'20 Days in Mariupol' and 'The ABCs of Book Banning' leading documentary nominees according to Gold Derby

I told my readers "Gold Derby hasn't made any predictions for the Razzies or the Oscars yet. When they do, I'll return with their odds. Stay tuned" to conclude 'Exorcist: Believer' and 'Expend4bles' tie for most Razzie nominations as the Golden Raspberry Awards' poor math skills strike again! Gold Derby's editors and experts have made their Oscar predictions, so I'm making good on my promise for today's Sunday entertainment feature, beginning with the nominees for documentaries.

Both the editors and experts are picking 20 Days in Mariupol to win, with eleven editors ranking it first and the twelfth choosing Four Daughters. Eighteen experts have also made 20 Days in Mariupol their first choice, while two have picked The Eternal Memory and one choosing Four Daughters. I'm with them on this, for the same reasons that helped Icarus and Navalny win this category before, the quality of the films and the importance of their subject matter, which made a political points at Putin's expense. The bulk of entertainment professionals in Hollywood have neither forgotten nor forgiven Putin for his role in the 2016 election and what he's done in Ukraine has only incensed the members of the Motion Picture Academy even more.

Speaking of what has happened in Ukraine, watch 20 Days In Mariupol (trailer) | FRONTLINE.

Ukrainian filmmaker and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mstyslav Chernov offers a window into the practices of conflict zone reporters and an unflinching, anguishing account of the 20 days he and colleagues spent covering Mariupol. "20 Days in Mariupol" is a @frontline and @AssociatedPress collaboration. The documentary premieres in select theaters this summer and comes to PBS this fall.

Seeing that this is a Frontline documentary makes me sorry that there is a rule prohibiting Oscar nominees from being eligible for Emmy Awards: "programs that have received an Oscar® nomination from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) are ineligible for submission to any Emmy® award contest administered by NATAS." This includes the News & Documentary Emmys. Darn. Otherwise, I would have expected 20 Days in Mariupol to earn multiple nominations later this year. Not happening, not that Frontline is lacking in potential documentary nominees.

Gold Derby interviewed '20 Days in Mariupol' filmmakers Mstyslav Chernov and Raney Aronson: 'This is a symbolic story'.

'20 Days in Mariupol' filmmakers Mstyslav Chernov and Raney Aronson: 'This is a symbolic story.' The director and producer are nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 96th Academy Awards. Gold Derby editor Denton Davidson hosts this webchat.

In addition to winning the DGA Award, which Denton Davidson mentioned, 20 Days in Mariupol won 24 other awards, including two Critics Choice Documentary Awards, two Cinema Eye Honors Awards, one Online Film Critics Society Award, one Cinema for Peace Award, one of the Top Five Documentaries by the National Board of Review, and a number of film festival and local critics groups awards, including the Audience Award at the Sundance Film festival. Wow!

As for the Oscar and other awards, including today's BAFTA Award for Documentary, which all eighteen Gold Derby experts and eleven Gold Derby editors have predicted will go to 20 Days in Mariupol, bringing more visibility to the film, I believe they will, but the film has plenty of viewers already, with the upload of the entire documentary already having 1,582,039 views on Frontline's YouTube channel. Again, wow!

I'll get to the rest of the nominees later, especially after Gold Derby and Factual America upload more interviews with their creators. Until then, follow over the jump for the trailer for The ABCs of Book Banning, a report from MSNBC, and an interview of its director.


I begin part two of this post with the teaser for ABC's of Book Banning from MTV Documentary Films.



I have learned to take MTV Documentary Films seriously at awards shows since 76 Days in 2020. As I wrote when I discussed its Emmy nomination, "I can tell anyone who thinks MTV is incapable of producing serious content that they don't know what they are talking about." The editors and experts at Gold Derby have as well, with eight of twelve editors and 13 of 21 experts making it their first choice. Two editors and five experts ranked The Last Repair Shop first, while two editors and three experts picked Nai Nai and Wài Pó. The slight disparity between the editors and experts reminds me once again that electorates matter.

The teaser trailer shows very little of the already short documentary and does not describe the film at all. MSNBC included a significant selection of clips in 'The ABCs of Book Banning' underscores school children being affected by book banning efforts along with a comprehensive video description and striking preview image.

Even Hollywood is paying attention to book banning efforts. A new Academy Award-nominated documentary short film, “The ABCs of Book Banning,” masterfully pays tribute to the important books that have faced calls for ban across the nation. The documentary makes clear just how important those books are to readers, just how absurd the nature of book bans are, and why access to those titles is so crucial. Perhaps most importantly, “The ABCs of Book Banning” emotionally underscores exactly who's most affected by the book bans: school children. There's another voice featured prominently in “The ABCs of Book Banning” — one that members of the 'Velshi Banned Book Club' might recognize: Grace Linn. “I don’t call about the ‘Moms for Liberty’,” says Linn, “I call myself a mother of liberty.” We first learned about the 101-year-old when she gave a salient warning at a Martin County School Board meeting in Florida with a hand-made quilt featuring the covers of popular banned books. Grace Linn knows what these children don't yet understand — that limiting access to literature doesn't just cheat them of knowledge, squash their creativity, and stifle their growth. It threatens the future of their country — our country.

Listening to the description of Moms For Liberty reminds me of George Carlin's saying "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups." No kidding.

Grace Linn regretted that one of the film makers couldn't be there. Gold Derby was able to interview one of the creators, Trish Adlesic ('The ABCs of Book Banning'): Documentary reveals 'underbelly of suppression and hate', which I'm sharing to make up for her absence on MSNBC.

Trish Adlesic ('The ABCs of Book Banning'): Oscar-nominated doc reveals 'the underbelly of suppression and hate.' The film is nominated for Best Documentary Short at the 96th Academy Awards. Gold Derby's Tony Ruiz hosts this webchat.

I agree that it's racism, homophobia, and probably some sexism behind this campaign. Hollywood likes those even less than me, which is why I agree with Gold Derby that The ABCs of Book Banning is the early favorite to win this award.

As I wrote above, I'll return to the Oscars in future posts, including ones on the other documentary nominees. Stay tuned.