In case you're developing your own list of must-see documentaries of 2009, you'll want to include the fifteen films short listed by the the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be considered for the 2010 Best Documentary Oscar.

Voting members of the Academy's Documentaries Branch will now pick fine final nominees from the short list. The nominees will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The Academy Awards ceremony at which the winner will be announced will take place on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. It will be televised life in the US on ABC.

The Academy's short list includes films from my list of top documentaries from 2009, including The Cove and Food, Inc.. How does it compare with your choice of favorites?

In Defamation, Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir poses the question: "What is anti-Semitism today? To find the answer, Shamir travels around the globe questioning a cross section of the world's citizens about their behavior and attitudes towards Jews and Judaisim.

Casting himself as a player in the film -- as a sort of no nonsense, somewhat naive and very open minded reporter whose aim is to stumble upon (rather than provocatively pursue) the truth about his subject, he investigates an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) case of gang violence against Jews in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, interviews ADL critic Norman Finkelstein, accompanies Israeli school children on a field trip to Auschwitz and chats with the wide range of people he meets randomly on his fact finding mission.

Shamir's breezy personality, casual manner and deft approach in Defamation (or Hashmatsa in Hebrew) works brilliantly. It encourages people to speak quite candidly, and their comments are shocking -- horrendous, really, but sometimes quite surprisingly funny, as well. The conversation gets intensely serious, though, on the subjects of Israel, Middle Eastern politics and the influence of American foreign policy and interests.

The film and Shamir's approach are reminiscent of Bill Maher's take on religious doctrine and practice in Religulous, which undermines the efficacy of dogma by showing it to be ridiculous.

Distributed by First Run Features, Defamation opens theaters in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on November 20. with future screening dates set for Boston, Fresno and Cleveland. The film has been nominated for Best Documentary in the 2009 European Film Awards. Meanwhile, you can watch the trailer. As you'll see, Defamation is an education!

(PHOTO: Yoav Shamir in 'Defamation.' Courtesy First Run Features.)

As Thanksgiving approaches, we'd be wise to reflect on how lucky we are to have evolved on this extremely rich and fertile planet that we call home. Earth, Gaia or Mother Nature may not always be kind, but she has been abundant. We've enjoyed an absolutely gorgeous environment replete with essentials that have sustained humankind for eons and countless generations, allowed us to develop sophisticated cultures and explore the universe beyond our own borders.

With that notion of natural abundance in mind, it's devastating to note that we've arrived at the moment in our evolution at which we must seriously consider whether or not we'll be able to meet our essential needs -- down to the very basics like fresh water -- in the future.

It's also peculiar and, frankly, startling to realize that the locales that have actually supplied humankind with many of the resources to which we attribute greatest value -- things like precious metals and essential ores, rare gemstones and much of the petroleum, coal other energy commodities that fuel our bustling lives -- are among the most poverty-stricken spots on our abundant planet.

For example, how does a country that mines most of the world's gold wind up with one of the world's poorest per capita populations? Or a region that abounds in diamonds have citizens who live in makeshift shanties? Or a nation with a wealth of oil not have the resources to provide fresh water for its people? Or a fertile 'bread basket' valley have starving residents?

While we Americans prepare to give thanks for our bounty, we might also take time to reflect on those who have been denied access to the natural riches that surround them -- and figure out if, how and why our two sets of circumstances are connected.

The End of Poverty? is a new documentary that will help us to do just that. In the film, director Philippe Diaz presents a fascinating history lesson showing that the world's wealth disparity began with the Europeans' military conquest of other continents, enslavement of indigenous people and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and other resources, and forced labor, and that it continues today due to the existence and enforcement of unfair debt, trade and tax policies. With Martin Sheen as narrator, and Nobel Prize-winners Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz, plus authors John Perkins, Eric Toussaint, Susan George, impoverished mine worker, mothers with starving and dehydrated infants and others as expert witnesses, and the timely sprinkling of shocking statistics, the film makes a compelling argument that our present economic system is the equivalent of human doom.

The End of Poverty opens in theaters New York on Friday, November 13 -- yes, Friday the 13th -- a good day, just coincidentally, to contemplate luck and thanksgiving, and the upcoming holiday season and what it means, and the adjustments that we can and must make to avoid man made human doom. The film also opens in theaters in Los Angeles on November 25, and other cities thereafter. But if you're not where The End of Poverty? is screening and want to see this excellent documentary, you might be able to arrange a screening in your town, or wait for the December release of the DVD. Meanwhile, you can watch the trailer.

Cinema certainly frames the way we look at life, understand our own humanity and foresee our future. Whether we like it or not, America is a country at war, and stories of our nation's battles are frequently acted out on screen.

Many recent feature films and documentaries about soldiers tell us about acts of heroism, but they also inform us that deployment to war zones and combat conditions traumatize our troops in extreme and sometimes hidden ways that we're just beginning to understand. The victims of war are not only those warriors who are killed or maimed. Men and women soldiers who return from Iraq and Afghanistan -- or wherever the next perceived threat may occur -- bring home with them the fear, anguish, anger, despair and sense of alienation that they've acquired while in service to their country. We all have kin or friends or friends of friends who've returned home with ongoing nightmares or ennui or terrifying intolerance that impairs social interactions. And, and whether we live with these soldiers or not, share our beds with them or not, work next to them or not, we are each affected by their traumatized post-deployment state of being.

This Veterans Day, after the parades and ceremonies to celebrate those who've served and survived and commemorate those who've fallen have passed, take time to reflect on what we, as a nation, can do to alleviate the woes of war -- whether you believe America's military missions to be necessary, warranted and righteous or you consider them transgressions against humanity, civilization and our higher power.

The Way We Get By, premiering on PBS' POV for Veterans Day on November 11, can lead the way to positive action. Directed by Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly, the documentary takes you to Bangor, Maine, the point of departure and return for most of America's troop deployments. The film follows a group of senior citizens who gather daily at a small airport to greet American troops, thanking those departing and returning from Iraq for their service.

The film's three central characters -- Joan, Jerry and Bill -- set aside their own battles with aging, failing health, financial debt, and personal depression to show unconditional support for the soldiers by waving flags, shaking hands, sharing embraces and saying thank you to each and every man and woman who passes them. The soldiers are clearly moved -- many with huge smiles, others with tears -- by the greeters' actions, and you will be, too. The troop greeters are unsung heroes, and observing their generous behavior in The Way We Get By is a very good way to frame our experience of Veterans Day. Visit the POV Website for more details sbout the film, scheduling and geting involved. And, watch the trailer.

(PHOTO: Troop greeters, Joan, Jerry and Bill, in 'The Way We Get By.' Courtesy International Film Circuit).