I have long considered AJ Schnack to be one of the most insightful writers about the current state of documentary out there. So I was very happy to read his incisive take on the rather, ahem, disappointing shortlist for the Academy Award’s documentary category this year. And not just because BILLY THE KID was so egregiously and wrongfully rejected. I’m kidding (no, I’m not) of course. But AJ did make some excellent points. Below is my comment that I posted in response to the article.

I remember when the Academy finally recognized Errol Morris (the reason I became interested in documentary filmmaking) in 2004. He said “I’d like to thank the Academy for finally recognizing my films. Thank you so very, very, very much! I thought it would never happen.” At the time, I thought he was being cocky and arrogant. (And having seen him speak several times, I can’t say he is not both of these.) However, his frustration at not having been recognized previously is completely fair. The fact that last year a filmed Power Point presentation (featuring a bold-faced name and huge box office numbers) won the award, proves AJ’s point that the Academy only sometimes (seemingly begrudgingly) recognizes that documentary filmmaking is not limited to reconstructions – dry, sentimental, whatever – of historic events – but is truly an artform that illuminates and questions the truths and experiences of everyday life. I respect the hard work of each one of the filmmakers short-listed here, some more than others; but it seems the Academy chooses to downplay the very first definition of documentary, put forth by one John Grierson: “documentary is the artistic representation of actuality”, rather than just a high school film strip waiting to happen.