Oscar-Nominated Documentaries: War/Dance

War/Dance
Directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix
Released November 9, 2007

I was thrilled to find out that this documentary was playing for a week at the Cinema Village after a run back at the Angelika in November which I neglected to attend and instead saw the wrong Darfur movie. This one is definitely a lot better, actually tackling an issue rather than simply showing Don Cheadle dote on his kids. "War/Dance" presents the story of a school in war-torn northern Uganda who vie to compete for the national dancing championship. It focuses on a few kids whose backstories are told with powerful, moving imagery but transfers their troubles to their passion and spirit for the competition. "War/Dance" focuses perhaps as much as it should on the tragic situation of the kids but ultimately offers a hopeful message that shows that even in times of extreme adversity (understating the conflict, of course), there is still room for impressive success.

B+

Oscar chances: I still have to watch "Operation Homecoming", but so far this is the weakest of the documentaries nominated in this category. It is a good situation where it is more like "worst of the best", but this in theory has the lightest subject matter/is not directed by Michael Moore.