The Power of Documentaries…
on the Oscar Trail … is the headline of an interesting article in New York Times by Cara Buckley, January 6. It mentions the changed rules for documentaries and reflects a bit on the who could be the winner this year, where15 films are shortlisted waiting for the 5 nominees to be announced on January 14. A quote that outlines what could happen:
”… the Academy is known to favor show business movies and, lo, two of the last three winners of the documentary prize, along with one of this year’s front-runners, “Amy,” the story of Amy Winehouse, are about just that. In 2013, when the nominated documentaries delved into subjects like AIDS and conflict in the Middle East, the prize went to “Searching for Sugar Man,” about a tremendously gifted, woefully obscure musician from Detroit. For the 2014 awards, when the nominees included Oppenheimer’s artful, devastating “The Act of Killing,” about death squads in Indonesia, along with films about the Egyptian uprising and deadly covert American military operations, the Oscar went to “20 Feet From Stardom,” about backup singers who were largely forgotten despite having been instrumental (as it were) in making hits.
“The knock against the system is people think it favors films that are more about show business,” Mr. Powers (director of New York Film Festival) said. “Well, of course it does. The Association of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is an organization of show business people. Why shouldn’t it?”…”
Two other show business films are on the list of 15 are ”Listen to Me, Marlon” and ”What happened to Miss Simone”, as ”Amy” good films – anyway, allow me to cross fingers for ”The Look of Silence” by Joshua Oppenheimer, produced by Danish company Final Cut for Real. This film (and ”The Act of Killing”) has, in terms of subject and innovative storytelling, already found a place in new documentary history. But first the nomination to come next week.
