Oscar: These three documentaries won statues, but (almost) nobody knows

“I see documentary film as one of the last forms of freedom of expression” In 2015 we wanted director Hubert Sauper, to whom we owe, among other things, Darwin’s Nightmare, an extraordinary documentary with the feel of an absurdist dark thriller and nominated for an Oscar for best documentary.

Although it is naturally different in form from fictional works, the emotional field opened up by a documentary can be absolutely devastating. Because it deals with things that are sometimes intimate, with questions that deeply surprise and ask us, about our relationship with the world, others and living beings. In this registry, we would never have thought that they would be so excited about the wisdom of the moving octopus, which rightfully became the winner of the Oscar in 2021.

Since 1941, the Oscar Academy has been awarding a documentary work every year. Some are very well known to the general public: for example, Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine in 2002, or The Emperor’s March in 2005.

But there are Oscar-winning documentaries that are far less well-known. At least with us. And which, in our words, is more than worth the detour. Here are three.

Cove – Bay of Shame

“I wish these movies weren’t made” Unfortunately, said Luc Besson, who came to present the documentary The Cove – the Bay of Shame during the Deauville American Film Festival in 2009. The filmmaker was criticized for many things. But certainly not to have the transparency and courage to release this terrifying and disturbing documentary in France – we mince our words.

the subject After making a name for himself in the 1960s with the TV series Flipper, former Dolphins coach Rick O’Barry is today a fierce advocate for cetaceans. In Taiji, Japan, he mobilized against the annual slaughter of several thousand dolphins, carried out out of sight. O’Barry, along with a team from the Ocean Conservation Society, sets out to reveal the truth about Taiji to the world…

Covered with awards at various international festivals, especially at Sundance, where it won the Audience Award in 2009, it was awarded the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2010. Cove – Bay of Shame Filmed illegally and with a hidden camera, it is a shocking documentary and at the same time surprising, moving, intelligent and necessary.

It’s also the painful struggle of a man, Rick O’Barry, the unwitting founder of the dolphin business, who has spent the last 35 years of his life fighting against the industry he started.

The line hasn’t really changed on the Japanese side. Wakayama Prefecture issued an official response after the documentary was released, surprisingly condemning it. Therefore, the hunt always remains open for 6 months, and there is no question of ending this 400-year-old tradition, as Taiji Mayor Kazukata Sangen said in January 2014.

And when the then US ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy (JFK’s daughter), was publicly provoked. official tweetIn Japan’s social networks, this has dramatically returned to its line.

In 2018, Japanese filmmaker Megumi Sasaki made a documentary about the aftermath of The Cove, titled Fairy tale whale. A chance to prove that years after the Oscar-winning shock film, the wound remained raw in Taiji. Although it is noted that the consumption of whale and dolphin meat is largely neglected by the younger generation, gradually dying out. Except for hard workers and supporters of centuries-old tradition…

hearts and minds

“We must be ready to fight in Vietnam. But the ultimate victory will depend on the hearts and minds of the people who live there.”. These are the words of the very famous speech of American President Lyndon B. Johnson on May 4, 1965. “Win men’s hearts and minds”The formula he used no less than 28 times in his speeches in 1964-1968.

It’s also the name chosen by filmmaker Peter Davies for his extraordinary documentary, one of the most important and emotionally and politically impactful ever made: Hearts and Minds.

Here’s the trailer…

The Vietnam War came at a time when Hollywood conventions were breaking down, and a government eager to keep it contained was careful not to mobilize filmmakers to glorify the increasingly unpopular conflict.

hearts and minds was one of the first films to publicly address US foreign policy actions – whether covert or not – and to show “in the flesh” the aftermath of the Vietnam War. That’s because at the time the documentary was made, the United States was still in the midst of secret negotiations with North Vietnam to try to end the conflict, negotiations that would lead to the 1973 Paris Accords.

It was released at the Cannes Film Festival in 1974 and received very favorable reviews. But its distribution in the United States was a problem. Faced with the film’s controversial subject matter, the film’s distributor threw in the towel, while the risks of litigation increased, further delaying the film’s US release. Peter Davis eventually managed to find a new distributor and the film was released in 1975, shortly before the Academy Awards, from which it walked away with the Oscar for Best Documentary.

Some people criticized the announcement of the award, calling the film anti-American, while others applauded it. Frank Sinatra, who hosted the 1976 Academy Awards, publicly denounced the documentary and the award it received.

Combining combat images, archival footage and testimonies from veterans and anti-war activists, political figures, but also leading actors such as General Westmoreland, commander of US military operations in the Vietnam War in 1964 and 1968. hearts and minds It is a devastating and moving X-ray of a nation plagued by doubt and torn apart by a conflict whose wounds have never healed.

Ability to launch a powerful appeal to the video editor; This masterpiece of a documentary has unfortunately never had the honor of being released on DVD here, much less on Blu-ray. In any case, there remains a huge amount of work to be done around the film: it only has four unfortunate entries in its file…

Harlan County, USA

The brutal and bloody history of the struggle of American miners for their rights is often mentioned in American fiction and sometimes, fortunately, gives us very great films and even masterpieces. For example, under the command of Martin Ritt, in which Sean Connery will find one of the best roles of his career.

or the Battle of Matevan, the terrible prelude to the general miners’ revolt in the Virginia region in 1921; A year in which an army of 10,000 of them faced 3,000 lawyers, raiders and soldiers. An event that was the largest labor uprising in United States history and the largest armed uprising since the Civil War.

As for the documentaries, there was also widespread talk about the terrible living conditions of minors. The most famous is the work of a woman, a great director who won two Oscars, trained at the school. Direct cinema : Barbara Copley.

At just 28 years old, he signed on to one of the greatest documentaries of the 20th century: Harlan County, USA, released in 1976. For more than a year, he followed 180 coal miners in Brookside, Harlan County, Kentucky. In 1972-1973, they fought for their rights in a relentlessly brutal strike against Duke Ewer Company.

Here’s the trailer…

Copple and his team spent years with the families featured in the film, documenting the struggles they face for working conditions, decent wages and, ultimately, the simple right to dignity: some families lived in slums, without even running water…

Nothing is spared between the testimonies of miners suffering from silicosis caused by coal dust settling in their lungs, women entering the fray, strike breakers and brutal police raids, as well as the exchange of gunfire. This is a very painful and proud page in the history of the struggle of the American miners, which is being written before our eyes.

Both echo and terrible War of Harlan Countywhich took place in the same region, from 1931 to 1939, that had already pitted coal industry miners against their operators and local authorities, among a series of clashes, executions and bomb attacks.

Rocked by a fantastic soundtrack featuring legendary country and bluegrass singers Hazel Dickens, Merle Travis, Sarah Gunning and Florence Reese, Harlan County, USA is an exceptional and moving documentary, faithful and visceral punchy cinema.

If the work is mostly part of the cinematic heritage across the Atlantic, we are sadly surprised that such a masterpiece of the genre has not yet had the honor of a physical release here, not even on DVD.