Five documentaries will be selected as nominees for Best Documentary Feature from this initial short list of 15 (see below). The nominations will be released in early January. The winner will be announced Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the 84th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. The 15 films on the short list were culled from the 126 films that qualified for nomination.
- “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry” – Directed by Alison Klayman
- “Bully” – Directed by Lee Hirsch
- “Chasing Ice” – Directed by Jeff Orlowski
- “Detropia” – Directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady
- “Ethel” – Directed by Rory Kennedy
- “5 Broken Cameras” – Directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
- “The Gatekeepers” – Directed by Dror Moheh
- “The House I Live In” – Directed by Eugene Jarecki
- “How to Survive a Plague” – Directed by David France
- “The Imposter” – Directed by Bart Layton
- “The Invisible War” – Directed by Kirby Dick
- “Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God” – Directed by Alex Gibney
- “Searching for Sugar Man” – Directed by Malik Bendjelloul
- “This Is Not a Film” – Directed by Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
- “The Waiting Room” – Directed by Peter Nicks