Netflix disrupted the TV industry this year and made history at the Emmy Awards for its original programming. Now, the streaming service is lining up content and making bold statements to enter the Academy Awards race for those coveted Oscar statuettes.
Netflix has acquired two documentary films that have found critical success on the film festival circuit. The company revealed Tuesday that The Short Game, which follows eight 7-year-old golfers on their journeys toward the World Championships of Junior Golf, would start streaming Dec. 12, becoming Netflix's first original documentary.
See also: 'Orange Is the New Black' Is Netflix's Most-Watched Original Series

Meanwhile, Netflix reportedly also acquired The Square, a documentary about the Egyptian revolution from the perspective of activists, the L.A. Times reported Monday.

Both original documentaries have had limited theatrical releases and would both be eligible for Oscar nominations. The 86th Academy Awards will air March 2, 2014.
The acquisitions come just days after Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos said theater owners were hindering innovation in the industry. Sarandos went so far as to say he'd like to see "big" films stream on Netflix on the same day they are released in theaters.
"As a filmmaker, you hope your work will reach as many people as possible and that's what's so exciting about partnering with Netflix, who are presenting some of the most original and cutting edge programming on the planet right now," The Short Game director Josh Greenbaum said in a statement. "The idea of people all across the world being able to watch the film is a dream come true."
If one of these Netflix original documentaries earns Oscar nominations, it would be the second year an online entity has made a major splash at the Academy Awards, Last year, a Kickstarter-funded film, Inocente, won the award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). In total, six Kickstarter-backed films have been nominated.
In September, Netflix's original political thriller House of Cards became the first web-only show to win an award at any Primetime Emmys after winning Outstanding Directing for a Drama. Netflix was in the running in 14 Emmy categories for House of Cards, Arrested Development and supernatural thriller Hemlock Grove.
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BONUS: 10 Fun Facts About Oscar Statuettes
Want to impress your friends on Oscar Sunday? Absorb the fun facts revealed in this gallery and unleash the tidbits at your Academy Awards' viewing party.
Each Oscar statuette stands on a film reel, which has five spokes representing the original branches of the Academy: actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers.
The statuette is a knight grasping a crusader's sword. This year, the Academy is trying to start a meme called "#Oscaring," in which people pose like the Oscar.
No. The Academy has awarded nearly 3,000 Oscar statuettes since 1929, but they all have different number emblazoned on them. This one -- marked 3,111 -- will be handed out at a future ceremony.
Original Academy member Cedric Gibbons designed the statuette. He had director, screenwriter and actor Emilio Fernandez pose nude to inspire the Oscar design. Artist George Stanley sculpted Oscar.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave out the first statuette in 1929. Back then, it was only referred to as the Academy Award of Merit. Now, it primarily goes by its nickname: Oscar. The Academy officially adopted the nickname in 1939.
R. S. Owens and Company manufatures the statuettes in Chicago. The Academy says it takes three to four weeks to create 50 Oscars.
Original statuettes were gold-plated solid bronze, but now gold-plated britannia metal has replaced the bronze.
The base size changed several times from 1929 to 1945. The base size has remained unchanged since 1945.
The Academy handed the first statuette in 1929 to Emil Jannings, who won Best Actor for The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh.
The 13-and-half-inch Oscar is heavier than it appears, weighing 8.5 pounds.
Image: Mashable, Nina Frazier