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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday unveiled the films eligible for consideration for the 2024 Oscars in the categories of Documentary Feature Film and International Feature Film and Animated Feature Film.

A total of 167 documentaries have made the cut for the 96th Academy Awards, while 88 countries are eligible for the International Feature. Shortlists of 15 films in both categories will be revealed December 21.

In the Animated Feature race, 33 films are eligible for the 2024 race.

Final Oscar nominations will be revealed January 23, 2024, with the 96th Oscars to air Sunday, March 10 on ABC hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

Here are the film lists revealed today, with AMPAS noting that not all have had their qualifying release yet, a requirement to advance in the voting process.

Animated Feature

The Amazing Maurice

Blue Giant

The Boy and the Heron

Chang’an

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

Deep Sea

Elemental

Ernest & Celestine: A...

By Glenn Charlie Dunks

Reed Harkness’s Sam Now is really something special. A debut that taps into an achingly sad story within his own family, covering decades of pain and the smiles used to cover it up. I could not take my eyes off of it, reverberating as it does with a potent mix of tragedy and the relief that comes with finally getting it off your shoulders. In finally telling this story so many years in the making, Harkness has given us a documentary that taps into completely unexpected wells of emotion—a Boyhood (of sorts) where life’s dramatic turns offer us a portrait of male anguish that would be hard to watch if it weren’t so vibrantly made and open-hearted in its delivery.

Synopses describe Sam Now as a “mystery”, but that does it a disservice. There is a mystery, of course. But it’s solved pretty quickly.

Editor’s Note: The below blog piece originally ran in January. Sam Now is screening tonight, Thursday, April 6, in Los Angeles at the Glendale Laemmle and in New York tomorrow, Friday, April 7 at the Village East. See showtimes on the film’s website.

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Film Independent Fellow Reed Harkness began to lay the groundwork for his acclaimed 2022 documentary Sam Now way back in 1997. His intent then, as an 18-year-old, was merely to document some adventures with his 11-year-old half-brother Sam on Super 8mm footage. Little did he know that 25 years later he’d have an entire nonfiction feature, starring Sam and other members of his family, let alone one racking up awards on the film festival circuit.

In order to fully realize his vision, Reed teamed up with childhood friend Jason Reid in 2015 to serve as editor/producer and participated in the Film Independent Fast Track program in 2020 and the Documentary...

The Award-winning PBS documentary series “Independent Lens” has released its spring slate of documentary films, which will begin debuting on April 24. This season’s films will highlight a myriad of marginalized communities and current affairs by documenting both personal and important stories from around the world.

First to debut is documentary film “Free Chol Soo Lee” from filmmakers Julie Ha and Eugene Yi. The Sundance favorite uses archival material to travel back to 1970’s San Francisco and tell the story of Chol Soo Lee, a Korean immigrant who was wrongfully convicted of murder, and the Asian American activist movement that sought to free him.

Following is Anna Moot-Levin and Laura Green’s film “Matter of Mind: My Als”, which will premiere May 1. The documentary tells the story of three people in the U.S. living with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Reed Harkness’s film “Sam Now” premieres May 8, and shares the...