Short Film News (SFN)- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shortlists 15 films for Oscars consideration. The 83rd Academy Awards takes place Febrary 27, 2011. The number of documentaries eligible this year is a record 101, making 2010 a banner year for nonfiction film.

The 15 film shortlist was selected by the Academy's Documentary Branch Screening Committee, which viewed all eligible documentaries for the preliminary voting round, Five final five nominees will be selected by the Academy's Documentary Branch members. Final nominees will be announced on January 25, 2011.

The nominees are:

Battle for Brooklyn (RUMER Inc.)
Bill Cunningham New York (First Thought Films)
Buck (Cedar Creek Productions)
Hell and Back Again (Roast Beef Productions Limited)
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (Marshall Curry Productions, LLC)
Jane's Journey (NEOS Film GmbH & Co. KG)
The Loving Story (Augusta Films)
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (@radical.media)
Pina (Neue Road Movies GmbH)
Project Nim (Red Box Films)
Semper Fi: Always Faithful (Tied to the Tracks Films, Inc.)
Sing Your Song (S2BN Belafonte Productions, LLC)
Undefeated (Spitfire Pictures)
Under Fire: Journalists in Combat (JUF Pictures, Inc.)
We Were Here (Weissman Projects, LLC)