News

Exclusive: Leonine Studios’ Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion has hired international doc expert Martin Pieper from public network Zdf.

The experienced exec will exit Zdf after 20 years to join the German production house on October 1 as International Producer.

Gebrueder Beetz is known for docs such as Sky’s Juan Carlos – Downfall of the King and Netflix’s first German doc-series Perfect Crime and is considered as one of mainland Europe’s top factual producers.

Pieper, who has a reputation as an expert on the international doc market, led numerous Zdf/Arte’s editorial departments, namely its Culture and Science, Thema and, most recently News/Arte units. During his time at Zdf, he worked with Gebrueder Beetz on Armenian Academy Award entry Aurora’s Sunrise and docs Gaza and The Land of the Enlightened, both of which were nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Pieper will lead international co-production activities...

Daniel Ellsberg, a onetime advisor to Nixon Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara and Rand Corp. analyst who leaked the 7,000-word secret history of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times and Washington Post, has died. That, according to multiple reports. He was 92.

Ellsberg’s decision to provide top secret report, officially known as the Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force, and the newspapers’ decisions to publish it proved a turning point in the public’s attitude toward the war, President Richard Nixon and trust in the government.

It was also a landmark moment for a free press in America, as the resulting Supreme Court decision upheld the right of the Times and Post to publish the documents.

The events attending the leak, publication and court clash over the papers have been the subject of multiple film and TV projects,...

From director Rick Goldsmith, who I had the pleasure of meeting in person at the Independent Film Week panel a couple of years ago, comes a feature documentary several years in the making (nearing completion) on former Wnba star, Olympic gold medalist and Tennessee All-American basketball player Chamique Holdsclaw - a star athlete and public personality who was treated for depression until being diagnosed with bipolar disorder after breaking the car windows and shooting into the vehicle belonging to another Wnba player, and her then ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lacy, which Holdsclaw pleaded guilty to, resulting in three years' probation and a $3,000 fine.  Goldsmith's...

By Anjelica Oswald

Managing Editor

This year’s Oscar race could make history with two possible best picture nominees directed by women — Ava DuVernay’s Selma and Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken. If both women are nominated for best director, that would also be a historical moment. But though these accomplishments in the narrative field are possible, more women directors are breaking into the documentary categories. Four of the 15 shortlisted documentaries feature women at the helm: Jennifer Grausman (co-directed with Sam Cullman and Mark Becker) with Art and Craft, Tia Lessin (co-directed with Carl Deal) with Citizen Koch, Laura Poitras with Citizenfour and Rory Kennedy with Last Days in Vietnam. Additionally, three of the eight shortlisted documentary shorts feature female directors: Ellen Goosenberg Kent with Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1, Aneta Kopacz with Joanna and Lucy Walker with The Lion’s Mouth Opens. More often than not, women directors tend to...

From director Rick Goldsmith, who I had the pleasure of meeting in person at the Independent Film Week panel I moderated a month ago, comes a feature documentary (currently a work-in-progress) on former Wnba star, Olympic gold medalist and Tennessee All-American basketball player Chamique Holdsclaw - a star athlete and public personality who was treated for depression until being diagnosed with bipolar disorder after breaking the car windows and shooting into the vehicle belonging to another Wnba player and her then ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Lacy, which Holdsclaw pleaded guilty to, resulting in three years' probation and a $3,000 fine.  Goldsmith's upcoming...

With the election just weeks away, it's more important than ever to be reminded of how we receive information and what assumptions we make about our news sources. Indiewire's latest curation of Hulu's Documentaries page explores journalism and the wider media landscape, offering analysis, critiques and, in some cases, conspiracies about the way the medium is the message. Watch these docs for free now! Rick Goldsmith's Oscar-nominated "Tell the Truth and Run" profiles famed journalist George Seldes and his long career, stretching from the 1910s until his death in 1995. Finding himself clashing time and time again with the interests of the owners of the papers for which he wrote, Seldes founded his own newsletter that focused on the undue influence money and power had on his profession, a situation that has only been exacerbated through media consolidation. Other docs in this collection looking at the vulnerability of the free press include.

