2011 Oscar Nominations Announced

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards. The King's Speech has "won" the most nominations, with 12. Co-hosting the ceremony will be Hollywood darlings James Franco and Anne Hathaway (the first time for each). The gala is slated for Sunday, February 27, 2011 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

The nominees are:

Documentary (Feature)

• Exit through the Gift Shop Banksy and Jaimie D'Cruz
• Gasland Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• Inside Job Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• Waste Land Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Documentary (Short Subject)

• Killing in the Name Jed Rothstein
• Poster Girl Sara Nesson and Mitchell W. Block
• Strangers No More Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
• Sun Come Up Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
• The Warriors of Qiugang Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

2010 Oscar Nominations Announced

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced this year's Oscar nominations in the annual predawn ceremony in Los Angeles. Presumably much of the buzz will be focused on Meryl Streep's record 16th Oscar nomination for Julie & Julia, or AMPAS's decision to nominate ten films for Best Picture (they really couldn't pare that list down any further?!?). However, Doczine is focused on the following two categories;

Documentary Feature:
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Documentary Short:
China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit à la Berlin

Hollywood legends Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are slated to host the March 7, 2010 ceremony.

Trivial Tidbits:

• The only song from a documentary film to win an Original Song Oscar is “I Need to Wake Up” by Melissa Etheridge from the film An Inconvenient Truth in 2006 (the film itself also won in the Documentary Feature category).

82nd Oscars "Best Doc Feature" Short List

Last week The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released their short list of 15 films that will be considered for the “Best Documentary Feature” award at next year’s renowned ceremony. Eighty nine films had originally qualified for consideration.

The next phase will take place during the early morning (5:30 a.m., PST) of February 2, 2010, when 5 of the following 15 films will be graced with nominations:

• “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)

Louie Psihoyos’ The Cove is an early front runner, having already won a handful of awards including the audience award for best documentary at Sundance and the audience award for best feature at the Nantucket Film Festival. The activist film has been praised for its resounding message.

One glaring omission is that of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story, the summer blockbuster of documentaries that grossed over $14 million. The Documentary Branch Screening Committee may have felt that, despite the topical relevance, Moore’s voice is tired and his structure lacked innovation.

The 82nd Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 7, 2010.