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The Oscar Documentary Feature Submissions of Film Year 2020 I've Seen, Ranked [Shortlist Completed]

An amazing record of 238 feature-length documentaries made it to the 2020 Oscar long-list. [See here: bit.ly/3atLXNx.]

This is my ongoing personal record, and ranking, of those I've seen.

As of the last update, I have seen all fifteen shortlisted titles.

My Other Documentary Features Lists: [ 2024 ] [ 2023 ] [ 2022 ] [ 2021 ] [ 2020 ]

Read notes

There are 158 films in this list released in the 2020s.

  • Elementa

    168

  • The Curve

    162

  • First Vote

    174

  • Descent

    165

  • A Pandemic: Away from the Motherland

    208

  • The American Sector

    129

  • Irmi

    183

  • Pray: The Story of Patrick Peyton

    210

  • Stray

    71

  • The Earth Is Blue as an Orange

    167

  • Napoli Eden

    202

  • Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles

    205

  • Through the Night

    226

  • Reunited

    213

  • Dope Is Death

    121

  • Days of Cannibalism

    163

  • Bulletproof

    157

  • The Power of Movement

    209

  • Self Portrait

    219

  • Time

    34

  • Lost in Face

    195

  • The Reason I Jump

    10

  • Dear Santa

    39

  • Belly of the Beast

    101

  • La Madrina: The Savage Life of Lorine Padilla

    187

  • River Tales

    216

  • Some Kind of Heaven

    29

  • With Drawn Arms

    82

  • David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet

    90

  • #UNFIT: The Psychology of Donald Trump

    112

  • The Truffle Hunters

    56

  • We Don't Deserve Dogs

    127

  • The Letter

    190

  • Narcissus Off Duty

    203

  • My Octopus Teacher

    17

  • Kiss the Ground

    75

  • Miss Americana

    144

  • America's Forgotten

    147

  • The Art of Living in Danger

    154

  • The Big Scary “S” Word

    155

  • In My Skin

    180

  • Coded Bias

    14

  • The Last Blockbuster

    50

  • Acasă, My Home

    53

  • Women in Blue

    65

  • The Right Girls

    214

  • Sky Blossom

    220

  • Beautiful Something Left Behind

    64

  • Down a Dark Stairwell

    80

  • Libelu: Down With The Dictatorship

    191

  • Rebuilding Paradise

    93

  • The Walrus and the Whistleblower

    111

  • Find Your Groove

    141

  • 9/11 Kids

    150

  • Irradiated

    184

  • The Art of Political Murder

    27

  • Childhood 2.0

    31

  • 9to5: The Story of a Movement

    35

  • Dick Johnson Is Dead

    57

  • My Darling Vivian

    98

  • Becoming

    120

  • Escape from Extinction

    138

  • Mayor

    6

  • Giving Voice

    26

  • The Mole Agent

    89

  • Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission

    102

  • You Cannot Kill David Arquette

    140

  • The Plot Against the President

    149

  • Downstream to Kinshasa

    166

  • Freak Power: The Ballot or the Bomb

    176

  • Influence

    182

  • Songs of Repression

    222

  • American Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itself

    68

  • Aggie

    152

  • Colombia in My Arms

    160

  • Nasrin

    204

  • (In)Visible Portraits

    125

  • My People: The Jews of Greece

    201

  • Softie

    221

  • Gunda

    2

  • 76 Days

    13

  • Landfall

    36

  • Fandango at the Wall

    70

  • Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something

    128

  • Lift Like a Girl

    193

  • Feels Good Man

    42

  • White Noise

    67

  • The Donut King

    117

  • The Social Dilemma

    123

  • Black Boys

    66

  • On the Record

    77

  • A Most Beautiful Thing

    130

  • Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President

    41

  • Transhood

    54

  • Once Upon a Time in Venezuela

    87

  • Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado

    118

  • Lennox Lewis: The Untold Story

    135

  • Public Trust

    211

  • Stars and Strife

    12

  • I Am Greta

    45