The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® announced last Thursday that the Documentary Short Subject entries for the 80th Academy Awards® has now narrowed to eight films. Three to five on this list will earn Oscar® nominations for the 2008 Academy Award.
Voters from the Academy’s Documentary Branch viewed this year’s 23 eligible contenders and submitted their ballots to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The eight lucky films are listed below in alphabetical order:
BODY & SOUL: DIANA & KATHY
OCHBERG'S ORPHANS
FREEHELD
IF IT HAPPENS
LA CORONA (The Crown)
OCHBERG'S ORPHANS
PORTRAITS OF A LADY
SALIM BABA
SARI'S MOTHER
Here is more information about some of the above docs for which I could find viable links:
FREEHELD (2007, UK), directed by Cynthia Wade, and has won 7 awards so far. The full title is, FREEHELD: THE LAUREL HESTER STORY.
OCHBERG'S ORPHANS (2007, 39 min, UK), directed by Jon Blair. Not to be confused with the feature documentary of the same name, directed by Kim Hogg. UPDATE 10/20: I received a comment (see below) from the writer / director, Jon Blair, informing me that the other short I referenced, directed by Kim Hogg and produced by Rainmaker Films, was an unrealized project. Thank you, sir! I'm posting this in case anyone else might be as confused as I was. See my comment.
SALIM BABA (2006, 14 min, India / USA, in Bengali with English subtitles), directed by Tim Sternberg. Made its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival this past April.
SARI'S MOTHER (2006, 21 min, Iraq / USA). directed by James Longley. Excised from last years Academy Award-nominated film IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS, this doc headlines a collection of short films from Iraq. The title film documents the plight of a mother of a 10-year-old boy with HIV as she navigates the Iraqi health care system, fragmented by the American invasion, in an attempt to find treatment for her son. It won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco Film Festival this past May, but was first shown at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. Available now on DVD.
The 80th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, 22 January 2008, at 5:30 a.m. PT, in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The awards gala is 24 February.
Mimi: Just to clarify your comment under my film "Ochberg's Orphans". Although a feature documentary to be directed by Kim Hogg was once mooted by the producers, Rainmaker Films, this productuion never actually happened. So there is only one "Ochberg's Orphans" and it is the 40 minute short written and directed by me!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes
JON BLAIR
Thank you, sir! The confusion came because I didn't see anywhere that the Hogg project was noted as "unrealized." Perhaps my glasses were fogged.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your visiting my blog. Please stop by anytime. Oh, and good luck. I'll be watching.