“Tsunami,” “Tahrir Square” make Oscar shortlist for best doc short

October 16, 2011 by Adam Benzine

Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill’s In Tahrir Square and Lucy Walker’s The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom are among the eight shortlisted contenders for the 84th Academy Awards’ best Documentary Short Subject category, of which three to five films will earn Oscar nominations.

The eight docs, named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, were chosen from 35 eligible entries. The shortlist consists of:

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, from Purposeful Productions

God Is the Bigger Elvis, from Documentress Films

In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt’s Unfinished Revolution, from Downtown Docs

Incident in New Baghdad, from Morninglight Films

Pipe Dreams, from Leslie Iwerks Productions

Saving Face, from Milkhaus/Jungefilm

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom, from Supply & Demand Integrated

Witness, from Buche

Of the eight films, six are directed or co-directed by previous Oscar nominees – God is the Bigger Elvis comes from Rebecca Cammisa (previously nominated for Which Way Home); The Barber of Birmingham comes from Gail Dolgin (Daughter from Danang); Saving Face comes from Daniel Junge (The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner) and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy; and Pipe Dreams comes from Leslie Iwerks (Recycled Life).

Tahrir Square directors Alpert and O’Neill were nominated for China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province); while Tsunami’s director, Walker, was nominated this year for Waste Land.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced on January 24, 2012, with the winner announced on February 26. The shortlist for the best feature length documentary category will be unveiled next month.

 

Tags: Academy Awards, Documentary Short Subject, Oscar, Oscars

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