The race for the Best Documentary Oscar just got a bit more official as the shortlist of nominees was released.  The lucky (and well made) docs are:

“At the Death House Door“
“The Betrayal“ (Nerakhoon)
“Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh“
“Encounters at the End of the World“
“Fuel“
“The Garden“
“Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts“
“I.O.U.S.A.“
“In a Dream“
“Made in America“
“Man on Wire“
“Pray the Devil Back to Hell“
“Standard Operating Procedure“
“They Killed Sister Dorothy“
“Trouble the Water“

My personal favorites of the bunch (I’ve admittedly only seen 4) are Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the World and Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure.

Click on any of the titles above to learn more about the films and be sure to takepart with TakePart’s social action for Standard Operating Procedure because not only is it an awesome doc, it also encourages you to get involved and make the world a better place!