First Run Features announced today its acquisition of the award-winning documentary The Pruitt-igoe Myth from filmmaker Chad Freidrichs. First Run is planning a March 2012 theatrical launch with VOD, home video and television to follow. The deal was negotiated by Film Sales Company head Andrew Herwitz and First Run’s Marc Mauceri.

The Pruitt-igoe Myth tells the story of the transformation of the American city in the decades after World War II, through the lens of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing development and the St. Louis residents who called it home.

It began as a housing marvel. Built in 1956, Pruitt-Igoe was heralded as the model public housing project of the future, “the poor man’s penthouse.” Two decades later, it ended in rubble – its razing an iconic event that the architectual theorist Charles Jenks famously called the death of modernism. The footage and images of its implosion have helped to perpetuate a myth of failure,...

Better This World, The Tiniest Place and the other nominations for the 2011 Ida Awards have been announced. The 27th Annual Ida Awards (documentary awards) are presented by the International Documentary Association (Ida) “a non-profit organization promoting documentary film, video and new media, to support the efforts of documentary filmmaking and video production makers around the world and to increase public appreciation and demand for the art of the documentary…the Ida has approximately 2,800 members in 53 countries, providing a forum for supporters and suppliers of documentary film making.”

This years presentation will see “the 2011 Career Achievement Award [awarded] to legendary documentary filmmaker Les Blank. He will be presented his award by Werner Herzog. Director Danfung Dennis (Hell and Back Again) will receive the 2011 Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award.”

The full listing of the 2011 Ida Awards nominations is below.

Best Feature Award

Better This World

Directors/Producers/Writers: Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega...

The International Documentary Association (Ida) has announced its list of 2011 award nominees. Up for Best Feature are Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega's Better This World, Peter D. Richardson's How to Die in Oregon, Patricio Guzmán's Nostalgia for the Light, Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion's The Redemption of General Butt Naked, and Tatiana Huezo's The Tiniest Place. [Photo: David McKay, imprisoned as a "domestic terrorist," in Better This World.] Themes range from political repression and the cosmos (Nostalgia for the Light), political repression and terrorism paranoia (Better This World), and political repression and hope in a small village in El Salvador (The Tiniest Place) to euthanasia and (How to Die in Oregon) and the story of a Liberian warlord (The Redemption of General Butt Naked). Of the five Best Feature nominees, only Nostalgia for the Light was also nominated in that category for the Cinema Eye Honors for Nonfiction Filmmaking, which were announced yesterday. Notably absent...

Ronald Reagan, Nancy Reagan in Eugene Jarecki's Reagan Euthanasia, Political Repression, Liberian Warlord: International Documentary Association Nominations David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award This award recognizes exceptional achievement in non-fiction film and video production at the university level and brings greater public and industry awareness to the work of students in the documentary field. GUAÑAPE Sur Director/Executive Producer/Writer: János Richter Executive Producers: Heidi Gronauer, Lorenzo Paccagnella Producer: Georg Zeller ZeLIG- School for Documentary, Andanafilms, Icarus Films Heart-quake Director/Writer: Mark Olexa Executive Producers: Heidi Gronauer, Lorenzo Paccagnella Producers: Georg Zeller, Nadia Caruso ZeLIG – School for Documentary River Of Victory Director/Producer: Trevor Wright Executive Director: Jack Emery Producers: A. Todd Smith, Jordan Augustine Full Mountain Pictures, Brigham Young University Smoke Songs Director/Producer/Writer: Briar March Executive Producers: Jan Krawitz, Jamie Meltzer, Kris Samuelson On the Level Production Transit Director/Writer: Regina Tan Producers: Haley Quartarone, Juvia Chua,...

(San Francisco) – 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of the Independent Television Service (Itvs), one of the largest sources of funding for independent filmmakers. In recognition of this milestone, Itvs is launching the Itvs Indies Showcase, a free online film festival running from July 25 to September 23, 2011 in honor of the extraordinary contributions of independent filmmakers to public television.

The 20 unforgettable documentaries in the Itvs Indies Showcase represent glimpses of the collection of more than 1,000 productions Itvs has supported as the country’s leading provider of independent films for public broadcasting. Each full-length program will stream for free for three days on itvs.org/indies-showcase where viewers will also find a timeline of Itvs’s history, film trailers, clips, interviews, an audience award contest, and more.

