Best documentary feature
“Hell and Back Again” – Danfung Dennis – See Review
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” – Marshall Curry See Review
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky – See below
“Pina” – Wim Wenders - See Below
“Undefeated” – Stephen Bannon – See Below
This years group of nominated documentaries seems to be and odd assortment. Hell and Back Again and If A Tree Falls feel like traditional documentaries that might get nominated.
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, the third in a series about three young men accused of murdering some young boys. The three documentaries trace the arrest, 18 year imprisonment, and eventual release, in the third film, of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley; also known as the West Memphis Three. The documentaries played a role in generating publicity, awareness, and support for the innocence of the men. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory aired on HBO on January 11, 2012. The documentary seems to rehash a lot of what was done in the previous two except for the release of the men.
TRAILER PARADISE LOST 3: PURGAORY
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PINA, Directed by Wim Wenders, is a 3D dance film made in Germany. The film features Pina Bausch, who died during the preproduction phase of the documentary. Wenders cancelled production but the other dancers of the Tanztheater Wuppertal persuaded him to continue. The other dancers are featured and reminisce about Pina.
TRAILER PINA
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Undefeated is a film about Sarah Palin that feels more like political propaganda than a documentary.
TRAILER UNDEFEATED
Two documentaries that were not nominated and perhaps should have been are:
BUCK – THERE’S NO WISDOM WORTH HAVING THAT ISN’T HARD WON AND BEING ELMO A PUPPETEER’S JOURNEY
Documentary short subject
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
“God is the Bigger Elvis”
“Incident in New Baghdad”
“Saving Face”
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Written by J R Martin – AUTHOR CREATE DOCUMENTARY FILMS, VIDEOS AND MULTIMEDIA — See other documentary reviews by J R Martin at http://www.jrmartinmedia.com/reviews
Tags: 2012 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
