All these wonderful things

2005 Chlotrudis Noms: Capote, 2046, Grizzly, Brothels

Boston's prestigious Chlotrudis Society has announced the nominations for their 12th Annual Awards to be held March 19th at the still-kicking Brattle Theatre (more on the Brattle campaign to come).

Chosen by film fans from around the country, the Chlotrudis noms are always a great mix of big indie hits (like Capote and Brokeback Mountain) and films that maybe received less notice (3-Iron, The Best of Youth).

This year, the nominees for Best Movie are 2046, The Best of Youth, Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Me & You & Everyone We Know and Mysterious Skin.

Best Documentary nominees include last year's Oscar winner Born Into Brothels, Double Dare, Grizzly Man, In the Realms of the Unreal and Murderball.

Letter to the Academy

The following letter should arrive today at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

1 November 2005

Sid Ganis
President, Academy Board of Governors
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
8949 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90211

Dear Mr. Ganis,

My name is AJ Schnack. I am a filmmaker who lives in Los Angeles and I am about to begin production on my second documentary feature.

I am writing you to ask that the Academy consider announcing the five films nominated for Best Documentary Feature during its traditional early morning announcement ceremony in January. Over the past few years, the Academy has announced the nominations in the Foreign Language and Animated Feature categories, leaving Documentary Feature as the sole "feature-length" category not covered in this annual kick-off to the Oscars.

For the past three years, we have seen a wholesale change in how audiences respond to non-fiction filmmaking and the Academy has played a key role in this. Last year's nominations, for example, represented a rich diversity in the styles and subject matters that have long marked excellent documentary films - from the social-justice of Born into Brothels to the personal history of Twist of Faith to the pop-culture activism of Super Size Me to the musical biography of Tupac: Resurrection. The Academy is recognizing work that is built on the great traditions and history of documentary filmmaking and filmmakers.

The IDA Picks 13

While I was up in Seattle last week, I caught word of this year's IDA (International Documentary Association) nominations for Distinguished Documentary Achievement. I say "caught" because the announcement actually made it over to some of the mainstream wire press (AP, Reuters, etc) and the Hollywood Reporter (as well as other websites) began to break down this year's potential Oscar nominees.

There are a couple of reasons that this year's IDA list, news that rarely makes waves outside the documentary community, went public. One, of course, is the increasing popularity of non-fiction films (and the potential for studios and indies to make money distributing them). The other is a recurring storyline - the snub of the popular film.