15 documentaries eligible for Oscar nods

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced 15 documentaries will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards.

Eighty-nine pictures had originally qualified in the documentary category.

The Documentary Branch Screening Committee will now select five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations are to be announced Feb. 2 in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles.

Oscars for outstanding film achievements of 2009 are to be presented March 7 at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live by the ABC Television Network.

The films eligible for Oscar nomination in the best documentary category are "The Beaches of Agnes," "Burma VJ," "The Cove," "Every Little Step," "Facing Ali," "Food, Inc.," "Garbage Dreams," "Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders," "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers," "Mugabe and the White African," "Sergio," "Soundtrack for a Revolution," "Under Our Skin," "Valentino the Last Emperor" and "Which Way Home."