Oscar documentaries may come down to the "Wire"

"It is very universal," Kuras said. "I think it has touched on people in a very personal way."

"Trouble the Water" has made waves for its first-hand account of survival from Hurricane Katrina, pieced together by documentary makers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal.

They took Kimberly Roberts' dramatic video camera footage of her and her husband's experience during the storm and put it at the heart of the film that chronicles their evacuation and eventual return to the devastated city of New Orleans.

"The Garden" by Scott Hamilton Kennedy could win a portion of the local Academy votes with its tale of the battle for one of the nation's largest community gardens, created in the wake of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Marsh says he feels uncomfortable with the front-runner status for "Man on Wire," in a field he calls "very good" and reflective of an exciting direction of non-fiction film.

"This might be looked upon as a very good era for documentary making, especially in America," said Marsh.