Through the tenacity of filmmakers and their supporters seeking to foster plurality and diversity in public television, Itvs was established by an unprecedented mandate of Congress to...

Sarah Palin is The Undefeated Despite reports to the contrary, the Sarah Palin movie The Undefeated did not play to empty houses on its first weekend out in North America. According to Box Office Mojo, The Undefeated brought in $65,132 at 10 locations over the weekend of July 15-17; the Stephen K. Bannon-directed film's per-theater average was a so-so $6,513. So, "so-so" may not mean "packed houses" or "boffo" (in icky Variety slang), but non-existent patrons bring in no revenue. The claim that The Undefeated was playing to empty houses became "fact" following a report by The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf, who described his experience sitting mostly alone at a midnight screening of the Sarah Palin documentary in — mostly Republican — Orange County, right behind the Orange Curtain southeast of Los Angeles. But clearly, paying customers were around at other The Undefeated screenings in Orange County, Houston, Phoenix, Indianapolis, and elsewhere. Perhaps far-right Republicans go to bed early?...

Reviewer: Erin Donovan

Rating (out of 5): ****

A fascinating theme emerges early on in Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith's Oscar-nominated documentary The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers: that the same circular thinking and one-upsmanship games inevitably will overtake hyper-insulated circles once their belief system come under fire. Whether they be grassroots activist groups, major media companies, the Department of Defense or the White House -- the wheels come off with striking similarity and lead to some fantastic collapses.

135 filmmakers and executives have been invited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences to join its ranks. Recent Oscar nominees and winners such as Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Mo'Nique, Carey Mulligan, Jeremy Renner, Gabourey Sidibe and Christoph Waltz have been invited to join; but even "Saw's" Tobin Bell and "Avatar's" Zoe Saldana received invites.

New members will be "baptized" in an invitation-only reception in September at the Academy's Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study in Beverly Hills.

Here's a complete list of the 2010 invitees:

Actors

Tobin Bell -- "Saw," "The Firm"

Vera Farmiga -- "Up in the Air," "The Departed"

Miguel Ferrer -- "Traffic," "RoboCop"

James Gandolfini -- "In the Loop," "Get Shorty"

Anna Kendrick -- "Up in the Air," "Twilight"

Mo'Nique -- "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," "Phat Girlz"

Carey Mulligan -- "An Education," "Public Enemies"

Jeremy Renner -- "The Hurt Locker,...

it's not Tuesday but it's time for a Top Ten anyway... as this is yesterday's news already!

AMPAS used to hide their membership roster like the vote tallies but in the information age, they've opened up. Now we get to see the whole list of new invitees each year. I wonder how they keep they're membership around 6,000 given how many people they invite annual. Maybe enough people reject the offer, stop paying their dues, or pass from this mortal coil each year to balance it out?

You can read the full list of recipients at Indiewire, but as is the Film Experience tradition, we like to pinpoint the newest (potential) members whose future ballots we'd most like to see. So let's have at it.

New Academy Member Ballots We Most Want To See

10 Bono & The Edge (music)

They're two separate people but we'd like to imagine them filling out their ballots together inbetween sets.

HollywoodNews.com: Adam Sandler is gearing up for the release of his new film, “Grown Ups,” and has just been announced as one of 135 artists selected to join the Academy.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is extending invitations to join the organization to 135 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures. Those who accept the invitation will be the only additions in 2010 to the Academy’s roster of voting members.

“The work of these individuals has been appreciated by moviegoers all around the world,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “The Academy is proud to invite each and every one of them.”

The Academy’s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 180 new members in 2010, but as in other recent years, the several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held...

Oscar winner Indian sound recordist Resul Pookutty has been invited to join the coveted Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences as a member. Along with Resul the invitation has been extended to 135 film professionals from around the globe that includes Christopher Walts (Inglorious Basterds) and Jacque Audiard (A Prophet). Resul was awarded an Oscar last year for Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire.

Members of the academy vote for the annual academy awards.

“The work of these individuals has been appreciated by moviegoers all around the world,” said Academy President Tom Sherak. “The Academy is proud to invite each and every one of them.”

