The collision of entertainment, media and pop culture. If youre a documentarian, you know that while its a great honor to make the academys short-list for best documentary short, its almost impossible to get anyone in the media to write about your movie, since theyre almost totally obsessed with handicapping the ups and downs of the various actor and best picture races.
But thanks to the Canadian government, in particular Albertas minister of culture, Leslie Iwerks documentary short Downstream has a shot at a little notoriety, which is just what a doc-short needs to steal a little attention from the endless speculation about Kate Winslets Oscar chances.
Iwerks is no rookie filmmaker. The granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, Walt Disneys first great animator, Leslie recently directed a documentary about Pixar, The Pixar Story, and was nominated for a 2006 Oscar for Recycled Life, her doc-short about the Guatemala City dump, the largest toxic landfill in Central America. In her pursuit of other environmental subjects, Iwerks discovered the controversial saga of the oil sands in Alberta, a parcel the size of Florida that is a big part of Canadas oil excavation industry, even though the extraction of oil is apparently causing a huge increase not only in greenhouse gases but in human illness.
The main character in Iwerks shortwhich will eventually be part of a feature-length documentaryis Dr. John OConnor, a family practitioner who discovered extraordinarily elevated cancer rates in the local aboriginal Indian population that lives near the oil sands. The doctor suspects that the suspiciously high rates of cancer are the result of the dumping of toxic material in the local rivers, Iwerks told me when we spoke this week. But when he talked to a local reporter about his findings, he was charged with causing undue alarm in the community. If that charge is proven, he could lose his license.
Eager to present a balanced point of view, Iwerks sought out a variety of oil and energy executives as well as Albertas minister of environmental affairs. But no one would talk to us. The only person who went on camera was a media rep for the Canadian petroleum producers lobbying organization.
Of course, doing a documentary about a potential environmental disaster in the distant reaches of Canada wasnt what finally got Iwerks some attention. It turns out that when she raised funds for the film, which is largely bankrolled by Babelgum, a Web-oriented film network, she managed to score a $67,000 subsidy from the Alberta provincial government. But news of her short being short-listed for the Oscars prompted Albertas minister of culture to criticize the film, saying he didnt know what the film was about when he approved the subsidy.
Now theres talk about the provincial government imposing more creative control over the content of documentaries it fundsmeaning, of course, that it might be impossible to fund a film in the future that is critical of local government policies and programs.
But thanks to the Canadian government, in particular Albertas minister of culture, Leslie Iwerks documentary short Downstream has a shot at a little notoriety, which is just what a doc-short needs to steal a little attention from the endless speculation about Kate Winslets Oscar chances.
Iwerks is no rookie filmmaker. The granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, Walt Disneys first great animator, Leslie recently directed a documentary about Pixar, The Pixar Story, and was nominated for a 2006 Oscar for Recycled Life, her doc-short about the Guatemala City dump, the largest toxic landfill in Central America. In her pursuit of other environmental subjects, Iwerks discovered the controversial saga of the oil sands in Alberta, a parcel the size of Florida that is a big part of Canadas oil excavation industry, even though the extraction of oil is apparently causing a huge increase not only in greenhouse gases but in human illness.
The main character in Iwerks shortwhich will eventually be part of a feature-length documentaryis Dr. John OConnor, a family practitioner who discovered extraordinarily elevated cancer rates in the local aboriginal Indian population that lives near the oil sands. The doctor suspects that the suspiciously high rates of cancer are the result of the dumping of toxic material in the local rivers, Iwerks told me when we spoke this week. But when he talked to a local reporter about his findings, he was charged with causing undue alarm in the community. If that charge is proven, he could lose his license.
Eager to present a balanced point of view, Iwerks sought out a variety of oil and energy executives as well as Albertas minister of environmental affairs. But no one would talk to us. The only person who went on camera was a media rep for the Canadian petroleum producers lobbying organization.
Of course, doing a documentary about a potential environmental disaster in the distant reaches of Canada wasnt what finally got Iwerks some attention. It turns out that when she raised funds for the film, which is largely bankrolled by Babelgum, a Web-oriented film network, she managed to score a $67,000 subsidy from the Alberta provincial government. But news of her short being short-listed for the Oscars prompted Albertas minister of culture to criticize the film, saying he didnt know what the film was about when he approved the subsidy.
Now theres talk about the provincial government imposing more creative control over the content of documentaries it fundsmeaning, of course, that it might be impossible to fund a film in the future that is critical of local government policies and programs.
