Academy’s Contemporary Documentaries 2008
March 5th, 2008 by Andre Soares
Davis Guggenheim’s 2006 Oscar-winning documentary feature An Inconvenient Truth and Chris Paine’s Who Killed the Electric Car? will kick off the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ Spring 2008 Contemporary Documentaries series on Wednesday, March 19, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission is free.
An Inconvenient Truth follows former US vice president Al Gore, who, after the debacle of the 2000 US election circus, began devoting much of his time to promoting awareness of global warming. Oh, c’mon now, we all know that’s a hoax…
(By the way, in terms of overall carbon dioxide emissions per country [as opposed to per person] the world’s filthiest pigs — with sincere apologies to four-legged swines everywhere — are China and the United States. See John Vidal and David Adam’s The Guardian article.)
According to the Academy’s press release, Who Killed the Electric Car? "chronicles the life and mysterious death of the General Motors EV1, which ran on electricity, produced no emissions, and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. When GM stopped production of this innovative vehicle, the cultural and economic ripple effects reverberated through the halls of government and big business."
A total of 16 feature-length and short documentaries will screen on Wednesday evenings through June 11, showcasing several of the 2006 Academy Award-nominated films as well as other documentaries considered by the Academy that year. In addition to the environment, the scheduled documentaries cover a whole array of themes, ranging from women’s role in society and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church to political censorship and, inevitably, the war in Iraq.
Spring 2008 Contemporary Documentaries screening schedule:
March 19
An Inconvenient Truth
(Directed by Davis Guggenheim; produced by Laurie David, Lawrence Bender, Scott Z. Burns)
Academy Award winner: Documentary Feature
Who Killed the Electric Car?
(Directed by Chris Paine; produced by Jessie Deeter)
April 2
The Diary of Immaculee
(Directed by Peter LeDonne; produced by Steve Kalafer)
Sisters in Law
(Directed and produced by Kim Longinotto; co-directed by Florence Ayisi)
April 16
Recycled Life
(Directed by Leslie Iwerks; produced by Mike Glad)
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject
Storm of Emotions
(Directed by Yael Klopmann; produced by Micky Rabinovitz and Jim Abrams)
April 30
The U.S. vs. John Lennon
(Directed and produced by David Leaf and John Scheinfeld)
Leonard Cohen I’m Your Man
(Directed and produced by Lian Lunson; produced by Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey)
May 21
Two Hands
(Directed by Nathaniel Kahn; produced by Susan Rose Behr, Kahn)
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject
Dear Talula
(Directed by Lori Benson; produced by Benson, Jonathan Stack, Anthony Ciaccio, Donna Santiago)
Deliver Us from Evil
(Directed by Amy Berg; produced by Berg, Frank Donner, Hermas Lassalle, Matthew Cooke)
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature
May 28
The War Tapes
(Directed by Deborah Scranton; produced by Robert May and Steve James)
The Ground Truth
(Directed and produced by Patricia Foulkrod)
June 11
Phoenix Dance
(Directed and produced by Karina Epperlein)
Rehearsing a Dream
(Directed and produced by Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon)
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject
Shut Up & Sing
(Directed and produced by Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck; produced by David Cassidy)
All films will screen 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. Filmmakers will be present at screenings whenever possible.
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.
Photos: © Paramount Pictures (An Inconvenient Truth), Josh Knight / © Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc (Who Killed the Electric Car?)
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