The Academy’s membership policies would have allowed a maximum of 180 new members in 2010, but as in other recent years, the several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them. Voting membership in the organization has now held steady at just under 6,000 members since...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 135 filmmakers and executives -- including such recent Oscar nominees and winners as Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Mo'Nique, Carey Mulligan, Jeremy Renner, Gabourey Sidibe and Christoph Waltz -- to join its ranks.

The Academy issued its annual invitation list Thursday.

The actor's portion of the list ranged from genre favorites like "Saw's" Tobin Bell to "Avatar's" Zoe Saldana, from "Sopranos" star James Gandolfini, whose film credits include "In the Loop" and "Get Shorty" to rising leading man Ryan Reynolds, who's appeared in "The Proposal" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine."

An international sampling of directors made the cut: Among them France's Jacques Audiard, Argentina's Juan Jose Campanella, Denmark's Lone Scherfig and, from the U.S., Lee Daniels and Adam Shankman, the latter of whom co-produced the last Oscar show.

Oscar nominee "District 9" was well represented: Matt Aitken and Dan Kaufman...

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers will be released domestically on DVD by First Run Features. Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith’s Academy Award-nominated documentary was the 2009 winner of the National Board of Review Freedom of Expression Award. (Photo: Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon.) The Most Dangerous Man in America will be available nationwide on DVD on July 20. The synopsis below is from the First Run Features website: In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg, a high-level Pentagon official and Vietnam War strategist, concludes that the war is based on decades of lies and [...]...

On April 30 at 2:30 pm, there will be a free screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary, "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and The Pentagon Papers" (2010, :94), a film by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith that was partially funded by The Yip Harburg Foundation. Robert Ellsberg, Daniel's son and a key figure in the Pentagon Papers affair, will appear at the event for a talk-back and questions.

How much trust do we put in our elected officials? How far-reaching, how blatant are the lies that the government tells us, reaching all the way up the ladder to the big man in the oval office? Daniel Ellsberg discovered the answers to these questions first hand during his time working with the Rand Corporation in collaboration with Robert McNamara and the U.S. government during the Vietnam War. This was a devastating revelation that ultimately shifted his views and his life, resulting in a shift in the interpretation of the First Amendment in relation to the publication of classified documents in the media.

Is this all a bit much to take in? Well, The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers is the kind of documentary that can present enough information to make your head spin, or to inform and awaken audiences to the underbelly of American history.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

Chicago – Is the Iraq war merely a continuation of Vietnam? In both cases, were we led to war under false pretenses, with the assurance that we were preserving democracy? Viewers on both sides of the political spectrum will be arguing about these questions long after this documentary, and the current war itself, is over.

Without even mentioning Iraq, this film indirectly highlights several provocative and unsettling similarities between the past and current wars, proving that history tends to repeat itself more often than one would care to admit. “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” is the deservedly Oscar-nominated portrait of the outraged military analyst who leaked a top-secret Pentagon study to the press. Younger viewers less familiar with Ellsberg will be riveted by his story, while older viewers will be startled by the extent to which he evolved, and the risks he undertook,...

Zero surprises here, and though I disliked this doc, I'm peeved that Psihoyos got shafted and didn't even get to speak. What's with all this time allocated to butt end jokes opening a category over the actual award winning speeches. Ben Stiller's Na'vi thing could have lengthened three winner speeches, including this one. - The Noms: “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-møller “The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens “Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith “Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa Who Will Win: The Cove Who Should Win: Burma VJ Who Won: The Cove Commentary: Zero surprises here, and though I disliked this doc, I'm peeved that Psihoyos got shafted and didn't even get...

With another year’s ceremony come and gone, the 2010 Academy Awards announced the big winners during a ceremony at Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night (March 7).

Taking home the top prize of Best Picture was “The Hurt Locker,” which ended up winning a total of six Oscar trophies.

As for the actor/actress categories, the Academy bestowed honors onto Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock, Mo’Nique and Christopher Waltz.

The complete list of 201o Oscar winners is as follows:

Actor in a Leading Role

Winner: Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”

George Clooney in “Up in the Air”

Colin Firth in “A Single Man”

Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”

Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon in “Invictus”

Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”

Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”

Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”

Winner: Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading...

A couple of Academy crowd-favorites won the top acting awards, and The Hurt Locker got the biggest prize of the night!

