In case you want to keep your ear to the ground about the feature length documentaries that may make up the five nominees at the academy awards, I have compiled a list of movies that are on the academy “short list” and where you can find them right now to stream. Although all of them aren’t on here, I think there’s enough to sink your teeth into. Note: I listed only the cheapest option from JustWatch so your particular streaming service may be available also. I also erred on the side of popularity. In the cases where a movie was free on multiple platforms, both are listed.
There’s a movie on here that’s on Shudder. Weird.
Active Measures – Hulu – Subs
Russian president Vladimir Putin attacks the 2016 American Presidential Election in collaboration with The Trump Campaign.
Andy Irons: Kissed by God – Amazon – $3.99
A film about bipolar disorder and opioid addiction as seen through the life of three-time world champion surfer Andy Irons. He was the pride of Hawaii and revered around the world for his blue collar rise to fame and success. However, many were unaware of his internal battles that led to his demise. As the opioid crisis rises to a national emergency in the United States, the untold story of Andy’s life serves to tear down the myths associated with these two ferocious diseases.
Believer – HBO – Subs
Imagine Dragons’ Mormon frontman Dan Reynolds is taking on a new mission to explore how the church treats its LGBTQ members. With the rising suicide rate amongst teens in the state of Utah, his concern with the church’s policies sends him on an unexpected path for acceptance and change.
Bill Coors: The Will to Live – Prime Video – Subs
Bill Coors is known for being a titan of the brewing industry but what is less known is the heroic personal journey he undertook to discover a holistic answer to treat the depression and anxiety that had plagued his family for generations. Bill’s journey is told parallel to several young internet influencers – although 100 years divides them – their stories are eerily similar as is their fierce ‘Will to Live.”
The Bleeding Edge – Netflix – Subs
Each year in the United States, unparalleled innovations in medical diagnostics, treatment, and technology hit the market. But when the same devices designed to save patients end up harming them, who is accountable?
Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat – Hulu – Subs
Exploring the pre-fame years of the celebrated American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, and how New York City, its people, and tectonically shifting arts culture of the late 1970s and ’80s shaped his vision.
Breaking Point: The War for Democracy in Ukraine – Amazon – $3.99
BREAKING POINT: The War for Democracy in Ukraine looks at people transformed by a democratic revolution, who give up their normal lives to fight a Russian invasion, in a war which has killed 10,000 and displaced 1.9 million Ukrainians.
Call Her Ganda – Amazon – $3.99
Grassroots activists in the Philippines are spurred into action when a local transgender woman is found dead in a motel room with a 19-year-old U.S. marine as the leading suspect. As they demand answers and a just trial, hidden histories of U.S. colonization come bubbling to the surface.
The China Hustle – Hulu – Subs
An unsettling and eye-opening Wall Street horror story about Chinese companies, the American stock market, and the opportunistic greed behind the biggest heist you’ve never heard of.
Christian Audigier: The VIF – Amazon – $3.99
VIF is a one-of-a-kind cinematic documentary, taking us through the introspective life journey of fashion designer Christian Audigier. He created the brand ‘Ed Hardy’, based on the designs of famous American tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy. After being diagnosed with MDS, an aggressive type of blood cancer, Christian is forced to accept what lies ahead of him.
Crime + Punishment – Hulu – Subs
Over four years of unprecedented access, the story of a brave group of black and Latino whistleblower cops and one unrelenting private investigator who, amidst a landmark lawsuit, risk everything to expose illegal quota practices and their impact on young minorities.
Dark Money – Prime Video/Kanopy – Subs
‘Dark money’ contributions, made possible by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, flood modern American elections—but Montana is showing Washington D.C. how to solve the problem of unlimited anonymous money in politics.
Eating Animals – Amazon – $3.99
An examination of our dietary choices and the food we put in our bodies.
Far from the Tree – Amazon – $3.99
Parents of children who have Down syndrome, dwarfism or autism share intimate stories of the challenges they face. Tracing their joys, challenges, tragedies, and triumphs.
Filmworker – Netflix – Subs
The story of Leon Vitali, who surrendered his promising acting career to become Stanley Kubrick’s devoted right-hand man.
40 Years in the Making: The Magic Music Movie – Amazon – $3.99
TV writer/producer Lee Aronsohn tracks down the scattered members of a beloved early 1970’s band with the hope that, 40 years after they broke up, he can get them to play one last show.
