Historically, it’s been easy to guess the winner in this category as “whichever one is based on the most horrifying global tragedy.” These nominees offer more of a challenge, and intriguing diversity of topics and approaches. The shorter B program features two films that both address people trying to help fellow humans at risk: Elaine McMillion Sheldon’s urgent Heroin(e), about three women—a fire chief, a drug court judge and a street missionary—addressing heroin abuse in Huntington, W.V.; and Thomas Lennon’s feel-good Knife Skills, focusing on a Cleveland restaurant that also provides post-incarceration training for ex-convicts. The “A” program ranges from Frank Stiefel’s intriguing portrait of artist Mindy Alper’s struggles with severe mental illness in Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405, to the likely favorite in Laura Checkoway’s Edith + Eddie, about a nonagenarian couple fighting to decide their own fate. And then there’s Kate Davis’s Traffic Stop, a deeply frustrating portrait of a Texas woman’s experience with possible police brutality. Let’s just say if that turns out to be the winner, it will be more about the topic than the execution. By Scott Renshaw