The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced the Documentary Motion Picture nominees for the 25th Annual Producers Guild Awards. The nominated films, are: A PLACE AT THE TABLE, FAR OUT ISN’T FAR ENOUGH: THE TOMI UNGERER STORY, LIFE ACCORDING TO SAM, WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS, and WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? THE LIFE AND TIME OF TIM HETHERINGTON. The 2014 Producers Guild Award winners will be announced on January 19, 2014 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
A PLACE AT THE TABLE
Director: Kristi Jacobson, Lori Silverbush
Around 49 million Americans struggle with the problem of not knowing where their next meal is going to come from. The stories of three people from Colorado, Pennsylvania and Mississippi shed light on the underlying causes of this huge problem. Rosie is so hungry that she can’t concentrate on schoolwork. Young Tremonica is severely overweight and suffering from asthma because of the cheap high-calorie food she gets at home – but it’s the only food her mother can afford. And Barbie, a single mother of two, struggles to get nourishing food for her young ones. Fresh products are very expensive – especially if you’re trying to survive on minimum wage or food stamps – but in some areas of the United States, they’re not even available if you have the money to pay for them. Take Barbie, for example: she has to travel a full hour to buy fruits and vegetables. Politicians have been condemning hunger since the 1970s, but the figures have kept rising all the while. As we watch the detrimental impact of malnutrition on the physical and mental development of Rosie, Tremonica and Barbie’s children, the film highlights various social, economic and cultural causes. They range from the subsidy system for food production (84 percent goes to soya beans, corn, cotton, cereals and rice, while only one percent goes to fruits and vegetables) to the emphasis on individual responsibility and private assistance. [via IDFA]
FAR OUT ISN’T FAR ENOUGH: THE TOMI UNGERER STORY
Director/producer/writer: Brad Bernstein
Far Out Isn’t Far Enough: The Tomi Ungerer Story depicts one man’s wild, lifelong adventure of testing societal boundaries through his use of subversive art. This 98-minute film combines traditional documentary storytelling with original animation from over 70 years worth of art from the renegade children’s book author and illustrator. Using a historical palette of 20th century events to paint an artist’s epic yet controversial life story, this HD documentary film offers a feature-length retrospective of Ungerer’s life and art, pondering the complexities and contradictions of a man who, armed with an acerbic wit, an accusing finger and a razor sharp pencil, gave visual representation to the revolutionary voices during one of the most tantalizing and dramatic periods in American history. [via Official Film Site]
LIFE ACCORDING TO SAM
Directors: Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
What is aging in Sam Berns, is aging in all of us. But in Sam’s body, the process is rapidly accelerated. When Sam was diagnosed with progeria at age two, his parents, Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns refused to accept that they would lose their son by age 13, the average age of death of a child with this disease. Eleven years later, Sam is 13 and his parents’ incredible race to save their son, has led to testing the first experimental drug that might prolong the lives of Sam and 28 other children from around the world that share this disease. Their discoveries may one day shed light on unlocking the aging process in us all. Life According to Sam is an inspiring film about the power of family and how we make the most of our lives in the time we are given. [via Official Film Site]
WE STEAL SECRETS: THE STORY OF WIKILEAKS
Director: Alex Gibney
Julian Assange. Bradley Manning. Collateral murder. Cablegate. WikiLeaks. These people and terms have exploded into public consciousness by fundamentally changing the way democratic societies deal with privacy, secrecy, and the right to information, perhaps for generations to come. We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is an extensive examination of all things related to WikiLeaks and the larger global debate over access to information.
Having exposed institutions like Enron, the U.S. Army, and Congress, Academy Award winner Alex Gibney now tells the gripping story of what happens when an incredibly small group of people decide to break open the intelligence vaults of the most powerful nation on the planet. Eschewing the simplicity of heroes and villains, Gibney unearths a tangled web of incredible bravery, high ideals, questionable ethics, and stunning hypocrisy. Through it all, We Steal Secrets proves the power of individuals to shape our world. [ via S.S./Sundance Film Festival]
WHICH WAY IS THE FRONT LINE FROM HERE? THE LIFE AND TIME OF TIM HETHERINGTON
Director: Sebastian Junger
Photojournalist and filmmaker Tim Hetherington was always searching for the humanity within wartime conflict, as evidenced in his award-winning body of work. When he and Sebastian Junger spent a year filming a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in their Academy Award–nominated and Sundance Grand Jury Prizewinning film Restrepo, they weren’t simply looking for action; instead, they chose to focus on the many small moments that make war real. Hetherington’s footage of time he spent with the rebel army during Liberia’s civil war and in Libya prior to his untimely death from a mortar blast in 2011 conveys a rare sense of intimacy in sharp contrast to the violence surrounding him. Although he spent most of his time traveling to the epicenter of war zones, he was seeking the truth, rather than adventure. That is Hetherington’s enduring gift.
Director Sebastian Junger gracefully weaves together footage of Hetherington at work and moving interviews with his family, friends, and colleagues to capture his compatriot and friend’s unique perspective, compassion, and intense curiosity about the human spirit. [ via L.V./Sundance Film Festival]