Generation Wealth – Amazon – 2.99
Over the past 25 years, Lauren Greenfield’s documentary photography and film projects have explored youth culture, gender, body image, and affluence. In this fascinating meld of career retrospective and film essay, Greenfield offers a meditation on her extensive body of work, structuring it through the lens of materialism and its increasing sway on culture and society in America and throughout the world. Underscoring the ever-increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots, her portraits reveal a focus on cultivating image over substance, where subjects unable to attain actual wealth instead settle for its trappings, no matter their ability to pay for it.
The Gilligan Manifesto – Prime Video – Subs
At the height of the Cold War, Gilligan’s Island depicted seven Americans living in an analogue of a post-apocalyptic world where the survivors have to rebuild civilization. Remarkably, the society they create is pure communist. Interviews with the show’s creator and some of the surviving actors, as well from professors from Harvard, reveal that Gilligan’s Island was deliberately designed to be dismissed as low brow comedy in order to celebrate Marxism and lampoon Western democratic constructs.
The Gospel According to André – Hulu – Subs
From the segregated American South to the fashion capitals of the world, operatic fashion editor André Leon Talley’s life and career are on full display, in a poignant portrait that includes appearances by Anna Wintour, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Bethann Hardison, Valentino, and Manolo Blahnik.
Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami – Hulu – Subs
A documentary which traces the life of the magnetic, world-conquering, Jamaican musician, model and party queen Grace Jones.
Half the Picture – Starz – Subz
At a pivotal moment for gender equality in Hollywood, successful women directors tell the stories of their art, lives and careers. Having endured a long history of systemic discrimination, women filmmakers may be getting the first glimpse of a future that values their voices equally.
The Heart of Nuba – Hulu – Subs
American doctor Tom Catena dedicates himself to the Nuba people in Sudan during a relentless campaign of bombing by war criminal Omar Al-Bashir.
Hondros – Netflix/Hoopla – Subs
HONDROS follows the life and career of famous war photographer Chris Hondros by exploring the poignant and often surprising stories behind this award-winning photojournalist’s best-known photos. Driven by a commitment to bear witness to the wars of our time after the events of 9/11, Chris was among the first in a new generation of war photographers since Vietnam. HONDROS explores the complexities inherent in covering more than a decade of conflict, while trying to maintain a normal life. It also examines the unknowable calculus involved in making split-second life and death decisions — before, during and after his photos were made. Chris was killed in Libya in 2011, but he left a lasting impact on his profession that is still felt today.
In the Land of Pomegranates – Kanopy – Subs/(Amazon – $1.99)
A documentary about the Vacation From War Program where Israeli and Palestinian youth meet.
Itzhak – Kanopy – Subs/(Amazon – $3.99)
Musician Itzhak Perlman talks about family history and mastery of the violin.
Jane Fonda in Five Acts – HBO/Kanopy – Subs
Girl next door, activist, so-called traitor, fitness tycoon, Oscar winner: Jane Fonda has lived a life of controversy, tragedy and transformation – and she’s done it all in the public eye. An intimate look at one woman’s singular journey.
John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection – Amazon – $3.99
An immersive film essay on tennis legend John McEnroe at the height of his career as the world champion, documenting his strive for perfection, frustrations, and the hardest loss of his career at the 1984 Roland-Garros French Open.
Killer Bees – Prime Video/Hulu/Hoopla – Subs
A championship high school basketball team provides pride, tradition and hope for an African American community struggling to survive in the middle of one of the wealthiest communities in America – The Hamptons.
The King – Amazon – $3.99
A cultural portrait of the American dream at a critical time in the nation’s history. Set against the 2016 American election, The King takes a musical road trip across the country in Elvis Presley’s 1963 Rolls Royce.
King in the Wilderness – HBO/Kanopy – Subs
A chronicle of the final chapters of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life, revealing a conflicted leader who faced an onslaught of criticism from both sides of the political spectrum.
The Last Race – Amazon – $6.99
A cinematic portrait of a small town stock car track and the tribe of drivers that call it home as they struggle to hold onto an American racing tradition. The avant-garde narrative explores the community and its conflicts through an intimate story that reveals the beauty, mystery and emotion of grassroots auto racing.
Leaning Into the Wind: Andy Goldsworthy – Hulu – Subs
Thomas Riedelsheimer’s landmark Rivers and Tides inventively documented artist Andy Goldsworthy as he created his wondrously ephemeral site-specific sculptures, spun from nature. Fifteen years later, Goldsworthy is still appealingly engaged in his philosophical and tactical exploration of the natural world. Leaning Into the Wind is a collaborative sequel—a visual and aural sensation that takes viewers into the hillsides, terrains, and other outdoor spaces where Goldsworthy feels most at home and inspired.
