Episode 803: 2020 Oscar-Nominated Documentary Shorts / For Sama

Fog of Truth

Well, the 2020 Academy Awards may have come and gone, but that's no reason to stop watching the nominated films, even the ones that did not win. In this week's episode, returning guest host Patricia Aufderheide joins Bart and Chris to discuss all 5 of the Oscar-nominated short documentaries, after which Chris interviews co-directors Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts (along with al-Kateab's husband, Hamza) about their collaboration on the (also Oscar-nominated) documentary feature For Sama.

Group Review Short Documentaries:

IN THE ABSENCE (Yi Seung-Jun, South Korea, 28 min.)

Available in select theaters or at www.fieldofvision.org

*LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU'RE A GIRL) (Carol Dysinger, UK, 39 min.)

Available in select theaters or through shorts.tv/theoscarshorts/

*This year's Oscar winner

LIFE OVERTAKES ME (John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson, Sweden/USA, 39 min.)

Available in select theaters or on Netflix

LOUIS SUPERMAN (Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan, USA, 28 min.)

Available in select theaters or through shorts.tv/theoscarshorts/

WALK RUN CHA-CHA (Laura Nix, USA, 21 min.)

Available in select theaters or at www.nytimes.com/video/op-docs

Film Featured in Interview Portion:

FOR SAMA (Waad al-Kateab/Edward Watts, 2019)

Still playing in select theaters and on PBS

Other Films/Shows Mentioned:

• BoJack Horseman (Raphael Bob-Waksberg, 2014-2020 Netflix series)
• Cheer (Greg Whiteley, 2020 Netflix series)
• Collective (Alexander Nanau, 2019)
• The Kingmaker (Lauren Greenfield, 2019)
• Les Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2019)
• Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak (Doug Shultz, 2020 Netflix series)
• Skateistan: To Live and Skate Kabul (Orlando von Einsiedel, 2011)
• A Thousand Cuts (Ramona Diaz, 2020)

Links to reviews by Christopher Llewellyn Reed:

• Hammer to Nail reviews of all 2020 Oscar-nominated short films
• Film Festival Today review of For Sama
• Film Festival Today interview with Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts and Hamza al-Kateab of For Sama

Timestamps:

• 00:37 – Intro
• 03:27 – Group discussion of the Oscar-nominated documentary shorts
• 25:55 – Chris interviews Waad al-Kateab, Edward Watts and Hamza al-Kateab of FOR SAMA
• ­­41:07 – Doc Talk

Website/Email:

www.fogoftruth.com

[email protected]

Credits:

Artwork by Hilary Campbell

Intro music by Jeremiah Moore

Transitional music by BELLS (thanks to Christopher Ernst)

Editing and shownotes by Christopher Llewellyn Reed