2020 Oscar Predictions
Updated January 14th, 2021
1. Dick Johnson Is Dead
With this inventive portrait, director Kirsten Johnson seeks a way to keep her 86-year-old father alive forever. Utilizing moviemaking magic and her family’s dark humor, she celebrates Dr. Dick Johnson’s last years by staging fantasies of death and beyond. Together, dad and daughter confront the great inevitability awaiting us all.
2. All In: The Fight for Democracy
The documentary takes a look at the history, and current activism against voter suppression; barriers to voting that most people don't even know is a threat to their basic rights as citizens of the United States.
3. John Lewis: Good Trouble
The timely biopic focuses on John Lewis’ longstanding prominence as a civil rights champion and his continuing crusade for racial and social equality. The documentary illuminates the 80-year-old Congressman’s life as it chronicles the moments on the extraordinary journey that have shaped his place in history and make him such a galvanizing figure today as protests circle the globe. Lewis’ schedule has increased ten-fold as he has become the go-to figure for TV news shows, podcasts and newspapers and magazines from the Washington Post to Vanity Fair, commenting on and leading the way forward through today’s worldwide protests and demonstrations.
4. Boys State
In an unusual experiment, a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
5. Time
Fox Rich fights for the release of her husband, Rob, who is serving a 60-year sentence in prison.
NEXT IN LINE:
6. Crip Camp
Down the road from Woodstock in the early 1970s, a revolution blossomed in a ramshackle summer camp for disabled teenagers, transforming their young lives and igniting a landmark movement.
7. Totally Under Control
An in-depth look at how the United States government handled the response to the COVID-19 outbreak during the early months of the pandemic.
8. The Way I See It
Former Chief Official White House Photographer Pete Souza's journey as a person with top secret clearance and total access to the President.
9. Collective
Director Alexander Nanau follows a crack team of investigators at the Romanian newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor as they try to uncover a vast health-care fraud that enriched moguls and politicians and led to the deaths of innocent citizens.
10. MLK/FBI
Based on newly declassified files, Sam Pollard's resonant film explores the US government's surveillance and harassment of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Also Considered:
11. Miss Americana
A raw and emotionally revealing look at one of the most iconic artists of our time during a transformational period in her life as she learns to embrace her role not only as a songwriter and performer, but as a woman harnessing the full power of her voice.
12. I Am Greta
Documentary follows teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg on her international crusade to get people to listen to scientists about the world's environmental problems.
13. The Dissident
When Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappears in Istanbul, his fiancée and dissidents around the world piece together the clues to a murder and expose a global cover up.
14. Gunda
Documentary looks at the daily life of a pig and its farm animal companions: two cows and a one-legged chicken.
15. On the Record
The haunting story of music executive Drew Dixon as she grapples with her decision to become one of the first women of color, in the wake of #MeToo, to come forward and publicly accuse hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons of sexual misconduct. A gripping and profound examination of race, gender, intersectionality, and the toll sexual abuse takes on survivors and on society at large.
16. Assassins
An account of the two women convicted of assassinating Kim Jong-un's half-brother, Kim Jong-nam. The film follows the women's trials in an attempt to understand whether they are trained killers or simply pawns.
17. Becoming
Join former first lady Michelle Obama in an intimate documentary looking at her life, hopes and connection with others.
18. Pray Away
A powerful exposé on gay conversion programs, revealing the damage inflicted by shame and repression through intimate testimonies from current members and former leaders of the pray the gay away movement.
19. Oliver Sacks: His Own Life
The life and career of the renowned neurologist and author, Dr. Oliver Sacks.
20. A Thousand Cuts
A look at how Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte uses social media to spread disinformation.