Can a doc get nominated?

Gregg Kilday at The Hollywood Reporter wonders whether or not the expanded slate of Best Picture nominees will help one of this year's many acclaimed documentaries do something that hasn't been done in 82 years.  It's pretty darn doubtful, but look closely for "Waiting for Superman" to push for it.

Read an excerpt below and find the full story here.

This year, though, several docs — among them Inside Job, Charles Ferguson’s autopsy of the 2008 financial crisis, and Waiting for Superman, Davis Guggenheim’s failing report card on the nation’s school system — are positioning themselves to make a run at the big prize. Their camps are preparing to send out screeners, arguing that their respective films are worthy best picture contenders.
Good luck. Any doc hoping to score a best picture nom still faces a daunting, uphill battle.
Six years ago, Michael Moore decided to challenge the odds. Having already won a feature doc Oscar for his anti-gun diatribe Bowling for Columbine, he was riding high on the firestorm surrounding Fahrenheit 9/11, his blistering attack on George W. Bush’s post-9/11 march toward the invasion of Iraq.
The movie had won the Palme d’Or, the Festival de Cannes’ highest prize — the first doc to take home that honor in 48 years. It was on its way to grossing $119.2 million domestically, making it the top-grossing documentary of all time.
So Moore decided not to submit in the documentary category — he was eager to air the film on TV in hope of influencing the 2006 election, and the proposed broadcast ran up against doc-category rules. But while Moore claimed, “For me, the real Oscar would be Bush’s defeat on Nov. 2,” he also reminded Academy voters that they still could nominate his movie for best picture.