For our seventh Rundown article, we look at the non-fiction categories. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Documentary Feature and Documentary Short Subject as well as general commentary about the race. Monday, we’ll cover a category that will be effected by this weekend’s big guild announcement.

Best Documentary Feature

Winner Predictions

• Citizenfour (WL O) (PP O) (TB O) (TL O)
• Finding Vivian Maier
• Last Days in Vietnam
• The Salt of the Earth
• Virunga

Runner-Up Predictions

• Last Days in Vietnam (PP R) [New] (TB O)
• Virunga (WL O)(TL O)

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Wesley Lovell: Citzenfour seems the de facto choice this year, which should give it the necessary boost to win this award. Yet, there are plenty of other possibilities, any of which could win.
Peter J. Patrick: Sometimes the Academy likes award controversial documentaries, sometimes they don’t. If they do this year, Citizenfour should be an easy victory. If not, RFK’s daughter Roray’s Last Days in Vietnam should prevail.
Tripp Burton: The changes to voting the last few years have led this category to lean a little more towards the populist documentary, although this year none of the nominees hit the same chord that the last two years winners have (literally, as both were music documentaries). Instead, the documentary thriller aspect of CitizenFour, combining it with being a documentary that “is good for you” as Owen Glieberman would say, should lead it to an easy victory.
Thomas La Tourrette: (Information not submitted by deadline. Will update when received)

Best Documentary Short Subject

Winner Predictions

• Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 (WL O) (TB O) (TL O)
• Joanna
• Our Curse
• The Reaper
• White Earth (PP R) [New]

Runner-Up Predictions

• Joanna (WL O)
• Our Curse (TL O)
• The Reaper (PP O)
• White Earth (TB R) [New]

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Wesley Lovell: Without knowing more than general descriptions of these films, the one that has the most political strength seems to be Crisis Hotline, which feels more timely than the others. However, this is one of my worst categories, so I fully expect that I could be wrong.
Peter J. Patrick: I have no idea on this one, but these titles “sound” the most award-worthy.
Tripp Burton: Perhaps the hardest category for me to predict, although this year Crisis Hotline seems like a pretty safe bet. It could feel the most timely or vital to voters, and is a well-done, gripping tale. If not, perhaps they will lean towards the children in crisis of White Earth.
Thomas La Tourrette: (Information not submitted by deadline. Will update when received)

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