Documentaries are the least popular film genre. They don’t showcase special effects or superstars. The protagonists are usually ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. The films don’t play in big suburban theaters, nor can they compete at the box office. But through political and social exposes they can change hearts and minds the world over.
Dick Kirby’s Oscar nominated documentary The Invisible War is a gut-wrenching expose on rape in the U.S. military.
The film contends that since 1991 about half a million military men and women have been sexually assaulted by their peers, and the U.S. military has done nothing to punish the culprits.
“The more we did these interviews, the more we really felt this is a film we had to really make and finish," said Dick Kirby. Like Kirby, most award-winning documentarians reveal hard truths that make their films tough to watch.
The Gatekeepers is a critics' favorite. Israeli director Dror Moreh interviewed six former heads of the Shin Bet, Israel's domestic spy agency, responsible for gathering intelligence in the occupied West Bank.
They said fighting Palestinian terrorists meant they had to bend the rules of morality and justify collateral damage. The film exposes Israel's internal divisions and offers a grim prediction of the country's future if it doesn't make peace with its enemies.
Five Broken Cameras by Emad Burnat, a Palestinian villager, and Israeli filmmaker Guy Davidi, is a video diary of Emad's life under Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
It's an account of how Palestinian villagers fought against the Israeli security barrier that was cutting them off from their lands.
How to Survive a Plague chronicles the early years of the AIDS epidemic and how a handful of activists stemmed its deadly tide. David France made the film. “Everything about the way medicine and healthcare is delivered and practiced today is an outgrowth of AIDS and AIDS activism," he explained. "So I wanted to tell a story of triumph and accomplishment.”
These four nominees tell powerful stories with groundbreaking footage. But, none so far has captured the hearts of the Academy's voters as much as Searching for Sugarman.
Malik Bendjelloul’s film is about Rodriguez, a '70s rock musician from Detroit who had no idea that he became a music icon in South Africa.
“Right now, you'd have to say that that’s the putative favorite,” stated filmmaker Nina Seavey. The Emmy Award-winning filmmaker says the Academy seems to be going more for entertainment-driven documentaries and Searching for Sugarman fits the bill.
Although the Oscars may be a popularity contest, all five documentaries were selected primarily for their merit, not for their box office allure.
2017高三英语一轮复习学案:Module 4-6(1)(外研版必修1))
2017高三英语一轮复习学案:A test of module 1-2(外研版必修1)
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:短文改错+书面表达(96)
2017高三英语一轮复习学案:Review of Module4(外研版必修5)
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:短文改错+书面表达(77)
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:短文改错+书面表达(100)
2017高三英语一轮复习学案:Module 2(外研版必修1)
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:短文改错+书面表达(99)
2017英语一轮复习学案:学生自测(二)答案外研版必修4
2017英语一轮复习学案:Revision of Module2(无答案)外研版必修4
2017英语一轮复习学案:高三英语学生自测题(二)外研版必修4
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:单项选择(75)
2017英语一轮复习学案:Revision of Module4-6(无答案)外研版必修4
2017高三英语一轮复习学案:Module 1—3(2)(外研版必修1)
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:短文改错+书面表达(95)
2017英语一轮复习学案:高三英语学生第二次自测题(一)外研版必修4
2017高三英语一轮复习学案:Module 4 Book 1 (外研版必修1)
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:单项选择(76)
2017高三英语一轮复习学案:Revision of Module1-2(外研版必修5)
2017英语一轮复习学案:Revision of Module4-6(2)(无答案)外研版必修4
2017高三英语一轮复习学案:Module 4(外研版必修1)
2017英语一轮复习学案:Revision of Module4(无答案)外研版必修4
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:短文改错+书面表达(98)
2017高三英语一轮复习学案:Module 3(外研版必修1)
2017英语一轮复习学案:Revision of Module3(无答案)外研版必修4
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:短文改错+书面表达(79)
2017英语一轮复习学案:Revision of Module3-4(无答案)外研版必修4
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:短文改错+书面表达(82)
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:单项选择(77)
浙江省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练:单项选择(70)