Academy’s Contemporary Documentaries Screening Series Kicks Off 26th Year

Beverly Hills, CA (RUSHPRNEWS)September 13, 2007 — “Iraq in Fragments” and “My Country, My Country” will launch the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 26th annual “Contemporary Documentaries” series on Wednesday, September 26, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission is free.

“Iraq in Fragments” captures the lives of an 11-year-old car mechanic in Baghdad, the followers of a religious extremist in the early days of their uprising, and two brick-making Kurdish families in the north.

In “My Country, My Country,” Dr. Riyadh grows despondent over his war-torn homeland. A vehement critic of the U.S. occupation who is also a passionate advocate of the democratic process, Dr. Riyadh runs for office in the 2005 elections and finds himself struggling with the fundamental contradictions of international attempts to impose democracy from without.

The first part of the series comprises 13 feature-length and short documentaries that will screen on Wednesday evenings through November 28, including several of the 2006 Academy Award®-nominated films as well as other documentaries considered by the Academy that year. The series will resume in March 2008 and continue through June.

The “Contemporary Documentaries” screening schedule for the rest of 2007 is as follows:

September 26
“Iraq in Fragments”
(Directed by James Longley; produced by Longley, John Sinno)
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature

“My Country, My Country”
(Directed by Laura Poitras; produced by Poitras, Jocelyn Glatzer)
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature

October 3
“Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple”
(Directed and produced by Stanley Nelson)

“Jesus Camp”
(Directed and produced by Heidi Ewing, Rachel Grady)
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature

October 10
“A Revolving Door”
(Directed by Marilyn Braverman; produced by Chuck Braverman)
“The Trials of Darryl Hunt”
(Directed by Ricki Stern, Annie Sundberg; produced by Katie Brown, William Rexer II, Stern, Sundberg)

October 24
“The Blood of Yingzhou District”
(Directed by Ruby Yang; produced by Thomas Lennon)
Academy Award winner: Documentary Short Subject
“Blindsight”
(Directed by Lucy Walker; produced by Sybil Robson Orr)

November 7
“An Unreasonable Man”
(Directed by Henriette Mantel, Steve Skrovan; produced by Kevin O’Donnell)

“Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?”
(Directed by Frank Popper; produced by Matt Coen, Mike Kime, Popper)

November 28
Special Screening at the IMAX Theater
“Deep Sea 3D”
(Directed by Howard Hall; produced by Toni Myers, Michele Hall)

“Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D”
(Directed by Mark Cowen; produced by Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman, Cowen)
“Roving Mars
(Directed by George Butler; produced by Frank Marshall, Butler)

All films, with the exception of the November 28 screenings, 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. Filmmakers will be present at screenings whenever possible.

The November 28 screenings will take place at the IMAX Theater at the California Science Center in Exposition Park (700 State Drive, Los Angeles, 90037). For directions and parking information, call (323) SCIENCE.
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 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Teni Melidonian – (310) 247-3090
tmelidonian@oscars.org

©A.M.P.A.S.®
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
8949 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, CA 90211-1972
(310) 247-3000 | www.oscars.org | publicity@oscars.org

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