“The Garden” shortlisted for an Oscar!

Yes folks, it’s that time of year again.  Whether you love ’em or hate ’em we have now officially entered the 2009 Oscar Season.  The documentary shortlist came out yesterday, and despite a few surprises the list seems to be a pretty solid representation of this years achievements in nonfiction filmmaking.  Former SXSW programmer and indie film GOD, Matt Dentler had this to say, “It’s a pretty strong list…perhaps the strongest one the Academy has revealed in the three years since they started unveiling this primer to the final five nominations.”

All of us at CIFF are happy to announce that our Closing Night Film, and Winner of the Harrell Award for Best Documentary, The Garden was 1 of 15 who made the list, despite a VERY strong year for documentaries.  Only time will tell if The Garden will get the final nod, but a big congratulations to Scott Kennedy for his work with the film.  This is quite an honor.

Each year we seem to have one film that goes on to at least a shortlist nomination, 4 for 4 ain’t so bad. Looking back, here are the trailers for CIFF screened, Oscar nominated films…
2005 – Darwin’s Nightmare OFFICIAL NOMINATION

2006 – Iraq in Fragments OFFICIAL NOMINATION

2007 – The Price of Sugar SHORTLISTED

2008 – The Garden OFFICIAL NOMINATION