While I was in Columbia last week, John Sinno, the Oscar-nominated producer of James Longley's Iraq in Fragments wrote an open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Like many others, I received a copy but hadn't had an opportunity to post about it yet. But before I do, here is Sinno's letter, in full:
I had the great fortune of attending the 79th Academy Awards following my nomination as producer for a film in the Best Documentary Feature category. At the Awards ceremony, most categories featured an introduction that glorified the filmmakers’ craft and the role it plays for the film audience and industry. But when comedian Jerry Seinfeld introduced the award for Best Documentary Feature, he began by referring to a documentary that features himself as a subject, then proceeded to poke fun at it by saying it won no awards and made no money. He then revealed his love of documentaries, as they have a very "real" quality, while making a comically sour face. This less-than-flattering beginning was followed by a lengthy digression that had nothing whatsoever to do with documentary films. The clincher, however, came when he wrapped up his introduction by calling all five nominated films "incredibly depressing!"
While I appreciate the role of humor in our lives, Jerry Seinfeld’s remarks were made at the expense of thousands of documentary filmmakers and the entire documentary genre. Obviously we make films not for awards or money, although we are glad if we are fortunate enough to receive them. The important thing is to tell stories, whether of people who have been damaged by war, of humankind’s reckless attitude toward nature and the environment, or even of the lives and habits of penguins. With his lengthy, dismissive and digressive introduction, Jerry Seinfeld had no time left for any individual description of the five nominated films. And by labeling the documentaries “incredibly depressing,” he indirectly told millions of viewers not to bother seeing them because they’re nothing but downers. He wasted a wonderful opportunity to excite viewers about the nominated films and about the documentary genre in general.
To have a presenter introduce a category with such disrespect for the nominees and their work is counter to the principles the Academy was founded upon. To be nominated for an Academy Award is one of the highest honors our peers can give us, and to have the films dismissed in such an offhand fashion was deeply insulting. The Academy owes all documentary filmmakers an apology.
Seinfeld’s introduction arrived on the heels of an announcement by the Academy that the number of cities where documentary films must screen to qualify for an Academy Award is being increased by 75%. This will make it much more difficult for independent filmmakers’ work to qualify for the Best Documentary Feature Award, while giving an advantage to films distributed by large studios. Fewer controversial films will qualify for Academy consideration, and my film Iraq in Fragments would have been disqualified this year. This announcement came as a great disappointment to me and to other documentary filmmakers. I hope the Academy will reconsider its decision.
On a final note, I would like to point out that there was no mention of the Iraq War during the Oscar telecast, though it was on the minds of many in the theatre and of millions of viewers. It is wonderful to see the Academy support the protection of the environment. Unfortunately there is more than just one inconvenient truth in this world. Having mention of the Iraq War avoided altogether was a painful reminder for many of us that our country is living in a state of denial. As filmmakers, it is the greatest professional crime we can commit not to speak out with the truth. We owe it to the public.
I hope what I have said is taken to heart. It comes from my concern for the cinematic art and its crucial role in the times we’re living in.
John Sinno
Academy Award Nominee, Iraq In Fragments
Co-Founder, Northwest Documentary Association
First off, let me talk about the reaction at my Oscar party to Jerry Seinfeld. We happened to have present a number of people who had worked on one of the nominated films and they were anxious to get on with the award itself, both to see if they had won and to cheer for their filmmakers. So, there was quite a bit of, "shut the fuck up", going on. But when Seinfeld said the line in question, calling the five nominated films "incredibly depressing", there was mostly laughter. This with a number of docmakers in the house, some of whom have made some seriously heavy films.
Later, the talk came around that people found it interesting that the Best Documentary Feature category had been held until late in the show, where it was surrounded by other major awards. This was perhaps not surprising as this year there was the "Al Gore factor" - and maybe they wanted to separate his appearance with Leonardo DiCaprio at least an hour from the award itself - but it also likely had something to do with the presence of producer Laura Ziskin, who has always treated the modern documentary community with more respect when she helms the Oscar telecast (note the opening film by Errol Morris and the tribute to documentaries created by Penelope Spheeris the first time Ziskin ran the show).
But no one complained about the "incredibly depressing" remark.
When Sinno's open letter was released, conversations on a number of doc message boards (some of which are private so that folks can truly express themselves) seem to be split between "here! here!" and "God, this makes it seem like we are the most humorless bunch around". Some even found both positions to be true, as in, "while I agree with James' point, it does sort of validate what Seinfeld said about us."
As in, we're a somber, somber bunch.
The truth is that we're quite the opposite, as anyone looking at pictures on this blog could tell you, even though we sometimes tackle the incredibly depressing and sad and catastrophic. And a lot of the time, we say something about how "next time I'm gonna do a comedy", and then we hop on a plane to Darfur or Iran or South Africa. But, it's not like we don't know the gig. I mean, we get what folks think about docs. It's the same thing a lot of folks think about NPR. But we don't have to be terribly thin-skinned about it.
On Sinno's other point, the complaint that new (yet to be fully announced) Academy rules will make it harder for films to qualify for future Oscars, I must respectfully disagree. As I detailed at length in an earlier post on the new potential rules, the new rules may require docs to play in 14 cities in order to qualify, however the exhibition formats may be loosened considerably. In some ways, the new rules may make it easier to qualify, but you wouldn't know if from all the sky is falling rhetoric heard around the doc water cooler these days.
I also must disagree with Sinno's contention that Iraq in Fragments would not have qualified under these new rules. It seems that he is making the distinction that under the proposed guidelines, you must complete the 14-city minimum by the date the Academy's shortlist is announced, and Fragments, which was released in October, would not have played that many cities that quickly. But it's a non-argument, because they (along with their partners at HBO) would have moved up their opening to accommodate the Academy's schedule, as most doc filmmakers (including myself) are talking about doing this year. In the end, Iraq in Fragments will play many times the 14 city requirement by the time it is finished and would have easily qualified under the new rules. While Sinno's statement may be somewhat logistically true (had Fragments stuck to its October opening), the suggestion that it would have been disqualified (and the implication of unfairness) is fundamentally false.
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