Geeta Gandbhir Earns Two Oscar Nods, ‘The Perfect Neighbor’ Among Top Docs

Filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir has achieved a remarkable feat, securing two Academy Award nominations this morning: one for directing the documentary feature The Perfect Neighbor and another for co-directing the documentary short The Devil Is Busy with Christalyn Hampton. This dual recognition marks Gandbhir’s first-ever Oscar nominations, drawing significant attention to her work, particularly The Perfect Neighbor, which delves into a shocking 2023 crime in Ocala, Florida, and is now contending for Best Documentary Feature.

The Perfect Neighbor, a Netflix production, offers a harrowing examination of the killing of Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old Black mother of four, who was tragically shot to death by her 58-year-old white neighbor, Susan Lorincz. Gandbhir’s directorial approach is distinctive, telling the story almost entirely through the visceral immediacy of police body camera and dash camera footage, providing an unfiltered perspective on the events and their aftermath. This cinematic choice immerses viewers directly into the unfolding tragedy, highlighting the racial tensions and community impact of the incident.

Diverse Narratives in Best Documentary Feature

The competition for Best Documentary Feature is robust, featuring a diverse array of films tackling critical social and political issues. Alongside The Perfect Neighbor, four other compelling documentaries have earned nominations, each offering a unique lens on contemporary challenges and human experiences.

Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman’s The Alabama Solution, from HBO, investigates the deeply troubling conditions within Alabama’s state prisons. The film utilizes secretly recorded videos by inmates, offering an unvarnished look at the systemic issues plaguing the correctional system. Jarecki, already known for his Emmy-winning series The Jinx and a previous Oscar nomination for Capturing the Friedmans, returns to the Academy’s spotlight, while this marks Kaufman’s first nomination.

Ryan White earned his inaugural Oscar nomination for Come See Me in the Good Light, an Apple TV production. This film beautifully chronicles the love story of poets Andrea Gibson and Meg Falley, exploring how the couple confronted Gibson’s terminal cancer diagnosis with remarkable grace, bravery, and humor. White, along with producers Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, and Stef Willen, received nominations for their poignant storytelling.

Iranian-born filmmaking couple Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, now based in New York, secured their first Oscar nominations for Cutting Through Rocks. This film, which remarkably earned a nomination despite lacking U.S. distribution, previously won the Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. It centers on the extraordinary Sara Shahverdi, the first woman in her village in Iran to win a seat on the local council—a truly stunning achievement in a deeply patriarchal society, reflecting themes of resilience and social change.

Rounding out the category is Mr. Nobody Against Putin, directed by David Borenstein and co-directed by Pavel Talankin. Recently acquired by Kino Lorber, the film documents Talankin’s courageous experience as a popular events coordinator and videographer at a grade school in the remote Russian town of Karabash. Talankin risked everything to defy a propagandistic curriculum imposed by the Kremlin on schoolchildren nationwide following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This film brings first Oscar nominations to both Borenstein and Talankin, who also serves as the protagonist.

Notable Snubs and Short Film Recognition

While the nominations celebrated new voices and compelling stories, the Academy’s documentary branch also overlooked some prominent filmmakers. Past Academy Award winner Laura Poitras, known for Citizenfour, did not receive a nomination for Cover-Up, co-directed with Mark Obenhaus, despite it making the Oscar shortlist. Similarly, Mstyslav Chernov, who won Best Documentary Feature two years prior for his Ukraine war documentary 20 Days in Mariupol, was not rewarded with a nomination for his follow-up, 2000 Meters to Andriivka, also themed around the conflict in Ukraine.

In the Best Documentary Short category, HBO garnered nominations for The Devil Is Busy (co-directed by Gandbhir) and Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud. Netflix also secured a nomination in this category for All the Empty Rooms, directed by Joshua Seftel. Other nominees include Children No More: Were and Are Gone, directed by Hilla Medalia, and Perfectly a strangeness, a Canadian film directed by Alison McAlpine, notable for starring three donkeys.

Documentary Influence on Original Song

Interestingly, the influence of nonfiction extended beyond the documentary categories, with two of the five Best Original Song nominees originating from documentary features. ‘Dear Me,’ written by Diane Warren for the documentary about her life, Diane Warren: Relentless, earned the composer her 17th career nomination. Warren, despite an honorary Oscar, has yet to win a competitive award. Additionally, ‘Sweet Dreams of Joy,’ with music and lyrics by Nicholas Pike, achieved the rare feat of earning an Oscar nomination for Original Song, stemming from the documentary feature Viva Verdi!

The 98th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on March 15, airing live on ABC and Hulu. The diverse slate of nominated documentaries underscores the genre’s enduring power to illuminate complex societal issues, celebrate human spirit, and hold power to account, reflecting a global conscience through compelling visual narratives. From intimate personal struggles to broad geopolitical conflicts and shocking local crimes, this year’s selections demonstrate the breadth and critical importance of documentary filmmaking in capturing the contemporary human condition.