Oscar nominees at the 2019 News & Documentary Emmy Awards

I told my readers to "stay tuned" at the end of Outstanding Comedy Series nominees at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards include "Veep," a political comedy for "an entry about the Autumnal Equinox and maybe one about the Oscar nominees at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards."  I took care of the first with Happy Autumnal Equinox 2019!  Now it's time for the second.

I found three former Oscar nominees nominated at tonight's News & Documentary Emmy Awards, "I Am Not Your Negro," "Lifeboat," and "Traffic Stop."  The headliner of the three is "I Am Not Your Negro," which is nominated for Best Documentary.

Best Documentary

FRONTLINE PBS
Exodus: The Journey Continues

HBO Documentary Films HBO
I Am Evidence

Independent Lens PBS
I Am Not Your Negro

POV PBS
Nowhere to Hide

POV PBS
Quest

As I wrote in 'The Facebook Dilemma' earns two Emmy nominations, "for Best Documentary...I think the Oscar-nominated 'I Am Not Your Negro' is the favorite."  The other nominee that I think has a chance is "Quest," which I listed in The most honored political documentaries of 2017 examine crime, injustice, and the Syrian Civil War.  I'll be a good environmentalist and recycle what I wrote about it then.

"Quest" probably displays the least injustice of the movies telling the stories of African-Americans, but it still puts their experience in a political context, as Vox notes.

But the portrait that sticks with me most from 2017 is found in Jonathan Olshefski’s film Quest, a documentary portrait of a North Philadelphia family shot over a decade. Quest is a cinéma vérité documentary portrait of the Rainey family, who operate a recording studio. But life (and movies) doesn’t always go as planned, and when tragedy hits the family, the documentary takes an unexpected turn. It is, by far, one of the most moving documentaries of the year, and vital viewing that somehow captures the past 10 years of the American experience — including life in the city as well as the broader political and social situation in America — better than either the Raineys or Olshefski could have ever imagined.

"Quest" is also nominated for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary where I think it's strongest competition is "Crime + Punishment," a nominees at the 2018 Critics' Choice Documentary Awards.  "I Am Evidence" is also nominated for Outstanding Investigative Documentary.  I already mentioned that "Nowhere to Hide" appears to be the favorite for Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary, but it has both "The Facebook Dilemma" and one of this year's Best Documentary Short Subject nominees, "Lifeboat" about rescuing refugees from Lybia.  I'll be a good environmentalist again and recycle what I wrote about it and its nominated category.

FRONTLINE PBS
The Facebook Dilemma

HBO Documentary Films HBO
It Will Be Chaos

HBO Documentary Films  HBO
Stolen Daughters: Kidnapped by Boko Haram

Lifeboat Spin Film/ RYOT

POV PBS
Nowhere to Hide

The other nominees with two nominations are "Stolen Daughters: Kidnapped by Boko Haram," which is also nominated for Outstanding Music & Sound, and "Nowhere to Hide," whose other nomination is for Best Documentary.  On the basis of that second nomnination alone, I think "Nowhere to Hide" is favored in this category, but not for Best Documentary.  In the latter category, I think the Oscar-nominated "I Am Not Your Negro" is the favorite.  I'll examine the chances of "Stolen Daughters: Kidnapped by Boko Haram" for Outstanding Music & Sound when I examine either

"Dawnland," which has two nominations, or the nature documentary nominees, two of which are also nominated for their music.

Unfortunately, I won't get around to doing either, as the ceremony is tonight.  On the other hand, I plan on looking at the winners next month.

The final Oscar nominee is "Traffic Stop," nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject in 2018.  For the last time today, I am being a good environmentalist and recycling.

The other thing that struck me was how violent the clip from "Traffic Stop" appeared and how topical the subject was.  Variety had a concise summary explaining the violence.

“Traffic Stop” is lauded documentarian Kate Davis’ first short. (She previously won a Sundance Documentary Grand Jury prize for “Southern Comfort.”) An Austin, Texas, traffic stop leads to the brutalization of driver Breaion King, an African-American school teacher with no record. The short, which will air on HBO in early spring, tackles questions about racism, law enforcement and gender.

In the era of Black Lives Matter, which I've mentioned on this blog only once before, this is a very important film.  Given an electorate that looked like America and not like Hollywood, it might have won.

Here are its competition.

Outstanding Short Documentary

Beneath the Ink GQ / Condé Nast Entertainment

HBO Documentary Films HBO
Traffic Stop

Meet the Press Film Festival with AFI: Guns Found Here NBC

POV Shorts and The New York Times PBS
Earthrise

The Family Business: Trump and Taxes Showtime

Trans in America: Texas Strong them. / Condé Nast Entertainment

This is the only nomination for these short subjects, so I can't use that criterion to handicap the category.  I'll just say that I think "Traffic Stop" has a boost up because of its Oscar nomination.

Time to circle back to "I Am Not Your Negro" by listing its other nomination.

Outstanding Arts & Culture Documentary

HBO Documentary Films HBO
Arthur Miller: Writer

HBO Documentary Films HBO
Believer

HBO Documentary Films HBO
The Price of Everything

Independent Lens PBS
I Am Not Your Negro

ReMastered: Who Shot The Sheriff Netflix

"I Am Not Your Negro" is the favorite, not only because it is an Oscar nominee, but because it is the only one with another nomination.

I conclude this entry with I Am Not Your Negro - Official Trailer.

In his new film, director Raoul Peck envisions the book James Baldwin never finished - a radical narration about race in America, using the writer's original words. He draws upon James Baldwin's notes on the lives and assassinations of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr. to explore and bring a fresh and radical perspective to the current racial narrative in America.

My readers can watch the News & Documentary Emmy Awards livestreamed at their YouTube channel during the evening of September 24, 2019.  Either that, or wait for me to post clips of the winners next month.  It's up to them.

I plan on taking a break from the Emmy Awards tomorrow when I write about National Voter Registration Day for Coffee Party USA.  Stay tuned.

Previous entries in this series.

• 'The Facebook Dilemma' earns two Emmy nominations