academy Awards, Battle for Brooklyn, Bill Cunningham New York, Buck, Hell and Back Again, If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Jane’s Journey, Oscars, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, Pina, Project Nim, Semper Fi: Always Faithful, Sing Your Song, The Loving Story, Undefeated, Under Fire: Journalists in Combat, We Were Here