oscars 2013: 'searching for sugar man' wins best documentary
DESCRIPTION
The musical mystery “Searching for Sugar Man” won the Oscar for documentary on Sunday night. Directed by Malik Bendjelloul, the film about an obscure Detroit singer made a remarkable near-sweep of eligible awards since its premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.TRANSCRIPT
Oscars 2013: 'Searching for Sugar Man' wins best documentary
The musical mystery “Searching for Sugar Man” won the Oscar for documentary onSunday night. Directed by Malik Bendjelloul, the film about an obscure Detroit singermade a remarkable near-sweep of eligible awards since its premiere at the 2012 Sun-dance Film Festival.
The film details how for years it was thought that the 1970s singer-songwriter known asRodriguez had faded into obscurity or died. But through the passionate sleuthing ofdedicated fans in South Africa, where he unexpectedly achieved a startling level offame, he was discovered to be very much alive, living and working in Michigan. Pro-ducer Simon Chinn previously won the Oscar for his work on “Man on Wire.”
Rodriguez himself was not at the Oscars; Bendjelloul said he was on tour in SouthAfrica.
Oscars 2013: Nominee list | Red carpet | Fashion
This year’s feature documentary nominees were a mix of the personal and political,emotions and activism from around the world.
Also competing in the category were:
With “The Gatekeepers,” director Dror Moreh and producers Philippa Kowarsky andEstelle Fialon pulled off the astonishing feat of getting six former heads of Israel’s coun-terterrorism agency to speak on-camera about the moral complexities of their work witha mixture of insight and even regret. The film is a powerful examination of the long, vio-lent history between Palestine and Israel.
The first Palestinian film to ever be nominated for documentary feature, the Israeli-Palestinian-French co-production “5 Broken Cameras” takes a different, on-the-groundangle toward the ongoing conflict on the West Bank. Palestinian farmer Emad Burnatbegan documenting his life on home video, with that footage eventually shaped by hisco-director Guy Davidi. The title is from the film itself, as Burnat went through fivecameras in capturing the nonviolent resistance of everyday life amid bulldozers,protests and constant military presence.
Directed by Kirby Dick and produced by Amy Ziering, “The Invisible War” shines a
light on the widespread epidemic of sexual harassment in the U.S. military. The film hasalready had a tangible, positive effect in the world, as military officials have renewed ef-forts to curb sexual assault. Dick was previously nominated in this category for his 2004documentary “Twist of Faith.”
In “How to Survive a Plague,” director David France and producer Howard Gertlerlook at the early days of AIDS, the formation of the group ACT-UP and the sense ofcommunity and activism that sprang from the response to the emergence of disease inthe early 1980s.
The 85th Academy Awards are being held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Sun-day night, in a televised ceremony hosted by Seth MacFarlane.
ALSO:
PHOTOS: Top Oscar nominees
FULL COVERAGE: Oscars 2013
VIDEO: Nominees' definining scenes
OSCAR WATCH: What you need to know
BUZZMETER: Pundits make their final picks
VIDEO: 6 directors talk shop
Follow Mark Olsen on Twitter: @IndieFocus