Which 2003 documentary about the Friedman family was nominated for an Academy Award?

The 2003 documentary about the Friedman family nominated for an Academy Award was Capturing the Friedmans.

Directed by Andrew Jarecki, the film examines Arnold Friedman and his son Jesse, who pleaded guilty in the 1980s to child-sex-abuse charges. It uses family home movies, interviews, and archival material to explore the case and the family’s collapse, while leaving viewers to weigh conflicting claims about guilt, coercion, and evidence.

The film began after Jarecki, originally making a short about children’s party entertainers, learned that entertainer David Friedman’s father and brother were involved in a notorious criminal case. Capturing the Friedmans premiered at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary.

A common mix-up is the award year: the film was released in 2003 but competed at the 76th Academy Awards, held in 2004. It was nominated for Best Documentary Feature alongside films including The Fog of War, which won.