As the next installment of "Oscar's Docs, Part Three: Academy Award-Winning Documentaries 1977–1988," the 1981 Oscar-winning documentaries Close Harmony and Genocide will be screened on Monday, October 8, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood.
Producer-director Nigel Noble will be on hand to discuss his short film Close Harmony, which follows a Brooklyn teacher trying to integrate two choirs — one composed of grade school students, the other of senior citizens — for a combined concert.
Director Arnold Schwartzman will discuss his feature-length Genocide, which contrasts the stories of the thriving Jewish cultures in pre-war Europe with those of Holocaust victims. Elizabeth Taylor and Orson Welles narrate.
The New York Times called Genocide "chilling and forceful, profoundly harrowing. It certainly succeeds. Elizabeth Taylor is particularly affecting." (At the IMDb, however, one reviewer offers the curious complaint that photos shown in the film don't actually represent what they're supposed to.)
"Oscar's Docs" is a comprehensive screening series of every short subject and feature to win the Academy Award for documentary filmmaking since the category was established in 1941.
The retrospective will present the best available prints, often newly struck or restored editions from the documentary collection of the Academy Film Archive. The series will continue each Monday evening through November 19 and will be complemented on many nights with onstage discussions with the filmmakers (schedules permitting).
Tickets to "Oscar's Docs" are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. A limited number of series passes are available for $30 for the general public and $25 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets and passes are available for purchase online at www.oscars.org, by mail, or at the Academy box office during regular business hours. Doors open at 6:30 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.
Photos: Noble Enterprises (Close Harmony) and the Simon Wiesenthal Center (Genocide)
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