The Interrupters (Steve James, 2011)

[hearthesilence]

Arguably the most talked-about snub at the Oscars, if you missed it in theaters, it's playing tonight on FRONTLINE.

FYI, they chopped out a small bit of it to fit the time slot and to conform the credits to the show's format, but almost all of it's there. As of today, it's also available in its entirety on DVD and Blu-Ray.

[MichaelB]

My Sight & Sound review - and I see history is repeating itself, since Steve James' earlier Hoop Dreams also notoriously failed to be shortlisted.

[hearthesilence]

I know - ridiculous, isn't it? It's surprising because it's won so many other awards, and it didn't even make that ridiculous 'shortlist.' So many documentary filmmakers here have been very vocal about it. (James Marsh for starters: "I was shocked that film of The Interrupters’ ambition, quality, and heart didn’t get in...[Its omission from the Top 15 cut] is a disgrace to our branch, and I don’t mind saying that publicly. And it’s not about taste. I think we can all agree that that is a great piece of documentary filmmaking.")

I'd also recommend The War Tapes, which James produced and edited. Released in 2006, it also failed to garner a nomination - that year, four of the five Best Documentary nominees were about the Iraq War, and not only is The War Tapes, IMHO, better than all of them, I still think it's the best film made on the U.S.'s military presence in the Middle East post-9/11.

[hearthesilence]

If you can take a Tuesday afternoon off...

The Modern School of Film
presents

A very special afternoon session...

FILM : STRIPPED
A projector. A film. A filmmaker. 30 seats.

"The Interrupters" (2011) with filmmaker Steve James, in person!

Join us for a unique face-to-face with Mr. James ("Hoop Dreams", "Stevie"), focusing on film craft and form.

DATE/TIME: Tuesday, April 24th at 2pm
LOCATION: The Theater Lab - 137 West 14th Street (betw 6/7 Ave.)
TICKETS: $6 (special afternoon price!)
TO RESERVE: [email protected]