The Alliance of Women Film Journalists (of which I am a member) has given it's 2009 EDA Award for Best Documentary to The Cove, Louie Psihoyos' compelling film exposing the slaughter of dolphins in Taijin, Japan.

The Cove is on the short list for consideration for an Oscars nomination, and has been named best documentary by various other awards groups, including the National Board of Review, LA Film Critics (tied with Beaches of Agnes) and New York Film Critics Online.

The other documentaries nominated by the Alliance of Women Film Journalists for its 2009 EDA Awards include The Beaches of Agnes and Food, Inc., both of which are on the Oscars short list, as well.

(PHOTO: Warning signs intended to keep eyes from seeing the sluaghter in 'The Cove.' Courtesy Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions.)

If you're frustrated -- and madder than whatever -- that you can't find viewing venues for most of the fifteen excellent documentaries named to the 2010 Oscars short list, you're not alone. And, all your gripes and complaints are quite legitimate. The plain truth is that if you want to see Rebecca Cammisa's Which Way Home or Judith Erlich's Daniel Ellsberg The Most Dangerous Man in America, or most of the other short listed titles, you'll be hard put to find a place where they're playing. Broadcast dates are sporadic, at best, and there's no home video or DVD currently available or, even, in the works. So, there's just no way for you to experience these films for yourself and be in the know. It's a shame. Or maybe an outrage.

And, can you imagine how the filmmakers feel? Surely honored by the Academy's preliminary nod, they're still at a loss to get their films on screens for waiting audiences.

When the Academy's five actual nominees are eventually announced, perhaps there will be a rush to get them into theaters. So, you'll then have a window of opportunity to see the documentaries that the film industry considers to be the year's finest. Keep your eyes peeled for screenings, and take advantage of them.

Of the fifteen short listed films, several are currently available on DVD. Matt Tyrnauer's Valentino: The Last Emperor was released on DVD (compare prices) on September 8, and Every Little Step kicked its way into the home market on DVD on October 13 (compare prices). Robert Kenner's influential Food, Inc. debuted on DVD (compare prices) on November 3, with enough time to build up a head of steam leading into Thanksgiving, The Cove rode the wave of it's terrific reviews to its DVD (compare prices) release on December 8, and Under Our Skin is getting it's message out through self distributed DVDs.

Not yet on the store shelves, but thankfully on the horizon, are DVDs for Facing Ali on December 29 and The Beaches of Agnes, due on March 2, 2010. And, lots of luck with the others.

Yes, that's right, patience is a virtue -- especially if you crave documentary films. But the issues covered in documentary films are often pressing. So, do speak out. Request screenings at local cineplexes, art houses and universities. The lowdown on seeing Oscars short listed documentaries and other worthy titles is that it won't happen unless you let distributors know that there's a demand for nonfiction films of all genres.

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists has announced the three nominees for its 2009 EDA Award for Best Documentary. They are Anvil! The Story of Anvil, The Cove and Food, Inc., three documentaries that have gained widespread popularity since their releases earlier this year.

The Cove and Food, Inc. are also on the 2010 Oscars short list, and Anvil! The Story of Anvil and Food, Inc. are Independent Spirit Awards nominees.

Additionally, Rebecca Cammisa is nominated for AWFJ's Humanitarian Activism Award for the making of Which Way Home, which is also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and is on the 2010 Oscars short list.

You can also leave your comments on the three films here.

South Africa's Documentary Filmmakers Association and Women of the Sun, working with American University's Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property and Center for Social Media, will present a two-day workshop in Newtown, South Africa, from December 10 to 12, focusing on expanded use of copyright 'users' rights' in documentary filmmaking. Funded by the Ford Foundation and South Africa's Johannesburg-based Gauteng Film Commission, the workshop is part of a larger international project to inform documentary filmmakers around the world about the allowable unlicensed use of copyrighted material in nonfiction filmmaking. As part of the event, Untold Stories in South Africa: The Creative Consequences of the Rights Clearance Culture for Documentary Film, the final report and film from a year-long study of rights clearance and documentary film in South Africa will be launched.

The workshop schedule begins with a public screening of The Order of Myths, with a post-screening discussion director Margaret Brown. The Order of Myths, a documentary about race relations, music and the spirit of celebration at Mobile, Alabama's Mardi Gras, benefited from a previous project in the U.S. to inform filmmakers about users' rights under copyright law. In the U.S., the controversial Orphan Rights Bill is loosens copyright law so that documentary filmmakers -- and other artists -- can make limited use of copyrighted material without being licensed by the copyright holder to do so. Copyright holders -- photographers, graphic artists and writers -- fear that their work will be used for free, thereby eliminating residual income.

The South African workshop will delve into South African copyright law, using the American situation and Margaret Brown's film as references for the discussion about the necessity of documentary filmmakers to use copyrighted material and when and in which circumstances documentary filmmakers can, under South African copyright law, use copyrighted material in their work without licensing the use, and the how such usage impacts and expands freedom of expression.

The discussion is obviously a serious one. What do you think about the unlicensed use of copyrighted material?

(PHOTO: "order of Myths' poster art. Courtesy New Yorker Films).