Indie filmmakers more often than not are very good at holding a mirror up to "the establishment" to let them know what they are doing wrong. Though things are changing ever so slightly, documentary filmmakers are the epitome of indie filmmakers and are always going to lead the charge against what is wrong with the way things are going. Therefore it comes as no surprise at all that when the shortlist for the feature length documentary category for the 2007 Academy Awards was announced this week, the list was dominated by films about the war in Iraq. For those of you who don't know, there is a documentary branch of the Academy that screens a number of docs to get to a preliminary list of 15 films that will then be narrowed down to the five nominations.
Of the 15 films on the shortlist, the Iraq centered films includes Patricia Foulkrod's "The Ground Truth," which offers up the testimony of veterans of the war; James Longley's "Iraq in Fragments," in which Iraqis detail their own accounts of life in wartime; Laura Poitras' "My Country, My Country," which focuses on a Sunni doctor as he campaigns in the 2005 election; and Deborah Scranton's "The War Tapes," which accompanies a National Guard unit into action and Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's "Shut Up & Sing," which documents the backlash encountered by the Dixie Chicks after Natalie Maines criticized President Bush's invasion of Iraq.
However, even though Iraq was a dominant theme, doc filmmakers did focus their cameras on some rather fascinating other subjects and some of these films did make the shortlist.
They include:
Frank Popper's "Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?" a film about a teacher who ran for a Missouri Senate seat in 2004
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's incredible "Jesus Camp," a film which explores a camp for preteen evangelicals and the connection to Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court
Amy Berg's "Deliver Us From Evil,"about a Catholic priest who admits to a long history of pedophilia
Lucy Walker's "Blindsight" which follows six blind Tibetan youths as they attempt to scale a Himalayan peak - if you get a chance catch Lucy's fabulous "Devil's Playground" about Amish youths going through Rumspringa on DVD.
Florence Ayisi and Kim Longinotto's "Sisters in Law," which looks at women and justice in Cameroon
Yael Klopmann's "Storm of Emotions," about Israel's disengagement from Gaza
Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg's "The Trials of Darryl Hunt," which explores the case of a man wrongly convicted of rape and murder
Davis Guggenheim's "An Inconvenient Truth" about Al Gore's quest to save us from ourselves with regards to the environment
Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan's "An Unreasonable Man," about consumer activist Ralph Nader.
One of my favorite films that made the list is Stanley Nelson's "Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple,"an incredible exploration into cult leader Jim Jones' ill-fated settlement in Guyana. Partly because Guyana is where my family is from and partly because it is a film that goes into the psychology of cult behavior in a riveting and personal way that I have not yet seen. Marvelous.
Most of these films have or will have theatrical and/or DVD distribution so I strongly encourage you to check them out. Sometimes that mirror is not just for the establishment but for us as well.
Nominations are announced January 23, 2007.
Keeping it indie,
Julie
Of the 15 films on the shortlist, the Iraq centered films includes Patricia Foulkrod's "The Ground Truth," which offers up the testimony of veterans of the war; James Longley's "Iraq in Fragments," in which Iraqis detail their own accounts of life in wartime; Laura Poitras' "My Country, My Country," which focuses on a Sunni doctor as he campaigns in the 2005 election; and Deborah Scranton's "The War Tapes," which accompanies a National Guard unit into action and Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck's "Shut Up & Sing," which documents the backlash encountered by the Dixie Chicks after Natalie Maines criticized President Bush's invasion of Iraq.
However, even though Iraq was a dominant theme, doc filmmakers did focus their cameras on some rather fascinating other subjects and some of these films did make the shortlist.
They include:
Frank Popper's "Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?" a film about a teacher who ran for a Missouri Senate seat in 2004
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's incredible "Jesus Camp," a film which explores a camp for preteen evangelicals and the connection to Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court
Amy Berg's "Deliver Us From Evil,"about a Catholic priest who admits to a long history of pedophilia
Lucy Walker's "Blindsight" which follows six blind Tibetan youths as they attempt to scale a Himalayan peak - if you get a chance catch Lucy's fabulous "Devil's Playground" about Amish youths going through Rumspringa on DVD.
Florence Ayisi and Kim Longinotto's "Sisters in Law," which looks at women and justice in Cameroon
Yael Klopmann's "Storm of Emotions," about Israel's disengagement from Gaza
Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg's "The Trials of Darryl Hunt," which explores the case of a man wrongly convicted of rape and murder
Davis Guggenheim's "An Inconvenient Truth" about Al Gore's quest to save us from ourselves with regards to the environment
Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan's "An Unreasonable Man," about consumer activist Ralph Nader.
One of my favorite films that made the list is Stanley Nelson's "Jonestown: The Life and Death of People's Temple,"an incredible exploration into cult leader Jim Jones' ill-fated settlement in Guyana. Partly because Guyana is where my family is from and partly because it is a film that goes into the psychology of cult behavior in a riveting and personal way that I have not yet seen. Marvelous.
Most of these films have or will have theatrical and/or DVD distribution so I strongly encourage you to check them out. Sometimes that mirror is not just for the establishment but for us as well.
Nominations are announced January 23, 2007.
Keeping it indie,
Julie
posted by indieIN | 4:42 AM
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