Variety's Award Central brings news on the 15 documentary films that have been "shortlisted" for Academy Award consideration. (And there are 2 seriously egregious omissions, if you're asking me.)

In addition to this year's doco favorite, "March of the Penguins," "After Innocence," "The Boys of Baraka," "Darwin's Nightmare," "The Devil and Daniel Johnston," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," "Favela Rising," "Mad Hot Ballroom," "Murderball," "Occupation: Dreamland," "On Native Soil: The Documentary of the 9/11 Commission Report," "Rize," "Street Fight," "39 Pounds of Love" and "Unknown White Male" round out the semifinalists.

Announcement caps a lucrative year for nonfiction films, with Warner Independent Pictures' "Penguins" waddling its way to $76 million domestically, making it the second-highest-grossing doc after last year's "Fahrenheit 9/11." Paramount Classics' "Ballroom" grossed more than $8 million, while "Murderball," "Enron" and "Rize" all have passed the $1 million mark.

Absent from the semifinalists' circle are Werner Herzog's acclaimed "Grizzly Man" and comedy docu "The Aristocrats," which have grossed more than $3 million and $7 million, respectively.