Academy’s Contemporary Documentaries Series Returns with “Sicko”

Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences kicks off Part Two of its 27th annual “Contemporary Documentaries” screening series with “Sari’s Mother” and “Sicko” on Wednesday, March 25, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission to all screenings in the series is free.

Filmed in Iraq over a period of one year, “Sari’s Mother” follows an Iraqi woman’s struggle to help her 10-year-old son, Sari, who is dying of AIDS. Directed and produced by James Longley, “Sari’s Mother” earned an Academy Award® nomination for Documentary Short Subject.

Directed by Michael Moore and produced by Moore and Meghan O’Hara, “Sicko” is a portrait of the U.S. health care system, in which ordinary people face extraordinary and bizarre challenges in their quest for basic health coverage. “Sicko” earned an Academy Award nomination for Documentary Feature.

The 27th annual “Contemporary Documentaries” series is a showcase for feature-length and short documentaries drawn from the 2007 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 June 2009, is as follows:
March 25

“Sari’s Mother”
Directed and produced by James Longley
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject

“Sicko”
Directed by Michael Moore
Produced by Moore, Meghan O’Hara
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature
April 1

“Ochberg’s Orphans”
Directed by Jon Blair
Produced by Blair, Paul Goldin, Georgina Townsley

“The Rape of Europa”
Directed and produced by Richard Berge, Nicole Newnham, Bonni Cohen
April 15

“Darfur Now”
Directed by Theodore Braun
Produced by Cathy Schulman, Don Cheadle, Mark Jonathan Harris

“The Devil Came on Horseback”
Directed by Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern
Produced by Stern, Sundberg, Gretchen Wallace, Jane Wells, Ira Lechner, Eileen Haag, Cristina Ljungberg
April 29

“Portraits of a Lady”
Directed by Neil Leifer
Produced by Walter Bernard, Leifer

“A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman”
Directed and produced by Peter Raymont
May 13

“Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience”
Directed and produced by Richard E. Robbins
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Feature

“Body of War”
Directed and produced by Ellen Spiro and Phil Donahue
May 27

“Lake of Fire”
Directed and produced by Tony Kaye
June 3

“Salim Baba”
Directed by Tim Sternberg
Produced by Francisco Bello, Scott Mosier, Raja Dey
Academy Award nominee: Documentary Short Subject

“Please Vote for Me”
Directed by Weijun Chen
Produced by Don Edkins

“My Kid Could Paint That”
Directed and produced by Amir Bar-Lev

All films will screen at the Linwood Dunn Theater at the Academy’s Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. All seating is unreserved. Filmmakers will be present at screenings whenever possible.

The Linwood Dunn Theater is located at 1313 Vine Street in Hollywood. Free parking is available through the entrance on Homewood Avenue (one block north of Fountain Avenue). For additional information, visit www.oscars.org or call (310) 247-3600.