Actual List:

"Born into Brothels"
"Home of the Brave"
"Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train"
"In the Realms of the Unreal"
"Riding Giants"
"The Ritchie Boys"
"The Story of the Weeping Camel"
"Super Size Me"
"Tell Them Who You Are"
"Touching the Void"
"Tupac: Resurrection"
"Twist of Faith"

Variety Article:

With Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" out of this year's Oscar documentary derby, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' docu exec committee has winnowed contenders in the category down to 12 semifinalists led by such high-profile pics as Morgan Spurlock's "Super Size Me," Stacy Peralta's "Riding Giants," Mark Wexler's "Tell Them Who You Are" and Kevin MacDonald's "Touching the Void."

Other titles insiders said Tuesday were on the docu short list were Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman's "Born Into Brothels" and Jessica Yu's "In the Realms of the Unreal."

AMPAS is expected to release its full list of semifinalists today. The 12 films will next be screened by Academy members and whittled to five final nominees.

Moore, who won an Oscar for his previous effort "Bowling for Columbine," pulled "Fahrenheit" out of the docu Oscar race in September to compete as a best picture nominee, contending the move was aimed at opening up the docu race. Some saw the strategy as somewhat disingenuous, but either way, taking "Fahrenheit" out of the mix seems to have worked in juicing a host of hotly tipped front-runners.

'Super'-sized grosses

Spurlock's "Super Size," which follows the helmer's gastronomic adventures eating at McDonald's for a month straight, was a Sundance pickup for Roadside Attractions and Samuel Goldwyn Films. The feature took in more than $11.6 million and leads the pack in B.O. take.

"Super Size" isn't the only film with Sundance roots reaching the Oscar semifinals this year: Peralta's "Giants," the surf docu, historically opened the Park City fest last year and was subsequently bought by Sony Pictures Classics, which also rolled out Peralta's "Dogtown and Z-Boys."

Like "Super Size," "Brothels" was another Sundance award winner. The film, which follows impoverished children of prostitutes in Calcutta, was ultimately picked up in a partnership between HBO and ThinkFilm.

Should IFC Films' "Void," the docu based on the book by Joe Simpson about his mountaineering adventures in the Peruvian Andes, become an Oscar nominee, it seems destined to rankle the competition. In the heat of the coming Oscar competish, some already contend that the film is not a docu at all, but a docudrama, as much of the film consists of re-enactments of Simpson's book. Yet it seems to have made the climb to semifinalist.

'Tell' buzz building

Meantime, buzz is building for Wexler's "Tell Them," about the helmer's auteur father Haskell Wexler. Last year, another son's filmic view of his famous father, Nathaniel Kahn's "My Architect," was a fave among voters and nabbed a nom. ThinkFilm bought "Tell Them" at the Toronto Film Fest.

Indie banner Wellspring completed a well-timed pickup of Yu's "Realms," announcing the deal Tuesday. The film follows the life of Henry Darger, a Chicago janitor who penned the 15,000-page children's fantasy novel of the docu title.

A handful of docus that would have seemed like shoo-ins to make the 12-film cut this year were disqualified due to having aired on television, either domestically or abroad. Knocked out of contention under such rulings were Jehane Noujaim's "Control Room," Ondi Timoner's "Dig!" and Jennifer Abbott and Mark Achbar's "The Corporation."

'Z,' 'Monster' miss cut

Other hopefuls that qualified, but were turned down as of Tuesday were IFC's "Metallica (news - web sites): Some Kind of Monster" and "Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession," Magnolia Pictures' "Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst (news)" and Daniel Anker's "Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust."

A full list of semifinalists is expected to be announced today.

I cant 9/11 be viewed as a doc?

Would've loved to see The Corporation and Control Room being eligible and in the list. At least Touching the Void made it.

Moore took himself out of the Oscar race in order to air his movie on TV (which is forbidden for a documentary by the rules of the Academy).

With F 9/11 having not made it, the definite favorites are Touching the Void and Super Size Me.

Super Size Me had a better box-office gross, but something tells me that Touching the Void will get it.

when did he do that??! :?

November 1st.

It aired on Free-TV in Germany on November 1st.

cool!

If he wanted it to do anything, shouldn't it have aired on american tv instead of german tv?

I know, that would make more sense :?

I am not completely sure, but I heard that the channel that was supposed to air it refused to do so. I am not sure, but that is what I remember having heard.

Super-Size Me looks to be the fruntrunner at this point.

There are always one or two documentaries released late in the year that make a last minute sprint and end up becoming the frontrunners (My Architect, The Fog of War); thus, I wouldn't be surprised to see some of those listed that have yet to be released overtake Super Size Me and Touching the Void, the obvious frontrunners at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised to see Tarnation be favored later on either.

It's a shame Control Room is ineligible. I would have actually nominated it over Touching the Void.

The actual list is up in the first post. The original list wasn't all correct.

Tupac: Resurrection was a documentary?? How could I have missed that?

I disagree, Touching the Void is FAR better than Super-Size Me and on top of that there are quite a few members of the British Academy who vote for AMPAS who gave this film best British film at last year's BAFTA awards.

I don't think controversy is going to attached to Touching the Void, it has enough narration and is told in such a way where it is clear that it is a reconstruction of something they have no other images for.

And the documentary branch has proved in the past that the term "documentary" is more than flexible.

Oh I think definate nominees are:

Born Into Brothels
Riding Giants
Super-Size Me
The Story of the Weeping Camel
Touching the Void

With Tupac: Ressurection being a potential spoiler over Riding Giants.

BTW, My Architect was never a frontrunner for the win (if that's what you are refering to), Capturing the Friedmans and Fog of War were always neck and neck... My Architect hardly mattered at all.

I would have given the 2nd slot to Touching The Void, although it may end up getting the Oscar.

Maybe I'm going crazy, but...

Wasn't Tupac: Resurrection released in 2003?

Yes, it was released in November of 2003. I don't why and how it is in the list.

Here is the link from MCN.

EDIT: OK I got the rule.

"III. ELIGIBILITY
1. To be eligible for award consideration for the 2004 awards year, a documentary film must qualify via theatrical exhibition (within two years of the film’s completion date) between September 1, 2003 and August 31, 2004. No television or internet transmission shall have occurred at any time anywhere in the world in any version prior to the qualifying run or furthermore contrary to section III.2.B(1) or III.2.B(2) of these rules."

Crazy!

Foreign films run the same way. A Very Long Engagement, which opens sometime in December, was not eligible for Foreign film because of a similar rule which requires foreign films to be submitted by October 31st (or an close date).