Academy’s Contemporary Documentaries Series Returns with “Trouble the Water”
Beverly Hills, CA (March 23, 2010) –The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences kicks off Part Two of its 28th annual “Contemporary Documentaries” screening series with Oscar®-nominated films “The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306” and “Trouble the Water” on Wednesday, March 24, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission to all screenings in the series is free.
“The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306” is a poignant retelling of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination as witnessed by the Reverend Samuel “Billy” Kyles on April 4, 1968, a crucial turning point in the civil rights movement. Directed by Adam Pertofsky and produced by Vicki Tripp, R. Stephan Mohammed and Margaret Hyde, “The Witness – From the Balcony of Room 306” earned an Academy Award® nomination for Documentary Short Subject. Hyde will be present to take questions from the audience following the screening.
“Trouble the Water” is a redemptive tale of two self-described street hustlers who survive Hurricane Katrina and then seize a chance for a new beginning. Directed and produced by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, “Trouble the Water” earned an Academy Award nomination for Documentary Feature. Lessin and Deal will be present to take questions from the audience following the screening.
The 28th annual “Contemporary Documentaries” series is a showcase for feature-length and short documentaries drawn from the 2008 Academy Award nominations, including the winners, as well as other important and innovative films considered by the Academy that year.
The screening schedule for Part Two, which runs through June 2010, is as follows:
Wednesday, April 7
“The Final Inch”
Directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky
Produced by Brodsky, Tom Grant
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject
“The Forgotten Woman”
Directed by Dilip Mehta
Produced by David Hamilton, Noemi Weis
Wednesday, April 21
“Downstream”
Directed by Leslie Iwerks
Produced by Philip Alberstat, Randy Bradshaw, Mark Cranwell
“Fuel”
Directed by Josh Tickell
Produced by Greg Reitman, Dale Rosenbloom, Daniel Assael, Darius Fisher, Rebecca Harell
Wednesday, May 5
“At the Death House Door”
Directed and produced by Steve James, Peter Gilbert
“They Killed Sister Dorothy”
Directed by Daniel Junge
Produced by Henry Ansbacher, Nigel Noble
Wednesday, May 19
“Viva la Causa”
Directed by Alonso F. Mayo, Bill Brummel
Produced by Bill Brummel
“I.O.U.S.A.”
Directed by Patrick Creadon
Produced by Christine O’Malley, Sarah Gibson
Wednesday, May 26
“The Conscience of Nhem En”
Directed and produced by Steven Okazaki
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject
“Standard Operating Procedure”
Directed by Errol Morris
Produced by Errol Morris, Julie Bilson Ahlberg
Wednesday, June 9
“Tongzhi in Love”
Directed by Ruby Yang
Produced by Thomas Lennon
“The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)”
Directed by Ellen Kuras
Co-directed by Thavisouk Phrasavath
Produced by Ellen Kuras, Flora Fernandez-Marengo
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature
All films 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. The filmmakers will be present at screenings whenever possible.
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.