Sandra Bullock won her first Best Actress award — and even she seemed surprised by the win. Jeff Bridges didn’t seem overly shocked to nab Best Actor, but he still gave a aww-inducing speech celebrating his eminent show-biz family. We particularly liked the dude with the crazy hair who won for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing (Paul Ottosson of The Hurt Locker) and yawn Sandy Powell won for the third time for costume design (The Young Victoria). And you’re probably looking for all the rest of the winners, neatly formatted …

Best picture “Avatar” “The Blind Side” “District 9″ “An Education” (Winner)”The Hurt Locker” “Inglourious Basterds” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” “A Serious Man” “Up” “Up in the Air” Best actor (Winner) Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart” George Clooney,...

Oscar winners 2010 list is here.

We already wrote about possible winners and competition between- James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow, so we can say that we’re not at all surprised that this was Kathryn Bigelow’s night.

The Hurt Locker won 6 Oscars, including honour for Best Movie and Best Director.

So, Bigelow became the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director.

On the other hand, the movie that still sits on the top of box office, James Cameron’s Avatar definetely had a bad luck. The movie won only 3 golden statues in technical categories – Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects.

We can’t help but think that this show really seemed like Bigelow’s sweet revenge.

Sandra Bullock was named best actress for The Blind Side after she proudly attended Razzie 2010 event and took completely different award.

“Did I really earn this, or did I just wear you all down?...

Well, there weren't many major surprises nor many particularly memorable moments, but we still had a lot of fun watching the Oscars here tonight. Thanks to all of you who tuned in for the live podcast and joined us in the live chat over at Ustream [1]. As you may have heard, The Hurt Locker cleaned up, taking home a total of 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director, making Kathryn Bigelow the first female director to ever win the award. James Cameron's Avatar, on the other hand, won only for visual effects, art direction and cinematography. All of the acting categories went off as expected, with Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock winning Best Actor and Best Actress, while Christoph Waltz and Mo'Nique won the supporting trophies. If there was an upset at all, it was probably The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos), which beat...

The biggest night in Hollywood is here and over the next few hours they’ll be tears, cheers and (hopefully) a few surprises as the 82nd Academy Awards are handed out.

The sordid trudge up the red carpet has finished and I’m going to be blogging live as the winners are announced, you can have a look at our Oscars predictions here and follow us on as the Twitter storm rages, or get all interactive with FilmXtra Tom who is video blogging the Oscars here.

My hopes are with Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan and I’m secretly hoping that Tarantino walks off with Best Picture for Inglourious Basterds and Coraline bests Up for Best Animated Feature.

Ok… the time is upon us. I’ll be updating the blog with the winners as I go, as well as providing as coherent a commentary as possible.

Remember to keep hitting...

"The Insider" has your complete list of winners from Sunday night's 82nd Academy Awards! Read on to see who took home an Oscar on film's biggest night (winners' names bolded below)! Best Picture Winner: “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers Directing Winner: “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow “Avatar” James Cameron “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels “Up in the Air...

Tonight is the night film fans! The 82nd Academy Awards is just hours away and this year the competition is steep! With 2009 being such a good year for film, and the ceremony itself already having it’s fair share of controversy (we’re looking at you, Nicolas Chartier) it promises to be one hell of a night!

Fortunately for our FilmShaft readers, you don’t need Sky in order to keep up with the latest goings on at the prestigious Kodak Theater in Hollywood, because we’ll be keeping you up to date right here! Below is a list of this year’s nominees, including the two heavyweight productions, Avatar and Hurt Locker. If you want to know who’s winning what, then check our list below for live updates throughout the night.

Also, I’ll be provided my own thoughts an insights on the event right here, and if...

It.s shaping up to be a battle between .The Hurt Locker. and .Avatar. at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards! Both films lead the pack with 9 nominations each including Best Picture, but only one will remain victorious.

From Best Short Film to Best Actor, here are my complete, humble but truly fearless Oscar predictions.

