American Documentary, Inc. | P.O.V.'s <em>My Country, My Country</em> Nominated for 2007 Oscar® in Best Documentary Feature Category

Headlines | 2007

P.O.V.’s My Country, My Country Nominated for 2007 Oscar® in Best Documentary Feature Category

Feb 5 2007

P.O.V.'s My Country, My Country by Laura Poitras has received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Documentary Feature. This is P.O.V.'s 10th Academy Award Nomination. The 79th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, February 25, 2007. Originally broadcast nationally in October 2006, My Country, My Country concluded P.O.V.'s 19th season on PBS.

"It is hard to imagine there will be a better film about this war." — George Packer, The New Yorker

Filmmaker Laura Poitras worked alone in Iraq for over eight months to created an unforgettable journey into the heart of the country in the months leading up to the January 2005 elections. The film's protagonist is Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi medical doctor, father of six and Sunni political candidate. An outspoken critic of the U.S. occupation, he is equally passionate about building democracy in Iraq, arguing that Sunni participation in the elections is essential. Yet all around him, Dr. Riyadh sees only chaos, as his waiting room fills with patients suffering the physical and mental effects of increasing violence. Poitras gained remarkable access to the Sunni community, U.S. military, Australian security contractors and the U.N. to create My Country, My Country, an epic story of a country thrown violently into chaos. A co-production with the Independent Television Service (ITVS), produced in association with American Documentary | P.O.V.

Poitras, whose Peabody Award-winning Flag Wars (made with Linda Goode Bryant) kicked off the 2003 season of P.O.V., worked in Iraq from June 2004 to February 2005 filming My Country, My Country. (The title comes from the Iraqi National Anthem.) Inspired by a New Yorker article written by George Packer about the first months of the war, she set out to make a documentary that would capture the war from the perspective of the people whose lives were on the line. The film was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

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