October 28, 2020 1:35 pm
Providing the first clear picture of the documentary Oscar race, the 2021 International Documentary Association Awards announced its shortlist for the Best Feature category. Unapologetic, the debut feature for director Ashley O'Shay and producer Morgan Elise Johnson, is joined by over 20 feature documentaries as potential contenders. In a strong year for documentary film, and more premieres to come at DOC NYC, a number of non-fiction awards groups participation in the curation of the list of eventual Oscasr contenders.
Honorees will be announced on Tuesday, November 10. Nominees will be announced on Tuesday, November 24, along with the other awards recipients. IDA members will be invited to watch each of the feature and shorts nominees and then vote to decide the winners. The 2020 Awards will be presented at a virtual ceremony in January 2021. The IDA will select up to 10 nominees from the feature and short shortlists (listed below). Starting December 7, 2020, IDA members will have access to check out nominated films in order to vote for Best Feature and Best Short.
The timely Unapologetic is a story ripe for the country's current reckoning with racial injustice. After two Black Chicagoans are killed, millennial organizers challenge an administration complicit in state violence against its residents. Told through the lens of Janaé and Bella, two fierce abolitionist leaders, Unapologetic is a deep look into the Movement for Black Lives, from the police murder of Rekia Boyd to the election of Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Unapologetic is currently on the festival circuit, grab tickets (below) for your chance to see the film.
St. Louis International Film Festival: November 5th - November 22nd
Black Harvest Film Festival (Chicago Premiere): November 7th - November 20th
New Orleans Film Festival: November 7th - November 22nd
DOC NYC: November 11th - November 19th
Cucalorus Film Festival: November 11th - November 25th
IDA Screening Series: November 13th
DocYard Boston: November 13th - November 19th