As members of the Oscar Documentation Branch prepare to vote on the shortlists starting Monday, they will have a record-breaking turnout. 201 feature documentaries to choose from. By the time the votes are counted, there will only be 15 finalists left on this list with a chance at an Oscar nomination.
In today's episode of Deadline's Documentary conversation podcast, we speak to the creators of three of the top contenders for recognition on the shortlist, including the talented team behind the National Geographic Podcast. The Tale of Silian. Directed by Tamara Kotevskaya, nominated for an Oscar for her 2019 documentary. Honey Country (co-director Lyubo Stefanov) tells a story based both on reality and myth. In North Macedonia, where Kotevska is from, white storks hold a prized place in culture, having long made this part of Eastern Europe a home for raising their young. In the film, directed and produced by Jean Dakar, a farmer films an injured stork, and the relationship between man and bird has become, in the words of Kotevska and Dakar, “pure magic.”
We also speak with Sepideh Farsi, director Put your soul on your hand and go. The director recounts how she met her documentary's protagonist, Fatma Hassouna, a Palestinian photographer and poet trying to survive the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. Hassouna and her family died tragically. during an Israeli missile attack the day after Farsi's film was accepted for premiere at this year's Cannes Film Festival.
Legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hershnow in his late eighties, continues to report from the Gaza Strip and other scoops with the same dogged determination that helped him break the story of the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War. Hersh's career is in the spotlight Cover updirected by Oscar winner Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) and Mark Obenhaus. Poitras tells us why the Nixon White House nearly blew up when Hersh joined the US president's team. New York Timesand why Hersh began investigating his boss at the newspaper while he was working there. Poitras also reveals why Hersh threatened to quit the documentary project before harmony was restored between the filmmakers and the protagonist.
Cover upwhich premiered at the Venice Film Festival (as did The Tale of Silian) opens in US theaters on December 19 and premieres on Netflix on December 26.
We met all of our guests featured on today's podcast at the SFFILM Doc Stories Film Festival in San Francisco. It has become an important destination for filmmakers in search of Academy Awards.
It's on the new episode of Doc Talk. Hosted by Oscar winner Ridley (12 years a slave, Shirley) and Matt Carey, senior documentary editor at Deadline. This capsule was created by Deadline and Ridley's Nō Studios.
Listen to the episode above or on major podcast platforms including Spotify, iHeart And Apple.