Letter from Masanjia – Amazon – $3.99
A woman in Oregon opens a box of Halloween decorations and finds a distressing letter written by a political prisoner from inside a Chinese labour camp.
Living in the Future’s Past – Hoopla – Subs/(Amazon – $3.99)
Jeff Bridges, alongside prominent scientists and authors, weaves evolution, emergence, entropy, dark ecology, and what some are calling the end of nature, into a story that helps us understand our place among the species of Earth’s household.
Love & Bananas: An Elephant Story – Starz – Subz
Ashley Bell and a team of elephant rescuers led by world renowned Asian elephant conservationist Lek Chailert, embark on a daring 48-hour mission across Thailand to rescue a 70-year old captive blind Asian elephant and bring her to freedom.
Love, Cecil – Kanopy – Subs/(Amazon – $3.99)
Lisa Immordino Vreeland directs this documentary about Academy Award-winning costume designer Cecil Beaton. A respected photographer, artist, and set designer, Beaton was best known for designing on award-winning films such as ‘Gigi’ (1958) and ‘My Fair Lady’ (1964). The film features archive footage and interviews with a number of models, artists, and filmmakers who worked closely with Beaton during his illustrious career.
Love, Gilda – Amazon – $6.99
Diaries, audiotapes, videotapes and testimonies from friends and colleagues offer insight into the life and career of Gilda Radner — the beloved comic and actress who became an icon on Saturday Night Live.
McQueen – Prime Video/ Hoopla – Subs
Alexander McQueen’s rags-to-riches story is a modern-day fairy tale, laced with the gothic. Mirroring the savage beauty, boldness and vivacity of his design, this documentary is an intimate revelation of McQueen’s own world, both tortured and inspired, which celebrates a radical and mesmerizing genius of profound influence.
Minding the Gap – Hulu – Subs
Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship.
The Most Unknown – Netflix – Subs
“The Most Unknown” follows nine scientists across the globe who are engaged in research to answer really deep questions, like the nature of consciousness and how life began.
93QUEEN – http://www.pbs.org/pov/93queen/ – Free
93QUEEN follows Rachel “Ruchie” Freier, a no-nonsense Hasidic lawyer and mother of six who is determined to shake up the “boys club” in her Hasidic community by creating Ezras Nashim, the first all-female ambulance corps in NYC.
Of Fathers and Sons – Kanopy – Subs
Talal Derki returns to his homeland where he gains the trust of a radical Islamist family, sharing their daily life for over two years. His camera focuses on Osama and his younger brother Ayman, providing an extremely rare insight into what it means to grow up in an Islamic Caliphate.
The Oslo Diaries – HBO – Subs
A group of Israelis and Palestinians come together in Oslo for an unsanctioned peace talks during the 1990s in order to bring peace to the Middle East.
The Panama Papers – YouTube – $3.99
A documentary feature film about the biggest global corruption scandal in history, and the hundreds of journalists who risked their lives to break the story.
Path of Blood – YouTube – $5.99
Deep in the Saudi desert, young thrill-seekers at jihadi boot camp sign up to a plot to overthrow the Saudi government. They detonate three horrific car-bombs at Western compounds in downtown Riyadh and become embroiled in a nail-biting game of cat and mouse with government forces. As their plans unravel, they resort to ever more brutal tactics. Exposing the dark side of the human soul, Path of Blood reveals Al Qaeda as you’ve never seen it before. Using a treasure trove of Al Qaeda home-movie footage captured by the security services, this haunting documentary film shows how brainwashed idealism and the youthful pursuit of adventure can descend into madness and carnage.
Pick of the Litter – Vudu/PSN – $3.99
Follows a litter of puppies from the moment they’re born and begin their quest to become Guide Dogs for the Blind, the ultimate canine career. Cameras follow these pups through a two-year odyssey as they train to become dogs whose ultimate responsibility is to protect their blind partners from harm.
Piripkura – Amazon – $1.99
Two nomadic indians, the last two of the three suvivors of the Piripkura people, live in a protected area in the middle of the Amazon forest, surrounded by farms, with a small blind ax and a torch lit for the last time in 1998. To maintain the area protected, every two years state officials carry out expeditions to prove that they are still alive.