Best Picture

* .Avatar. James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

* .The Blind Side. Nominees to be determined

* .District 9. Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

* .An Education. Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

* .The Hurt Locker. Nominees to be determined

* .Inglourious Basterds. Lawrence Bender, Producer

* .Precious: Based on the Novel .Push. by Sapphire. Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers

* .A Serious Man. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers

* .Up. Jonas Rivera, Producer

* .Up in the Air. Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

And The Oscar Will Go To:

.The Hurt Locker. . The thrilling Iraq...

Welcome back to Moment of Truth, Movieline's weekly showcase of up-and-coming nonfiction cinema. Usually each installment features one new film and filmmaker, but hey: It's Oscars Weekend! This calls for an exception. As such, Movieline reached out to this year's nominees for Best Documentary Feature, hosting a virtual roundtable including:

· Rebecca Cammisa (Which Way Home, about Latin American child migrants to the U.S.)

· Judith Erlich and Rick Goldsmith (The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, about the famous Vietnam War-era whistleblower)

· Robert Kenner (Food Inc., about the grave implications of U.S. food production)

· Anders Østergaard (Burma VJ, about citizen journalists documenting uprisings in Burma)

· Louie Psihoyos (The Cove, about the secret slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, Japan)

Congrats to them! But now we have some questions. Take a moment to get to know them, their stories, their takes on the race, and, of course,...

If you can remember Nixon, you probably know the name Daniel Ellsberg. Either way you've almost certainly heard of the Pentagon Papers -- the explosive documents detailing government deception of the public during the Vietnam War, which Ellsberg leaked to the New York Times and other papers in 1971. The Most Dangerous Man in America, a new documentary by Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, tells Ellsberg's story, from his early role as a top military analyst under Robert McNamara to his growing doubts and decision -- and subsequent struggle -- to expose the truth. After the alleged Gulf of Tonkin attack on a U.S. ship by North Vietnam, the Pentagon rushed to make the case for war. Daniel Ellsberg, who had just arrived at the Pentagon as a military analyst, played a key role -- digging to find an incident of...

By Judith Ehrlich & Rick Goldsmith

The year, 2005: The United States was involved in two wars. We had been lied into at least one of them (Iraq) by our president. The other war (Afghanistan) was already 4 years old, and there was no end in sight. The relevance of Dan Ellsberg's story with the Pentagon Papers, risking life in prison to stop a war he helped plan, was unmistakable.

We both knew Dan, who had appeared in Rick’s Oscar-nominated "Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the Am...

Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith are co-producers and co-directors of Oscar-nominated documentary, “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.” Goldsmith also produced and directed the Academy-Award nominated “Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press” and wrote and edited “Soul of Justice: Thelton Henderson’s American Journey.” Ehrlich co-produced and co-directed “The Good War and Those Who Refused to Fight It.” Together they have produced dozens of prize-winning broadcast and educational films and videos over the last two decades.

The movie's star Jeremy Renner is up for the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar, competing against George Clooney ("Up in the Air"), Morgan Freeman ("Invictus"), Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart") and Colin Firth ("A Single Man").

In the Best Director category, Bigelow will fight it out with her ex-husband James Cameron, who is praised for his sci-fi epic "Avatar", along with Quentin Tarantino ("Inglourious Basterds"), Lee Daniels ("Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire") and Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air").

"The Hurt Locker" is also in the running for Best Picture - the film is among 10 nominees for the prestigious accolade, including "Avatar", "Up in the Air", "The Blind Side" and "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire".

Meanwhile, Sandra Bullock has landed her first Oscar nomination for her role in "The Blind Side" - the star will go up against Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia"), Helen Mirren...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has on Tuesday morning, February 2 announced the nominees of the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The unraveling of the nominees affirmed that there will indeed be a head-to-head battle between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep as the two are vying for Best Actress.

45-year-old Bullock was listed for the title for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy in "The Blind Side". It is the first Academy Award gong the star of "The Proposal" collected. Meanwhile, 60-year-old Streep was nominated for her Julia Child portrayal in "Julie & Julia". With this nom, the "Doubt" leading lady has extended her reign as the most nominated performer in Academy history by collecting her 16th.

Also collecting her first Oscar nomination was "Up in the Air" young star, Anna Kendrick. The 24-year-old who is also known for her Jessica Stanley role in the "Twilight Saga" series earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination.

