We’re counting down the top documentary news of 2011 on New Year’s Eve!
Who is Banksy? And would he reveal himself if Exit Through the Gift Shop were to win the Oscar for Best Documentary?
His representatives said no, asking the Academy to allow the anonymous artist to accept the award without revealing his identity.
The Academy’s executive director replied, “If the film wins and five guys in monkey masks come to the stage all saying, ‘I’m Banksy,’ who the hell do we give it to?”
The film lost out to Inside Job, but in the run up to the Oscars, rumors spread that the mischievous artist was staking out in L.A. and decorating its streets with his signature brand of graffiti.
The 2011 Documentary Year in Review Countdown…
#12: Online payments
Ford Foundation Funds Webified Documentaries
#11: Off-camera confrontation
Michael Moore Sues the Weinsteins over ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ Accounting
#10: A film by you
‘Life In A Day,’ a Documentary Culled from 80,000 Filmmakers, Premieres Online
#9: Cameraless documentary
‘Senna’ Breaks U.K. Box-Office Records
#8: Mobile device legend
Cinéma Vérité Pioneer Richard “Ricky” Leacock Dies
#7: Good karma
‘My Reincarnation’ Breaks Records on Kickstarter
#6: Seeing is beliebing
3-D Documentaries Hit Theaters
#5: Risks become real
War Documentarian Tim Hetherington (‘Restrepo’) Killed in Action
#4: No flash in the pan
Popcorn.js Brings HTML5 and Interactivity to Documentaries
#3: Mystery man
What if Banksy Wins an Oscar?
#2: Web threats
The Stop Online Privacy Act Catches the Web Off Guard
#1: Freedom fighters
The West Memphis 3, Subjects of the ‘Paradise Lost’ Documentary Series, Are Set Free