Pope Francis: A Man of His Word – FandangoNOW/PSN – 4.99
Pope Francis responds to questions from around the world, discussing topics including ecology, immigration, consumerism and social justice.
The Price of Everything – HBO – Subs
Exploring the labyrinth of the contemporary art world, The Price of Everything examines the role of art and artistic passion in today’s consumer-based society. Featuring collectors, dealers, auctioneers and a rich range of artists, from current market darlings Jeff Koons, Gerhard Richter and Njideka Akunyili Crosby, to one-time art star Larry Poons, the film exposes deep contradictions as it holds a mirror up to contemporary values and times, coaxing out the dynamics at play in pricing the priceless.
Quincy – Netflix – Subs
An intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. A unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America.
The Rachel Divide – Netflix – Subs
Rachel Dolezal became infamous when she was unmasked as a white woman passing for black so thoroughly that she had become the head of her local N.A.A.C.P. chapter. This portrait cuts through the very public controversy to reveal Dolezal’s motivations.
RBG – Hulu/Hoopla – Subs
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg now 84, and still inspired by the lawyers who defended free speech during the Red Scare, Ginsburg refuses to relinquish her passionate duty, steadily fighting for equal rights for all citizens under the law. Through intimate interviews and unprecedented access to Ginsburg’s life outside the court, RBG tells the electric story of Ginsburg’s consuming love affairs with both the Constitution and her beloved husband Marty—and of a life’s work that led her to become an icon of justice in the highest court in the land.
Recovery Boys – Netflix – Subs
In the heart of America’s opioid epidemic, four men try to reinvent their lives and mend their broken relationships after years of drug abuse.
Reversing Roe – Netflix – Subs
Documentary that delves deep into the history of abortion law, revealing the contradictory ways in which women’s bodies have been used to further political and ideological agendas.
The Road Movie – Prime Video/Shudder – Subs
Anything can happen on Russian roads and is precisely shot by the dashboard camera. Super-objective video registration grows into the strong image of Russian national character – with its permanent awaiting for the miracle and habitual approach to real dramas. A forest on fire as a symbol of Russian hell, a military tank at a car wash and car chase in the vicinity of Kremlin shot with a dashboard cam at the same time when Boris Nemtsov, the leader of political opposition, was shot dead near Kremlin. Dashboard cam depicts life in it’s purity as an unbiased observer.
Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind – HBO/Kanopy – Subs
A funny, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of one of the world’s most beloved and inventive comedians, Robin Williams, told largely through his own words. Celebrates what he brought to comedy and to the culture at large, from the wild days of late-1970s L.A. to his death in 2014.
Saving Brinton – Prime Video – Subs
In rural Iowa, a beloved history teacher uncovers the century-old showreels of one of America’s first motion picture impresarios and sets out to premiere the films at a historic local opera house.
Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland – HBO – Subs
Sandra Bland was a bright, energetic activist whose life was cut short when a traffic stop resulted in a mysterious jail cell death just three days later.
Science Fair – Vudu – $5.99
Filmmakers follow nine high school students from around the globe as they compete at an international science fair. Facing off against 1,700 of the smartest teens from 78 countries, only one will be named Best in Fair.
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood – Amazon – $3.99
A deliciously scandalous portrait of unsung Hollywood legend Scotty Bowers, whose bestselling memoir chronicled his decades spent as sexual procurer to the stars.
Seeing Allred – Netflix – Subs
Gloria Allred overcame trauma and personal setbacks to become one of the nation’s most famous women’s rights attorneys. Now the feminist firebrand takes on two of the biggest adversaries of her career, Bill Cosby and Donald Trump, as sexual violence allegations grip the nation and keep her in the spotlight.
The Sentence – HBO – Subs
Cindy Shank, mother of three, is serving a 15-year sentence in federal prison for her tangential involvement with a Michigan drug ring years earlier. This intimate portrait of mandatory minimum drug sentencing’s devastating consequences, captured by Cindy’s brother, follows her and her family over the course of ten years.
Shirkers – Netflix – Subs
In 1992, teenager Sandi Tan shot Singapore’s first indie road movie with her enigmatic American mentor Georges – who then vanished with all the footage. Twenty years later, the 16mm film is recovered, sending Tan, now a novelist in Los Angeles, on a personal odyssey in search of Georges’ vanishing footprints.