Every year at about this time, the Academy of Arts and Sciences announces their nominations for the Oscars. This is a troubling time for film fans, as they see that their favorite movies may not get the big nod, or the best performances do not get put forward for lack of Academic backbone.

For this year, of course, the Academy accidentally looked over Nicolas Cage’s performance in Bad Lieutenant. No big deal. It was only one of the greatest performance in the past 100 years. I’m sure that the announcers this morning simply forget to read off his name. Right?

Anyway, we’ll make the best with what we have. And the nominees this year are pretty good. A lot of the nominated films are still playing in our theatres. Of the nominees, we’ve still got:

9 for Avatar

6 for Up in the Air

3 for Crazy Heart

2 for Sherlock Holmes...

Complete list of 82nd Annual Academy Award nominations announced.

Anne Hathaway announced the nominees this morning at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

As expected, there was lots of love for “Avatar” — the film is up in a total of nine categories, as is “The Hurt Locker,” including Best Picture and Best Director nominations for both James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow.

The academy’s announcement marked the first time in 66 years that there were 10 nominees in this marquee category, instead of the traditional five. The last time the academy went this route, “Casablanca” took home Oscar gold as the best picture of 1943. “The Blind Side” scored a spot next to films like “Up“, “Inglourious Basterds,” and “District 9.”

The best actor nominations went to Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart,” George Clooney for “Up in the Air,” Colin Firth for “A Single Man,...

Groundbreaking, first-time nominee Kathryn Bigelow was prepping for an appearance on the "Today Show" with two of her "Hurt Locker" actors Tuesday morning when the best director noms were announced. "These situations get framed as a competition," she said. "I don't see it that way. I see it as being honored in this incredible mix of filmmakers with these incredible films, and it's a great compliment to the entire 'Hurt Locker' cast and crew. We shot this movie under very difficult conditions in the summer in the Middle East -- windstorms, sandstorms -- using a crew from Lebanon and Israel, so it was no small feat. It's pretty heady stuff, let's put it that way, to be in the same conversation with these other films." Although she's aware of the magnitude of her nomination, the fourth for a female director, Bigelow is focused more on the potential impact on aspiring filmmakers.

<b>Best Motion Picture of the Year</b>•

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Total Images: (52)');">Avatar: James Cameron, Jon Landau•

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Total Images: (4)');">The Blind Side: Nominees to be determined•

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Total Images: (20)');">District 9: Peter Jackson, Carolynne Cunningham•

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Total Images: (27)');">An Education: Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey•

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Total Images: (13)');">The Hurt Locker: Nominees to be determined•

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Total Images: (28)');">Inglourious Basterds: Lawrence Bender•

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Total Images: (4)');">Precious: Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, Gary Magness•

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Total Images: (2)');">A Serious Man: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen•

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Total Images: (9)');">Up: Jonas Rivera•

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Total Images: (18)');">Up in the Air: Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman<b>Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role</b>• Jeff Bridges for

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Total Images: (1)');">Crazy Heart• George Clooney for...

Early this morning Tom Sherak and Anne Hathaway announced the nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The ceremonial event will be aired on March 7th on ABC and will be co-hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Check out the complete list of nominations below: Best Picture * “Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers * “The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined * “District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers * “An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers * “The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined * “Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer * “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers * “A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers * “Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer * “Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers Actor in a Leading Role * Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” * George Clooney in “Up in the Air” * Colin Firth...

Fuller commentary coming this evening. For now, just the list. The extra long wait this year... did it pay off for you with exciting reveals or only delay the inevitable disappointment? All reactions are welcome...

Best Picture

“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Blind Side” Nominees to be determined

“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

“The Hurt Locker” Nominees to be determined

“Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers

“A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers

“Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer

“Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Best Director“Avatar” James Cameron

“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow

“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels

“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman...

The 82nd annual Academy Award nominations were announced Tuesday morning. Below is the complete list of nominations along with links to exclusive MakingOf content.

Actor in a Leading Role

Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”

George Clooney in “Up in the Air”

Colin Firth in “A Single Man”

Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”

Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon in “Invictus”

Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”

Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”

Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”

Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role

Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”

Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”

Carey Mulligan in “An Education”

Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Penélope Cruz in “Nine”

Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”

Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”

Anna Kendrick in...

