“Every Little Step” James D. Stern and Adam Del Deo

As award season heats up, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday announced the 15 films in the Documentary Feature category that will advance in the voting process for the 82nd Academy Awards®. Eighty-nine pictures had originally qualified in the category.

The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:

• “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)

The Documentary Branch Screening Committee viewed all the eligible documentaries for the preliminary round of voting. Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.

The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Source:The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Related posts:

1. 20 Animated Features Line Up for 2009 Oscar(R) Race Twenty features have been submitted for consideration in the...
2. 10 Animated Short Films Advance In 2009 Oscar® Race The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that...
3. 8 Documentary Shorts Shortlisted for 2009 Oscars(R) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences yesterday...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Director Anders Østergaard and producer Lise Lense-Møller, the duo behind ‘Burma VJ – Reporting from a Closed Country’, received the documentary film honour, the Roos Award, Saturday 29 August.

Making the impossible possible

‘Burma VJ’ was initially conceived as a small story about personal engagement and courage. But the rebellion of Burmese monks in 2007 compelled it to switch gear, expanding it into a human drama with a strong vein of high-risk journalism.

The committee’s statement on why they chose the film:

They have created a moving film that evokes sympathetic insight, even though the audience does not see the leading person who remains anonymous for security reasons.
They have created a film with visual strength, an authentic historical document from thousands of small clips – out of focus, incoherent, and shot by different individuals under chaotic conditions.
They have persisted in sticking to their ambition of making ‘a documentary film that mattered’, even though it would have been easier and less expensive to produce an efficient news version of the film, which there was a demand for.
They have taken chances; the film had to be made, even before an unsigned contract and even though necessary finances were yet to be met.
And they have persisted long after the completion of the film – followed it around the world -with their engagement in those who took part in the film and with their interest in the themes dwelt on in the film.
Lise Lense-Møller

Lense-Møller is a fim producer and CEO and founder of Magic Hour Films. For the last 20 years, Lense-Møller has produced films, co-written scripts and been a consultant on the development and production of feature films, short fiction, documentaries, and TV-series. She is also one of the experts at EU’s EAVE (European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs).

Anders Østergaard

Østergaard is a graduate of the Danish School of Journalism 1991 and has worked as a copywriter and as a researcher on documentary programmes before taking up filmmaking. He has received numerous national and international awards for his work in film: among others ‘The Magus’, ‘Tintin et moi’, and ‘Burma VJ’, the latter receiving over 15 international awards, including the IDFA Amsterdam’s Joris Ivens Award 2008 and a Sundance award in 2009.

About the Roos Award

The award committee this year comprises Henrik Bo Nielsen, Danish Film Institute CEO; Malene Flindt Pedersen, DFI Head of Development; and last year’s winner Tine Fischer, director of CPH:DOX, the Copenhagen international documentary film festival. The award, presented by the Danish Film Institute at the annual Ebeltoft conference for Danish documentary filmmakers, consists of a cash prize of 25,000 kroner (3,360 euros).

The Roos Award, named after the documentary film pioneer Jørgen Roos, was established in 1995 for the purpose of rewarding outstanding efforts in Danish documentary filmmaking.

Past awardwinners include Jørgen Roos, Jørgen Leth, Sami Saif, Phie Ambo, Janus Billeskov Jansen, Jon Bang Carlsen, Jesper Jargil, Anne Wivel, Tue Steen Müller, Niels Pagh Andersen, Arne Bro, Steen Møller Rasmussen and Tine Fischer.

Related posts:

1. 2010 Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking The Cinema Eye Honors, which recognize excellence in artistic achievement...
2. Henrik Ruben Genz’ “Terribly Happy” is the Danish contender for the 2010 Academy Award nominations for Best Foreign Language Film “Terribly Happy” was chosen by the Danish Oscar-committee today as...
3. Donatella Maiorca’s Sea Purple Wins the NICE City of Florence Award at SFFS 2009 New Italian Cinema New Italian Cinema, presented by the San Francisco Film...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.