This year’s crop of Oscar-nominated documentaries includes narratives both well-known and new, from the story behind **Edward Snowden’**s NSA revelations to that of a troubled national park in the Congo. Here, a guide to the documentary films vying for an Academy Award this year.
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Photo: Courtesy of © Grain Media
Virunga
Executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, this documentary takes its name from the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of few places where endangered mountain gorillas can still be found. Virunga is unfortunately also home to a wealth of resources (read: oil), which makes it incredibly contested ground and vulnerable to corporations, armed militias, and poachers. **Orlando von Einsiedel’**s film captures the battle to save Virunga and follows the remarkable few who regularly risk their lives to preserve the park and its animal inhabitants.
Available on Netflix
