MOMA Holds Their Annual Presentation Of Oscar's Docs 1953-75: Nature and Humanity

Oscar's Docs, the annual collaboration between the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and The Museum of Modern Art, this year features documentary films from the 1950s through the 1970s that explore the natural world in all its complexity. Running from February 8 through 14, Oscar's Docs: 1953-75: Nature and Humanity comprises 15 Oscar-nominated short- and feature-length nonfiction films that pre-date today's -green? films and prioritize a sense of adventure and urgency in their structure and advocacy. World-renowned films such as Jerome Hill's Albert Schweitzer (1957) and Jacques-Yves Cousteau's World Without Sun (1964) are included, as are unparalleled profiles of environmental figures, and documentaries that make pleas for the preservation of locations as far-flung as Mount Everest and the Serengeti.

The exhibition is organized by Rajendra Roy, The Celeste Bartos Chief Curator of Film, and Ed Carter, Documentary Curator, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

RELATED EXHIBITION:
Eighty-Second Academy-Nominated Documentary Shorts
February 28, 2010
5:00 p.m.
The Museum of Modern Art presents the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences 2010 nominees in the category of Best Documentary Short. (Nominees in the categories of Best Animated Short and Best Live Action Short will be shown at the Directors Guild of America. Call (888) 778-7575 for more information and screening times.) Please visit moma.org for screening information after the nominees are announced on February 2. Organized by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Department of Film, The Museum of Modern Art.

No. 7
Public Information: The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53rd Street, New York, NY 10019
Hours: Films are screened Wednesday-Monday. For screening schedules, please visit www.moma.org.
Film Admission: $10 adults; $8 seniors, 65 years and over with I.D. $6 full-time students with current I.D. (For admittance to film programs only.) The price of a film ticket may be applied toward the price of a Museum admission ticket when a film ticket stub is presented at the Lobby Information Desk within 30 days of the date on the stub (does not apply during Target Free Friday Nights, 4:00-8:00 p.m.). Admission is free for Museum members and for Museum ticketholders.
The public may call (212) 708-9400 for detailed Museum information. Visit us at www.moma.org.

SCREENING SCHEDULE
Oscar's Docs 1953-75: Nature and Humanity
February 8-14, 2010
Monday, February 8
4:00 Albert Schweitzer. 1957. USA. Produced and directed by Jerome Hill. Screenplay by Thomas Bruce Morgan. Narrated by Burgess Meredith, Fredric March.
At first a reluctant subject, Nobel Peace Prize-winning missionary doctor Albert Schweitzer soon proved to be a most compelling subject in this landmark portrait film. 80 min.
Project Hope. 1961. USA. Produced and directed by Frank P. Bibas. Screenplay by Emmett Murphy. Narrated by Bob Considine.
A chronicle of the maiden voyage of the hospital ship SS Hope and its relief efforts in Indonesia. 20 min.
Wednesday, February 10
4:30 White Wilderness. 1958. USA. Written and directed by James Algar. Narrated by Winston Hibler.
In the penultimate film in Walt Disney's remarkable True-Life Adventures series, a trek to the Arctic reveals the hidden lives of animals in the frozen north. 72 min.
The Alaskan Eskimo. 1953. USA. Directed by James Algar. Screenplay by Ted Sears, Winston Hibler. Narrated by Hibler.
This charming portrait of life among indigenous Alaskans features an inspired recipe for Eskimo ice cream. 27 min.
8:00 Serengeti Shall Not Die. 1959. Germany. Written and directed by Michael Grzimek, based on the book by Michael and Bernard Grzimek. Narrated by Holger Hagan.
Frankfurt Zoo director Dr. Bernhard Grzimek and his son Michael, amateur filmmakers and pioneering conservationists, explore the wildlife and terrain of the Serengeti. Michael died in a plane accident during shooting, but the film was eventually finished and has inspired an enduring reverence for the park. 85 min.
The Redwoods. 1967. USA. Produced and directed by Trevor Greenwood. Written and produced by Mark J. Harris. Narrated by William Turner, Keith Griggs.
An ode to the silent giants of the forest, and a warning about their destruction. 21 min.
The End of the Game. 1975. USA. Produced and directed by Robin Lehman. A narration-free panorama of the African wild, and a plea for its protection. 30 min.
Program 136 min.
Thursday, February 11
4:30 The Sky Above, the Mud Below. 1961. France/Switzerland. Written and directed by Pierre-Dominique Gaisseau. Narrated by William Peacock.
Situated at the juncture between expeditionary, ethnographic, and cinéma vérité style, this film and its intrepid filmmakers sparked worldwide interest in the island of New Guinea. 92 min.
Sentinels of Silence. 1971. Mexico. Written and directed by Robert Amram. Narrated by Orson Welles.
A lush and awe-invoking ode to the pre-Columbian heritage of Mexico. 18 min.
8:00 World Without Sun. 1964. France. Produced and directed by Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Written by James Dugan, Al Ramrus, Jim Schmerer. Narrated by Cousteau.
Part visionary, part inventor, part showman, Cousteau was first and foremost an ocean pioneer. This documentary-the follow-up to his Oscar-winning The Silent World-provides a chance to see him and his crew of merry frogmen at work before they became international television celebrities. 93 min.
Men Against the Arctic. 1955. USA. Written, directed, and narrated by Winston Hibler.
A Walt Disney-produced investigation of Arctic explorers' valiant struggles. 30 min.
Friday, February 12
4:30 The Man Who Skied Down Everest. 1975. Canada/Japan. Directed by Lawrence Schiller. Screenplay by Judith Crawley. Narrated by Douglas Rain.
It took eight hundred porters, forty Sherpa guides, thirty mountaineers, and one champion skier, Yuichiro Miura, over two months to scale Mount Everest in order to capture what is perhaps the most thrilling feat of extreme sport ever recorded on film. 85 min.
Ama Girls. 1958. USA. Produced by Ben Sharpsteen. Screenplay by Dwight Hauser. Narrated by Winston Hibler.
Engaged in one of the most ancient and dangerous of careers, the Ama shellfish-diving women also embody an emancipated postwar Japan. 27 min.
8:00 The Hellstrom Chronicle. 1971. USA. Produced and directed by Walon Green. Hellstrom sequences directed by Ed Spiegel. Screenplay by David Seltzer. With Lawrence Pressman.
This innovative eco-terror thriller created a sensation by using the now commonplace technique of melding fiction with documentary footage. 90 min.
Don't. 1974. USA. Produced and directed by Robin Lehman.
The majestic journey of the Monarch butterfly, from birth and metamorphosis to navigating the globe. 15 min.
Saturday, February 13
1:30 Albert Schweitzer. And Project Hope. (See Monday, February 8, 4:00.)
4:00 White Wilderness. And The Alaskan Eskimo. (See Wednesday, February 10, 4:30.)
6:00 The Hellstrom Chronicle. And Don't. (See Friday, February 12, 8:00.)
8:30 Serengeti Shall Not Die. And The Redwoods. And The End of the Game. (See Wednesday, February 10, 8:00.)
Sunday, February 14
2:00 The Sky Above, the Mud Below. And Sentinels of Silence. (See Thursday, February 11, 4:30.)
4:30 World Without Sun. And Men Against the Arctic. (See Thursday, February 11, 8:00.)
7:00 The Man Who Skiied Down Everest. And Ama Girls. (See Friday, February 12, 4:30.)