For our fourth Rundown article, the truth comes out. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Documentary Feature as well as general commentary about the race. Friday, we’ll cover the category that creates something from nothing.

Best Documentary Feature

Winner Predictions

• Amy (WL O) (PP O) (TB O) (TL O)
• Cartel Land
• The Look of Silence
• What Happened, Miss Simone?
• Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Runner-Up Predictions

• The Look of Silence (WL O) (PP O)(TL O)
• Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom (TB O)

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Wesley Lovell: The dominant feature all season long has been Amy, a look into the troubled life of the late singer Amy Winehouse. Although a few precursors have gone other directions, Amy has the broadest support of any film. With its strength in the guilds adding to its weight, it’s hard to believe anything else can stand victorious, though they will certainly try.
Peter J. Patrick: Both Amy and The Look of Silence have received strong support from critics so either is possible.
Tripp Burton: Since they changed the voting on this award in 2012, music biographies have won two of the three awards, and all the winners have been fairly traditional, watchable documentaries. Amy has been picking up a lot of the industry awards for documentaries, and it plays right in the wheelhouse of what the Academy has picked the last few years. I don’t see it losing here, but if it does, it is because the incredible footage of Winter on Fire stuck with voters the most.
Thomas La Tourrette: This is the one category where I have seen none of the nominees, but Amy has a lock on the win. It has swept the precursor awards, and there is no reason to expect it not to continue here. Two of the last three awards have gone to films about musicians, and that will happen again. The only other film that has had any strong mentions is The Look of Silence, but I can’t imagine it managing to eke out a win here. Amy wins in a walk.

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