We mined the Academy’s shortlist of the 15 best Documentary Films of 2012 to bring you this special program of the year’s finest nonfiction filmmaking. From titles you recognize to new discoveries, there’s certain to be something for everyone—doc enthusiasts or not—on the Strand’s Short List.

Detroit's story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century— the Great Migration of African Americans escaping Jim Crow; the rise of manufacturing and the middle class; the love affair with automobiles; the flowering of the American dream; and now . . . the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos. With its vivid, painterly palette and haunting score, DETROPIA sculpts a dreamlike collage of a grand city teetering on the brink of dissolution. These soulful pragmatists and stalwart philosophers strive to make ends meet and make sense of it all, refusing to abandon hope or resistance. Their grit and pluck embody the spirit of the Motor City as it struggles to survive postindustrial America and begins to envision a radically different future.

Directors: Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady