Oscar 2010: Documentary Feature Semi-Finalists
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 15 semi-finalists in the 2010 Academy Awards’ Documentary Feature category. Eighty-nine films had been in the running.
The 15 documentary feature semi-finalists are:
The Beaches of Agnes, Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris)
Burma VJ, Anders Østergaard, director (Magic Hour Films)
The Cove, Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society)
Every Little Step, James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo, directors (Endgame Entertainment)
Facing Ali, Pete McCormack, director (Network Films Inc.)
Food, Inc., Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films)
Garbage Dreams, Mai Iskander, director (Iskander Films, Inc.)
Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC)
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications)
Mugabe and the White African, Andrew Thompson and Lucy Bailey, directors (Arturi Films Limited)
Sergio, Greg Barker, director (Passion Pictures and Silverbridge Productions)
Soundtrack for a Revolution, Bill Guttentag and Dan Sturman, directors (Freedom Song Productions)
Under Our Skin, Andy Abrahams Wilson, director (Open Eye Pictures)
Valentino The Last Emperor, Matt Tyrnauer, director (Acolyte Films)
Which Way Home, Rebecca Cammisa, director (Mr. Mudd)
Themes range from the Valentino couturier empire (Valentino The Last Emperor) to doctors risking life and limb in the line of fire (Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders); from veteran filmmaker Agnès Varda’s reminiscences (The Beaches of Agnes) to the strong ties between the crap we’re given to eat, the food industry, and the US government (Food, Inc.); from the staging of A Chorus Line (Every Little Step) to the nasty abuse of dolphins (The Cove).
Other subjects include: Lyme disease (Under Our Skin), immigration hardships (Which Way Home), the life and death of UN ambassador to Iraq Sérgio Vieira de Mello (Sergio), the Pentagon papers and the demise of the Richard Nixon administration (The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers), the anti-junta protests staged by Burmese Buddhist monks (Burma VJ), and the garbage trade in Egypt (Garbage Dreams).
Now, I’m really surprised that Yoav Shamir’s Defamation, Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story, and R. J. Cutler’s The September Issue failed to make the cut.
According to the Academy’s press release, the Documentary Branch Screening Committee viewed "all the eligible documentaries for the preliminary round of voting." Documentary Branch members will now pick five nominees out of the 15 titles on the shortlist.
The 2010 Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The 2010 Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. In the US, it’ll be televised live by ABC.
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Tags: 2010 Oscar, Academy Awards, Agnès Varda, Burma VJ, Documentaries, Every Little Step, Film Awards, Food Inc, Garbage Dreams, Mugabe and the White African, Sergio, The Beaches of Agnes, The Cove, Under Our Skin
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Maybe they’re afriad that Michael Moore might win and give another long speech that would be booed by the capitalists in attendance. That would liven things up a bit in that DULL award show.
Although there are quite a few good documentary this year, Every Little Step takes a very realistic view of auditions for Broadway, where all the actor want is “to get the job”, 8 shows a week. Unlike American Idol, where the producers use the contestants and often ridiculed them, and are often very rude to them, for their own TV program which often shows an unrealistic view of the business.