Academy’s Contemporary Documentaries
Screening Series Kicks Off 27th Year
Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences launches its 27th annual “Contemporary Documentaries” screening series with “Taxi to the Dark Side” and “No End in Sight” on Wednesday, September 24, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission to all screenings in the series is free. Filmmakers will be present at the screenings whenever possible.
“Taxi to the Dark Side” examines the mysterious death of an Afghan taxi driver at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and exposes America’s worldwide detention and interrogation policies that condone torture and the abrogation of human rights. Directed by Alex Gibney and produced by Gibney, Eva Orner and Susannah Shipman, “Taxi to the Dark Side” won the 2007 Academy Award® for Documentary Feature. Orner will participate in a Q&A following the screening.
A candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003, Oscar®-nominated “No End in Sight” chronicles the reasons behind Iraq’s descent into guerrilla warfare, criminality and anarchy. “No End in Sight” was directed by Charles Ferguson and produced by Ferguson, Jennie Amias, Audrey Marrs and Jessie Vogelson. Ferguson and Marrs will both be present for a Q&A following the screening.
The 27th annual Contemporary Documentaries series is a showcase for feature-length and short documentaries drawn from the 2007 Academy Award nominations, including the winners, as well as other important and innovative films considered by the Academy that year. The first part of the series comprises 14 films that will screen on Wednesday evenings through December 3. The series will resume in March 2009 and continue through June.
The “Contemporary Documentaries” screening schedule through 2008 is as follows:
September 24
“Taxi to the Dark Side”
Directed by Alex Gibney
Produced by Gibney, Eva Orner, Susannah Shipman
Academy Award winner: Documentary Feature
“No End in Sight”
Directed by Charles Ferguson
Produced by Ferguson, Jennie Amias, Audrey Marrs, Jessie Vogelson
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature
October 1
“Autism: The Musical”
Directed by Tricia Regan
Produced by Perrin Chiles, Regan, Sasha Alpert
“War/Dance”
Directed by Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine
Produced by Albie Hecht
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature
October 15
“Freeheld”
Directed by Cynthia Wade
Produced by Wade, Vanessa Roth, Matthew Syrett
Academy Award winner: Documentary Short Subject
“For the Bible Tells Me So”
Directed and produced by Daniel G. Karslake
October 22
“The 11th Hour”
Directed by Leila Conners Petersen, Nadia Conners
Produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Conners Petersen, Chuck Castleberry, Brian Gerber
“Pete Seeger: The Power of Song”
Directed by Jim Brown
Produced by Brown, Michael Cohl, William Eigen
November 5
“Nanking”
Directed by Bill Guttentag, Dan Sturman
Produced by Ted Leonsis, Guttentag, Michael Jacobs
“White Light/Black Rain”
Directed and produced by Steven Okazaki
November 19
“La Corona (The Crown)”
Directed and produced by Amanda Micheli, Isabel Vega
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject
“The Price of Sugar”
Directed by Bill Haney
Produced by Eric Grunebaum, Haney
December 3 At the IMAX Theater, California Science Center, Exposition Park
“Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs”
Directed by Keith Melton
Produced by Arabella Cecil, Don Kempf, Steve Kempf
“Dinosaurs Alive”
Directed by Bayley Silleck, David Clark
Produced by Clark
All films, with the exception of those scheduled for December 3, will screen at the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. All seating is unreserved. Filmmakers will be present at screenings whenever possible.
The December 3 screening will take place at the IMAX Theater at the California Science Center in Exposition Park. For directions and parking information, call (323) SCIENCE.
The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. Free parking is available through the entrance on Homewood Avenue (one block north of Fountain Avenue). For additional information, visit www.oscars.org or call (310) 247-3600.
Editors: Downloadable images are available at http://photos.oscars.org/
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About the Academy
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.
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Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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www.oscars.org
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