A documentary shot with footage smuggled out of Alabama prisons may be in contention for an Academy Award. The nominees for this year’s Oscars will announced later this week. “The Alabama Project” was shortlisted for “Documentary Feature Film” category. The film takes a look inside Alabama's correctional facilities using video taken from prisoners to expose the reality of these facilities. Director and producer Andrew Jarecki says the conditions of these prisons were even worse than they originally thought…
“The more we started to look into it, the more we started to realize that there were much worse things going on there than we could have imagined,’ Jarecki said. “And you know that level of death happens as a result of not just negligence, but also just a system that's kind of in freefall, that's just, you know, falling apart.”
“The Alabama Project” sought to expose abuses and neglect in the state’s prison system, including alleged beatings and deaths in custody, and rampant drug use. The U.S. Department of Justice conducted an investigation of the allegations and filed a lawsuit. Co-director and producer of the Alabama Solution Charlotte Kaufman says they kept track of all the deaths that occurred during the making of the film.
“Being incarcerated in Alabama's prisons is a very dangerous situation. While making this film, we tracked all the deaths that were happening in the facilities, and we tracked over 1400 deaths,” she said.
The APR newsroom was honored with a national Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society for Professional Journalists for its yearlong investigation into prison reform titled "...and justice for all."
Among the other films awaiting the decision on Oscar nominations is Paul Thomas Anderson’s ragtag revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another.” It took top honors at the 83rd Golden Globes in the comedy category, while Chloé Zhao's Shakespeare drama “Hamnet” pulled off an upset over “Sinners” to win best film, drama.
“One Battle After Another” won best film, comedy, supporting female actor for Teyana Taylor and best director and best screenplay for Anderson. He became just the second filmmaker to sweep director, screenplay and film, as a producer, at the Globes. Only Oliver Stone, for “Born on the Fourth of July,” managed the same feat.
In an awards ceremony that went almost entirely as expected, the night's final award was the most surprising. While “One Battle After Another” has been the clear front-runner this awards season, most have pegged Ryan Coogler's Jim Crow-era vampire thriller as its closest competition.
But “Hamnet,” a speculative drama about William and Agnes Shakespeare based on Maggie O’Farrell's bestseller, won in the dramatic category shortly after its star, Jessie Buckley, won best female actor in a drama.
It was a banner night for Warner Bros., the studio behind “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners.” Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to be sold to Netflix in an $83 billion deal. Paramount Skydance has appealed to shareholders with its own rival offer.
In his speech after winning best director, Anderson praised Warner co-chief Michael DeLuca.
“He said he wanted to run a studio one day and let filmmakers make whatever they want,” said Anderson. “That’s how you get ‘Sinners.’ That’s how you get a ‘Weapons.' That’s how you get ‘One Battle After Another.’”
The final awards brought to, or near, the stage a handful of the most talented filmmakers together in Anderson, Zhao and Coogler — plus Steven Spielberg, a producer of “Hamnet.” Regardless of who won what, it was a heartening moment of solidarity between them, with a shared sense of purpose. Zhao fondly recalled being at Sundance Labs with Coogler when they were each starting out.
“As students, let’s keep our hearts open and let’s keep seeing each other and allowing each other to be seen,” said Zhao, while Coogler smiled from the front row.
“Sinners” won for best score and cinematic and box-office achievement. The win for box office and cinematic achievement, over franchise films like “Avatar: Fire and Ash,” was notable for Coogler's film, a movie that some reports labeled a qualified success on its release.
Yet “Sinners” ultimately grossed $278 million domestically and $368 million worldwide, making it the highest grossing original film in 15 years.
“I just want to thank the audience for showing up,” said Coogler. “It’s means the world.”
“My dad instilled in me a spirit of gratitude growing up: Always be grateful for what you have,” said Chalamet. “It’s allowed me to leave this ceremony in the past empty handed, my head held high, grateful just to be here. I’d be lying if I didn’t say those moments didn’t make this moment that much sweeter.”
