Academy looks at Oscar docs

Aug 16, 2005 by Ian Evans

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will be looking back at non-fiction filmmaking with its new series “Oscar’s Docs: The First Twenty Years of Academy Award®-Winning Documentaries — 1941-1960,” beginning September 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theater. The 12-week series will showcase the first 40 Oscar®-winning short subject and feature length documentaries honored since the inception of the category in 1941 utilizing rare prints from the Academy Film Archive collection, many of which have been newly struck or restored for the series. “Oscar’s Docs” will continue each Monday evening, except for Halloween (October 31), through December 5. The series also will feature two panel discussion evenings, one on World War II documentaries and the other on nature documentaries.

The complete screening schedule is as follows:

• September 12
  • “Churchill’s Island” (1941)
  • “Prelude to War” (1942)
  • “Moscow Strikes Back” (1942)
  • “Kokoda Front Line” (1942)
  • “Battle of Midway” (1942)

• September 19
  • “December 7” (1943)
  • “Desert Victory” (1943)
  • “With the Marines at Tarawa” (1944)
  • “The Fighting Lady” (1944)

• September 26
  • World War II Panel

• October 3
  • “Hitler Lives?” (1945)
  • “The True Glory” (1945)
  • “Seeds of Destiny” (1946)

• October 10
  • “First Steps” (1947)
  • “Design for Death” (1947)
  • “Toward Independence” (1948)
  • “The Secret Land” (1948)

• October 17
  • Nature Documentary Panel

• October 24
  • “So Much for So Little” (1949)
  • “A Chance to Live (The March of Time)” (1949)
  • “Daybreak in Udi” (1949)
  • “Why Korea?” (1950)
  • “The Titan: Story of Michelangelo” (1950)

• November 7
  • “Benjy” (1951)
  • “Kon-Tiki” (1951)
  • “Neighbours” (1952)
  • “The Sea Around Us” (1952)

• November 14
  • “The Alaskan Eskimo” (1953)
  • “The Living Desert” (1953)
  • “Thursday’s Children” (1954)
  • “The Vanishing Prairie” (1954)

• November 21
  • “Men Against the Arctic” (1955)
  • “Hellen Keller in Her Story” (1955)
  • “The True Story of the Civil War” (1956)
  • “The Silent World” (1956)

• November 28
  • “Albert Schweitzer” (1957)
  • “Ama Girls” (1958)
  • “White Wilderness” (1958)

• December 5
  • “Glass” (1959)
  • “Serengeti Shall Not Die” (1959)
  • “Giuseppina” (1960)
  • “The Horse with the Flying Tail” (1960)

Passes for “Oscar’s Docs: The First Twenty Years of Academy Award-Winning Documentaries — 1941-1960” are available at a cost of $30 for the general public and $25 for Academy members and students with valid I.D. Tickets for each individual evening may be purchased at a cost of $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid I.D. They may be purchased by mail, in person at the Academy during regular business hours or, pending availability, the night of the screening when the doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Academy’s Linwood Dunn Theatre is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. For more information, call (310) 247-3000, ext. 111.