The 98th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 15, a little less than a month from now. There are five films nominated for the Best Documentary Feature Film award: The Alabama Solution, Come See Me in the Good Light, Cutting through Rocks, Mr. Nobody Against Putin and The Perfect Neighbor.
It can feel impossible to find rhyme or reason in the Academy’s choices across all categories. I once heard a theory about the Academy’s selections that has stuck with me: They’re trying to pick the films that reflect the moment, whatever they perceive the social or political moment to be. If we look at the Oscars through this lens, there should be no better category for reflection than the documentaries, which are films created quite literally to capture a real world story.
Last year, the prize went to No Other Land, a film about modern life for a Palestinian community in the West Bank, co-directed by a group of Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers. The year before, it went to 20 Days in Mariupol, which follows a group of Ukrainian journalists trapped in Mariupol after the Russian invasion.
The nominations are selected by the Academy’s documentary branch, but the award will be determined by votes from the entire Academy, whose tastes may ultimately differ. We can’t know where the Academy’s decisions will come from, but this is my guide to the nominees.
1. The Alabama Solution, directed by Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman (Streaming on HBOMax)
The Alabama Solution details the horrific human rights abuses across prisons in Alabama. The footage for the documentary is largely from the prisoners themselves, shot with contraband cellphones. Various horror stories intertwine. There’s Steven Davis, an inmate beaten so badly by prison guards that they broke every bone in his face and he died from the injuries. The officers involved faced no consequences. There’s Melvin Ray and Robert Earl Council, inmates that study the law and help their peers navigate the legal system, who faced mounting pressure from prison authority — including beatings and prolonged solitary confinement — to end their activism. There’s the apathetic governor’s office and the lack of journalistic freedom.
This is my pick. Prison abuse across the country is pervasive yet overlooked. The modern ubiquity of cellphones is a key factor in documenting and exposing this reality. In essence, this is a story of our moment in time, and the technical and narrative quality of the film would more than justify a win.
2. Come See Me in the Good Light, directed by Ryan White (Streaming on AppleTV)
Come See Me in the Good Light follows Colorado Poet Laureate Andrea Gibson as they grapple with their late stage ovarian cancer. Early on, it is clear that Gibson is a unique character. They are able to make a living off of their writing, for one, but they are also close friends with most of their exes; they have a unique relationship with gender identity and expression and they’re happy to make a cancer and sex joke in one.
What is interesting about exploring the life of someone so singular is that their simple desires to live and to hold onto their loved ones and to fix their mailbox are so easily recognizable. When I saw Gibson put on one final poetry show, I was very touched, despite my lack of interest in spoken word poetry.
3. The Perfect Neighbor,directed by Geeta Gandbhir (Streaming on Netflix)
The Perfect Neighbor documents the slow boiling conflict between an older white woman, Susan Lorincz, and her predominantly Black neighborhood in Florida. The tensions between Lorincz and the neighborhood continue to climb as she constantly calls the police on children playing in the street, ultimately culminating in Lorincz shooting a young mother, Ajike Owens, through her door and killing her.
The story is devastating, but the documentarians struggled to capture it. The footage largely comes from police body cameras from Lorincz’s various 911 calls, including the fatal one that extended from directly after the shooting to Owens being rushed to the hospital to her children finding out that she died. Much of the film’s essential thematic content, such as the impact of Florida’s stand-your-ground law and the importance of standing up for your children in the face of racism, was not detailed until near the film’s end. Without those elements being stressed, the decision to screen the horrific trauma of the Owen’s family bordered on exploitative.
4. Mr. Nobody Against Putin,directed by Pavel Talankin and David Borenstein (Available to Rent on Amazon Prime)
Mr. Nobody Against Putin consists largely of footage from Pavel Talankin, who previously worked as the videographer and events coordinator at a school in a small Russian town called Karabash. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Talankin was obliged to film teachers reciting government-mandated lessons to young students justifying the invasion. Talankin pushes back on the Russian rhetoric even in front of students, saying during one of these lessons that the teacher is forced to say these things, a comment that clearly dumbfounds her. Ultimately, Talankin has to flee Russia.
This documentary was the most tonally different from the other three nominees I have viewed thus far. In spite of the serious subject matter, Talankin is silly in his narration at times, as if to say to the audience, “Can you believe it! Me! Protesting the Russian government.”
5. Cutting Through Rocks,directed by Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni (Not available for streaming)
This film follows Sara Shahverdi, an Iranian councilor who teaches girls to challenge gender roles. It won the 2025 Sundance World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize. There are whispers that it will be available to stream on Docplay on March 2, but it is not in expanded release in the United States.
Happy watching!
Chloe Asack is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is a staff writer for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at casack@cornellsun.com.
