Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Oscar Documentary short list

The Academy has unveiled the shortlist of 15 documentaries that will advance to the next stage in 81st Academy Awards.

The 15 films are:
At the Death House Door
The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Blessed Is The Match: The Life And Death Of Hannah Senesh
Encounters At The End Of The World
Fuel
The Garden
Glass: A Portrait Of Philip In Twelve Parts
I.O.U.S.A.
In A Dream
Made In America
Man On Wire
Pray the Devil Back To Hell
Standard Operating Procedure
They Killed Sister Dorothy
Trouble The Water

Can't make much of a comment here as the only one i've seen is Man On Wire - which is excellent, and amazingly compelling (especially given there is no recorded footage of the wire-walk at the centre of the story!)

The British Academy doesn't have a documentary section so am unlikely to see many if any more of these. I saw Taxi To The Dark Side earlier this year which was also superb - it won the Oscar last year.

On a related note: saw Religulous last week. Hilarious if you happen to be an aetheist, which i am, and no doubt deeply offensive otherwise. Kind of poorly made and very cheap looking to be honest and it makes Michael Moore look even-handed. Very much only one to see if you are pre-disposed to the subject and want a cheap laugh.

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