The wait is over, folks... the nominees for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards were announced this morning by Academy president Tom Sherak and Anne Hathaway. And guess what? There weren't many surprises. Almost every category seemed to parallel the previous winners that we've seen already at earlier award ceremonies. It was cool to see some of the additional films up for Best Picture this year, including District 9 and Up (yes, Pixar finally got their Best Picture nod). I guess it was a bit of a surprise that Jeremy Renner got nominated for The Hurt Locker, and Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart. The Secret of Kells was a dark horse nominee for the Best Animated Feature category, and I know some people will be excited to see In The Loop in there for Best Adapted Screenplay. Plus, just to spite Reed Farrington, Star Trek was nominated for Best Make-Up.

As expected, the Oscar nominations were virtually surprise-free as they were announced this morning by Academy President Tom Sherak and Oscar-nominated actress Anne Hathaway. If you count "The Blind Side's" nomination for Best Picture as a surprise, that's the most gripping moment during the announcement (you could hear the audience clap with excitement when the film was announced).

But I'm more ecstatic with the inclusion of "District 9" for Best Picture, and sadden with the snub of "(500) Days of Summer."

"Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" led the pack with 9 nominations each. James Cameron's sci-fi flick scored noms including Best Picture, Director, Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects. Although the biggest blockbuster in the world failed to get a Best Original Screenplay nomination.

"The Hurt Locker," Kathryn Bigelow's masterpiece (and my pick to win the top awards) scored nominations for Best Picture and Director,...

Normally these things never suit UK time as they’re in the middle of the night but, as we eat our Tuesday lunch, the 82nd Annual Academy Awards Nominations (or the Oscars as they’re more affectionately known) will be revealed live by Anne Hathaway from an La hotel at 5am local time in the Us!

We’ve got the stream ready, we’ve got our sandwich in hand and we’re ready to be either jaw droppingly shocked or smiling with pleasure as the nominations are brought to us. Will James Cameron’s Avatar be in every category? Will Sam Rockwell even get nominated for Moon (No here wont! )? I guess we’ll wait to see.

Once they’re complete, we’ll be bringing you the full list of nominations right here. We’ll also be live twittering so make sure you follow us here. The event stars at...

With nine nominations each, "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" led the pack as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences opened up its best picture Oscar race to 10 nominees for the first time since 1943.

Nominated for best picture are: The blockbuster "Avatar," the morally uplifting "The Blind Side," the femme-centric coming-of-age-tale "An Education," the Iraq War-set "The Hurt Locker," the South African sci-fi tale "District 9," the revisionist World War II story "Inglourious Basterds," the dysfunctional family drama "Precious," the modern-day Job story "A Serious Man," the animated "Up" and the high-flying look at a downsizing America, "Up in the Air."

With the unveiling of nominations for the 82nd annual Academy Awards on Tuesday morning, Meryl Streep earned her 16th Oscar nomination for whipping up a mean omelet in "Julie & Julia," while Sandra Bullock captured her first nom for playing a suburban mom who takes a homeless teen into her home in "Blind Side.

2010 Oscar Predictions Best Documentary Feature The Beaches of Agnes, Agnès Varda, director (Cine-Tamaris) The Cove, Louie Psihoyos, director (Oceanic Preservation Society) Food, Inc., Robert Kenner, director (Robert Kenner Films) Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders, Mark N. Hopkins, director (Red Floor Pictures LLC) The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, directors (Kovno Communications) Like in the best foreign language film category, the best documentary feature Academy Award nominations are decided by a relatively small group of people. Like in the best foreign language film category, controversies have plagued the Academy’s documentary branch since its inception decades ago. Four of the five films above have been widely talked about, especially The Beaches [...]...

As a history lesson, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith’s enthralling new documentary, The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, is as solid as a textbook, stitching together old broadcast footage, first-person testimony, tart excerpts from the Nixon White House tapes, and noirish recreations into riveting, revelatory political drama. The name “Daniel Ellsberg” probably doesn’t trigger the same flurry of associations as Deep Throat, the shadowy antihero of the Watergate scandal, but it should: An ex-Marine, former assistant to Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara, and highly respected analyst at the Rand Corporation, Ellsberg leaked a 7,000-page study detailing the top-secret Southeast Asia policies of...