Documentaries of Dissent

Press Release:

Beverly Hills, CA — Fast food, oil, politics, press, retail giants, sexual abuse, war and filmmaking will be among the topics of discussion at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Documentaries of Dissent, Part II on Friday, April 7, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Hosted by Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan, the evening will feature film excerpts and discussions with Academy Award®-nominated director Kirby Dick (Twist of Faith), Academy Award-nominated director/producer Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), producer Kathleen Glynn (Bowling for Columbine, the 2002 Oscar® winner for Best Documentary Feature), producer/director Robert Greenwald (Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price), and director Jehane Noujaim (Control Room).

Documentaries questioning the status quo have been an integral part of culture for generations, giving film artists and audiences a means to express their particular, and sometimes contentious, points of view.

Documentaries of Dissent, Part II, a sequel to the Academy's 2004 historical overview, will spotlight some of the filmmakers who exemplify alternative voices in recent documentaries and examine the methods they employed to make their voices heard. Theatrical documentaries have gained a newfound popularity, in many cases because of their willingness to challenge the status quo.

The program is being presented under the banner of the Academy's John Huston Lecture on Documentary Films, which annually provides an opportunity for established documentarians to discuss their work and the field of documentary filmmaking. The lecture is named in honor of the director, screenwriter and actor whose fourteen Academy Award nominations in the three disciplines included wins for directing and writing of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Huston's documentary work during service in World War II produced three portraits, Report from the Aleutians (1943), The Battle of San Pietro (1944), and Let There Be Light (1946).

Tickets to Documentaries of Dissent, Part II are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid I.D. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Free parking is provided in the garages located at 8920 and 9025 Wilshire Boulevard. For more information, call 310-247-3000 ext 111.