China's Unnatural Disaster Nominated for Oscar

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Submitted by jesse on Tue, 02/02/2010 - 12:33pm
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China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province, the latest documentary from DCTV's Jon Alpert and Matt O'Neill, was nominated this morning for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. The Emmy-nominated film details the aftermath of the earthquake that struck China's Sichuan Province in 2008. The earthquake killed over 70,000 people, 10,000 of which were the province's children. Alpert and O'Neill's documentary uncovers the sorrow, pain and outrage of the bereaved families as they cope with their loss and demand answers of the government.

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China's Unnatural Disaster focuses on schools destroyed by the tragedy. At Fuxin Primary School, 127 students were killed, at Hanwang, 317, at XinJian, 438. The film begins only days after the schools' collapse as parents and families begin to deal with the calamity laid before them. As the dust settles, the community learns of the schools' "tofu-construction," shoddy building materials and practices employed to cut costs, and demands answers from the provincial government.

The Washington Post calls the film, "Artful but never artsy... a uniquely powerful piece of work, typical of what we've come to expect from [HBO], but even more moving than most." The Hollywood Reporter dubs it "Thought-provoking, multilayered, and challenging viewing." In 2009, it was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for its achievements in sound editing.

Garnering critical acclaim, the film was accepted into the Beijing Independent Film Festival and Alpert and O'Neill were invited to attend. However, China denied their visas, barring them entrance to the country. More information can be found via The New York Times.