Tricia Regan's Autism: The Musical (above), and Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine's War/Dance will be screened as part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' "Contemporary Documentaries" series on Wednesday, October 1, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission is free.
Autism: The Musical, directed by Regan and produced by Regan, Perrin Chiles, and Sasha Alpert, chronicles the efforts of one woman, Elaine Hall, who leads a group of autistic children in putting own a full-length musical. Chiles, Alpert, and Hall will take questions from the audience following the screening. Joining the filmmakers are several families featured in the film. (As per the Academy's press release, "in 1980 autism was a relatively rare disorder, diagnosed in one in 10,000 children in the United States. That rate is now one in 150.")
A different story featuring children and art is War/Dance, which has as its backdrop the violent conflict that has been raging in northern Uganda for more than two decades. Despite their bloody surroundings, the documentary's children have qualified to compete in the National Music Competition in Kampala. Produced by Albie Hecht, War/Dance earned a 2007 Oscar nomination for documentary feature.
Part One of the 27th annual Contemporary Documentaries series continues through December 3, showcasing feature-length and short documentaries taken from the list of 2007 Academy Award winners and nominees, as well as other documentaries considered by the Academy that year. Part Two will run from March through June of 2009.
All films, with the exception of those scheduled for December 3, will be screened at the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy's Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. All seating is unreserved.
The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. Free parking is available through the entrance on Homewood Avenue (one block north of Fountain Avenue). For additional information, visit www.oscars.org or call (310) 247-3600.
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