'Boys State' documentary on Oscars shortlist

"Boys State," the award-winning documentary which took viewers inside the 2018 Texas Boys State program, is one of 15 films on the shortlist in the Documentary Feature category for the 93rd Academy Awards.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the shortlists for that category and eight others on Feb. 9. Nominations for the five finalists in those categories will be announced March 15; the 93rd Academy Awards will be presented on ABC on April 25.

The 15 films on the Documentary Feature shortlist were pared down from a list of 238 eligible films in that category. Other films on the shortlist are:

• "All In: The Fight For Democracy"

• "Collective"

• "Crip Camp"

• "Dick Johnson Is Dead"

• "Gunda"

• "MLK/FBI"

• "The Mole Agent"

• "My Octopus Teacher"

• "Notturno"

• "The Painter and the Thief"

• "76 Days"

• "Time"

• "The Truffle Hunters"

• "Welcome to Chechnya"

"Boys State," directed and produced by Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, won the Sundance Grand Jury Prize in January 2020. The film is available on Apple TV+.

Moss and one of the film's stars, Steven Garza, were guests on The American Legion's Tango Alpha Lima podcast last September. Garza and fellow Texas Boys State "statesmen" Ben Feinstein and Rene Otero also discussed their experience last year, and staff from Texas Boys State spoke about how the project came about.