Shot in the Dark – Realeyz – Subs
Shot in the Dark is a documentary on three blind photographers: Pete Eckert, Sonia Soberats and Bruce Hall. A documentary on three blind people who devote their lives to creating images. What do they see in their mind’s eyes? Do they sense that which we sighted miss, overlook, or don’t take into consideration? Their images, as we sighted can see, are extraordinary. “Even with no input the brain keeps creating images,” says Pete Eckert. Sonia Soberats states, “I only understood how powerful light is after I went blind.” Shot in the Dark is a journey into an unfamiliar yet fascinating realm. “My camera is like a bridge,” claims Bruce Hall. All these photographers embrace fantasy, chance, and contingency at a fundamental level. Shot in the Dark enriches our understanding of perception and creation. We all close our eyes in sleep, the sighted and blind alike, and in our dreams – we see.
That Summer – Hulu – Subs
Albert and David Maysles’ classic GREY GARDENS immortalized the estate of Edith and Little Edie Beale, relatives of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, who lived in alarmingly poor conditions. But there is more to the story: it was Lee Radziwill and Peter Beard who first brought the Maysles to the Beales, when the two set out to make a film about Radziwill’s childhood. The reels of that first contact were shelved for 45 years. This documentary recovers the lost footage. Anchored in Beard’s recollections and artistic vision, we are returned to “that summer” in 1972, a seductive dream world and collage of radically unconventional creative personalities—Warhol, Bacon, Jagger, Capote—practicing the art of living amidst oppressive forces of class expectation and prejudice.
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead – Netflix – Subs
In the final 15 years of the life of legendary director Orson Welles he pins his Hollywood comeback hopes on the film “The Other Side of the Wind”.
This is Congo – Starz – Subz
An unfiltered look in to the lives of 3 characters surviving amongst the most recent cycle of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, otherwise known as the M23 rebellion.
This is Home: A Refugee Story – Prime Video – Subs
The lives of four Syrian families, resettled in Baltimore and under a deadline to become self-sufficient in eight months.
Transformer – Amazon – 4.99
In the summer of 2015, former US Marine and world record weightlifter Matt “Kroc” Kroczaleski was publicly outed as being transgender. The reaction was universal: her sponsors abandoned her, she was disowned by her parents, banned from competing, and she changed her name to “Janae”. This film follows Janae as she attempts to find her place in society. Initially wanting to strip off the muscle and become a much smaller looking woman, she found herself unable to lose the muscle she so desperately gained. She now finds herself living one day as an alpha male and the next day as a delicate girl. Will Janae be able to handle her muscle relapses? Will her passage from being a male bring her the peace she’s looking for? Will society accept a 250lbs muscular woman? Is her path personal redemption or physical and psychological disaster?
Three Identical Strangers – Amazon – $3.99
New York, 1980: three complete strangers accidentally discover that they’re identical triplets, separated at birth. The 19-year-olds’ joyous reunion catapults them to international fame, but also unlocks an extraordinary and disturbing secret that goes beyond their own lives – and could transform our understanding of human nature forever.
The Waldheim Waltz – Hoopla – Subs
Ruth Beckermann documents the process of uncovering former UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim’s wartime past. It shows the swift succession of new allegations by the World Jewish Congress during his Austrian presidential campaign, the denial by the Austrian political class, the outbreak of anti-Semitism and patriotism, which finally led to his election.
What Haunts Us – Starz/Hoopla – Subs
The 1979 class of Porter Gaud School in Charleston, South Carolina graduated 49 boys. Within the last 35 years, six of them have committed suicide. When Paige Goldberg Tolmach gets word that another former student from her beloved high school has killed himself, she decides to take a deep dive into her past in order to uncover the surprising truth and finally release the ghosts that haunt her hometown to this day.
What Lies Upstream – Prime Video – Subs
In this detective story, filmmaker Cullen Hoback investigates the largest chemical drinking water contamination in a generation. But something is rotten in state and federal regulatory agencies, and through years of persistent journalism, we learn the shocking truth about what’s really happening with drinking water in America.
Whitney – Amazon – $3.99
Filmmaker Kevin Macdonald examines the life and career of singer Whitney Houston. Features never-before-seen archival footage, exclusive recordings, rare performances and interviews with the people who knew her best.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor? – Amazon – $3.99
Fred Rogers used puppets and play to explore complex social issues: race, disability, equality and tragedy, helping form the American concept of childhood. He spoke directly to children and they responded enthusiastically. Yet today, his impact is unclear. Have we lived up to Fred’s ideal of good neighbors?
So check a look at one of these and get a head start on the Oscar death race.