So it turns out, to the surprise of very few people, that Man on Wire IS the doc of the year. As our own Tom Roston predicted last week, Man on Wire won the best documentary award at last night’s Oscars. (It also won Best Doc at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday.) The win provided one of the most delightful moments of last night’s telecast: Philippe Petit, the man on wire himself, accepted the award along with director James Marsh and proceeded to balance the bald head of the Oscar statue on his chin!
While POV’s own The Betrayal (Nerakhoon) by Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath, which will air on PBS this coming summer, didn’t take home the statue, we were thrilled to see both Ellen and Thavi on the broadcast, beaming and looking fantastic.
Another member of the POV family, filmmaker Megan Mylan, took home the best documentary short prize last night for her film, Smile Pinki. Along with Jon Shenk, Megan directed Lost Boys of Sudan, which aired on POV in 2004. That film focused on two young refugees from the Sudan who come to the U.S. Smile Pinki takes a look at how a free surgery to correct her cleft lip improves one Indian girl’s life. It’s clear that Megan has continued to focus on important social issues from all parts of the world in her filmmaking. We’re thrilled that she has been recognized for her work! You can read an interview about Lost Boys of Sudan with Megan and Jon on the POV website for the film.
To see a batch of Oscar photos of doc nominees (including Elle and Thavi) and luminaries (including former POV executive director Cara Mertes, now Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program Director) taken by POV alum and 2007 Oscar nominee Laura Poitras (My Country, My Country), visit AJ Schnack’s blog, All These Wonderful Things.