“The helmers of ‘Chasing Coral,’ ‘Cries from Syria,’ ‘The Final Year,’ ‘Icarus,’ ‘Jane,’ ‘Kedi,’ ‘Let It Fall,’ ‘Risk,’ ‘Step’ and ‘Strong Island’ spoke on THR’s fourth annual ‘Docs to Watch’ panel.
This year, a record 170 documentary features have been deemed eligible for the best documentary feature prize that will be presented at the 90th Oscars on March 4. Before a winner is crowned, though, the Academy’s documentary branch must first pick a shortlist of 15 films from which five nominees will be chosen (nominations in all categories will be revealed on Jan. 23). Since few doc branch members have the time to see all of the eligible titles, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, for the past four years, has offered a little bit of help by highlighting 10 standouts as part of its “Docs to Watch” sidebar — and then inviting each film’s director(s) to participate in a panel that I have the privilege of moderating.”