Eight Short Docs Selected for Oscar Shortlist; Many Previous Nominees

Eight documentary short films have been selected for the 2013 Oscars shortlist, of which three to five will earn nominations. Full list below.

The doc subjects range from a portrait of an anti-Islamic preacher (“The Education of Mohammed Hussein”) to a Florida retirement community (“Kings Point”); from a Long Island hair salon that sets aside one day a month to serve women with cancer (“Mondays at Racine”) to Rwandan children in need of heart transplants (“Open Heart”).

Filmmakers with past Oscar nominations or wins make up a good percentage of this year’s shortlist, including “Detropia” filmmakers Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (nominated for “Jesus Camp”), Sean Fine (for “War/Dance”) and Sari Gilman (for “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib”). Cynthia Wade won the Oscar in 2007 for “Freeheld.”

“The Education of Mohammad Hussein,” (dirs. Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady; produced by Loki Films; USA)
“Inocente,” (dirs. Sean Fine, Andrea Nix; produced by Shine Global, Inc.; USA)
“Kings Point,” (dir. Sari Gilman; produced by Kings Point Documentary, Inc.; USA)
“Mondays at Racine,” (dir. Cynthia Wade; produced by Cynthia Wade Productions; USA)
“Open Heart,” (dir. Kief Davidson; produced by Urban Landscapes Inc.; USA)
“ParaÍso,” (dir. Nadav Kurtz; produced by The Strangebird Company; USA)
“The Perfect Fit,” (dir. Tali Yankelevich; produced by SDI Productions Ltd.; USA)
“Redemption,” (dirs. Jon Alpert, Matthew O’Neill; produced by Downtown Docs; USA)