AMPAS's Contemporary Docs program returns with ‘Exit Through the Gift Shop’ and ‘Catfish’

Posted by · 8:12 am · March 15th, 2012

Part two of the AMPAS”s 30th annual “Contemporary Documentaries” screening series features two of the most talked about docs of the last few years. “Exit Through the Gift Shop” and “Catfish” will screen on Wednesday, March 21, at 7pm at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission is free to the public.

2010 Best Documentary Feature nominee “Exit Through the Gift Shop” inspired the oft asked question, “Who is Banksy?” Its legitimacy as a documentary has also been called into question. Ostensibly, the film follows street artist obsessed Thierry Guetta on his journey to capture some of his heroes in action. In the course of his filming the most elusive of them all, Banksy turns the tables, takes over the director”s role and makes the film about Guetta himself. (Incidentally, it was also Kris’ number one film of 2010.)

Three years prior to “Exit Through the Gift Shop””s release, production began on another film that would spark a plethora of online debate and controversy. In 2007, Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost began documenting the life of Ariel”s brother, Nev, and his strange online relationship with a woman he had never met, and clearly, did not know. The film calls the notion of identity (particularly as we understand it in the age the internet) into question. Many also believe that it was an elaborate fabrication on the part of the filmmakers. (And, again, it popped up on Kris’ top 10 that year.)

Interestingly enough, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” producer Andrew Jarecki set out to make a documentary about clowns with his first feature and ended up finding the story of a family of accused child molesters with “Capturing the Friedmans.” It”s certainly not unheard of to discover your story along the way in documentary.

The 30th annual “Contemporary Documentaries” series is a showcase for feature-length and short documentaries drawn from the 2010 Academy Award nominations, including the winners, as well as other important and innovative films considered by the Academy that year.

The screening schedule for Part Two, which runs through May 30, is as follows:

Wednesday, March 21
“Exit through the Gift Shop”
Directed by Banksy
Produced by Jaimie D”Cruz
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature

“Catfish”
Directed by Ariel Schulman, Henry Joost
Produced by Andrew Jarecki, Marc Smerling, Joost, Schulman

Wednesday, April 4
“Poster Girl”
Directed by Sara Nesson
Produced by Mitchell W. Block, Nesson
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject

“Killing in the Name”
Directed by Jed Rothstein
Produced by Liz Garbus, Rory Kennedy, Rothstein
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject

“Quest for Honor”
Directed by Mary Ann Smothers Bruni
Produced by Bruni, Lawrence Taub

Wednesday, April 18
“Living for 32”
Directed by Kevin Breslin
Produced by Maria Cuomo Cole

“One Thousand Pictures: RFK’s Last Journey”
Directed and produced by Jennifer Stoddart

“This Way of Life”
Directed by Thomas Burstyn
Produced by Barbara Sumner Burstyn

Wednesday, May 2
“The Warriors of Qiugang”
Directed by Ruby Yang
Produced by Thomas Lennon, Yang
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject

“Gasland”
Directed by Josh Fox
Produced by Trish Adlesic, Fox, Molly Gandour
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature

Wednesday, May 16
“Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould”
Directed by Michèle Hozer, Peter Raymont
Produced by Raymont

“William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe”
Directed by Emily Kunstler, Sarah Kunstler
Produced by E. Kunstler, S. Kunstler, Jesse Moss, Susan Korda

Wednesday, May 30
“Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer”
Directed by Alex Gibney
Produced by Gibney, Jedd Wider, Todd Wider, Maiken Baird

“Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work”
Directed by Ricki Stern
Co-directed by Annie Sundberg
Produced by Stern, Seth Keal, Sundberg

For additional information, visit www.oscars.org.

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