Normally, we let the Academy do their thing and we do ours. But every once in a while, they do something right, like when they bring to national attention a number of little-seen short-subject docs. Here are the ones up for the Oscar on Mar. 5:God Sleeps in Rwanda (dir. Kimberlee Acquaro & Stacy Sherman, 27 min.) — Five Rwandan women who are rebuilding their society and their nation after the 1994 genocide.
The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club (dir. Dan Krauss, 27 min.) — A passionate South African photojournalist committs suicide weeks after his photograph of a horror in Sudan won the Pulitzer Prize.
The Mushroom Club (dir. Steven Okazaki, 35 min.) — The story of the men and women who survived the 1945 atomic bombings.
A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin (dir. Eric Simonson, 39 min.) — About "the greatest radio presentation in the history of the medium" — Norman Corwin's broadcast announcing V-E Day, May 8, 1945. (JC)