The Academy Celebrates: DOCS Oscar Nominees – Video

On Wednesday evening, documentary Branch governor Michael Moore hosted the “Oscar Celebrates: Docs” event at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, CA. Moore won the 2002 Documentary Feature Oscar for “Bowling for Columbine” and also was nominated in 2007 for “Sicko.”

“Oscar Celebrates: Docs” spotlighted the work of the nominated filmmakers in the Documentary Short Subject and Documentary Feature categories.  The program included clips from all of the nominated documentaries in both categories, and a panel discussion with filmmakers from each group.

Of this group of filmmakers, Moore said he was honored to be in the company of this international group making nonfiction cinema. He happily shared with the audience that all the voting members of the Academy voted in both documentary categories. “There were no groups or panels deciding the winners. The Academy sent all the voters these provocative, powerful and emotional films on DVD.”

Moore also touched on the 800lb gorilla in the room. On Tuesday, Palestinian filmmaker Emad Burnat and his family were held at LAX after telling the TSA he was here for the Oscars and couldn’t provide his invitation. Moore said, “it was cleared up in half an hour once he, AMPAS CEO Dawn Hudson, Academy Governor Rob Epstein and the lawyers helped to resolve the situation.” Burnat was taken by surprise by the situation and was still visibly upset a day after the incident. “My son was frightened by the thought of having to take a 15 hour trip back when we were told we may have to leave the U.S. I’m used to it in my country but never thought it would happen to us here.”

It was amazing to see two movies about the Israeli-Palestine conflict being nominated and the nominees sitting next to each other during the panel discussion.

Oscar®-nominated filmmakers (from left to right): Emad Burnat, with his son Jibreal, “5 Broken Cameras”; Philippa Kowarsky, Droh Moreh, and Estelle Fialon, “The Gatekeepers”; at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The Documentary Feature nominees are:

5 BROKEN CAMERAS
Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi

As Israeli settlers begin building homes and erecting a barrier wall in the West Bank village of Bil’in, a Palestinian farm worker documents the town’s resistance to the new settlement. Over the course of several years, the townspeople clash with the Israeli Defense Force, and tensions mount as the wall remains and the building continues.

THE GATEKEEPERS
Dror Moreh, Philippa Kowarsky and Estelle Fialon

For the first time ever, six former heads of the Shin Bet, Israel’s secret service agency, agree to share their insights and reflect publicly on their actions and decisions. Intimately interviewed, they shed light on the controversy surrounding the Occupation in the aftermath on the Six Day War.

HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE
David France and Howard Gertler

In the mid-1980’s, as the official response to the growing AIDS epidemic remained dispiritingly low-key and at times hostile, the activist group ACT UP began focusing media attention on the disease and demanding action from the government and the medical community. While some member of the group staged protests, others immersed themselves in the research being done on the virus and helped achieve a dramatic transformation in its treatment.

THE INVISIBLE WAR
Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering

According to the Department of Defense estimates, over 19,300 members of the U.S. military were sexually assaulted in 2010 alone. Yet, although the rate of sexual assaults against women in the service is twice that of the civilian population, only ten percent of assault cases end in prosecution, with female soldiers often finding themselves ostracized or pressured into remaining silent.

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN
Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn

In the early 1970’s, A&M released two albums by a singer-songwriter known only as Rodriguez, who dropped out of sight and was rumored to have died after the records failed to sell. When Rodriguez unexpectedly attracted a cult following in South Africa, however, two of his ardent fans decided to track down the truth behind his disappearance from the music scene.

The Documentary Short Subject nominees are:

INOCENTE
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

Fifteen-year-old Inocente, a homeless, undocumented immigrant, clings to her determination to become an artist in the face of a bleak future.

KINGS POINT
Sari Gilman and Jedd Widerty

Over the course of a decade, five senior citizens living in the Kings Point retirement community face loss, illness and an increasing sense of isolation in their lives.

MONDAYS AT RACINE
Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan

Every third Monday of the month, two bold, brassy sisters open the doors of their Long Island hair salon to women diagnosed with cancer. As locks of hair fall to the floor, women gossip, giggle, weep, face their fears, and discover unexpected beauty.

OPEN HEART
Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern

Their hearts ravaged by common strep throat turned deadly, eight Rwandan children leave their families behind to embark on a life-or-death journey to Sudan for high-risk surgery. Resilient cardiologist Dr. Emmanuel Rusingiza fights to save lives, alongside larger-than-life Dr. Gino Strada who also must fight to save his hospital.

REDEMPTION
Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

They are New York City’s gleaners – struggling at the edge of our society. You see them on almost every street corner in America’s richest city – thousands of jobless New Yorkers combing through garbage, scooping through the slime. The prize they persue? Empty bottles and cans. Each discarded container worth five cents at the redemption center.

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