By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com

POV Secures U.S. Broadcast Rights to Academy Award-Nominated Documentary ‘The Look of Silence,’ to Air on PBS in 2016

Posted Tuesday, February 16th, 2016 - Comments Off on POV Secures U.S. Broadcast Rights to Academy Award-Nominated Documentary ‘The Look of Silence,’ to Air on PBS in 2016
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POV Secures U.S. Broadcast Rights to Academy Award-Nominated Documentary ‘The Look of Silence,’ to Air on PBS in 2016
[PR] Film by Joshua Oppenheimer is a companion to his Oscar®-nominated film about Indonesian genocide ‘The Act of Killing,’ presented by POV in 2014
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POV (Point of View), PBS’s acclaimed documentary series, has acquired the U.S. broadcast rights to Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Look of Silence, it was announced today by POV Executive Producers Justine Nagan and Chris White. The film, nominated for a 2016 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature, will be broadcast during POV’s 29th season in 2016. This is POV’s second presentation of an Oscar®-nominated film by Oppenheimer; in 2014, the series aired The Act of Killing, winner of more than 70 international awards including a BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.

The Look of Silence, winner of more than 50 awards including the Grand Jury Prize, Critics Prize and Human Rights Award at the 2014 Venice Film Festival, is the powerful companion piece to The Act of Killing. Through Oppenheimer’s footage of perpetrators of the 1965 Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discovers how their son was murdered, as well as the identities of the killers. The documentary focuses on the youngest son, an optometrist named Adi, who decides to break the suffocating spell of submission and terror by doing something unimaginable in a society where the murderers remain in power: He confronts the men who killed his brother and, while testing their eyesight, asks them to accept responsibility for their actions. This unprecedented film, hailed as a “masterpiece” by The New York Times, initiates and bears witness to the collapse of 50 years of silence.

The Look of Silence is a Final Cut for Real Production. It is executive produced by Errol Morris, Werner Herzog and André Singer, and produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen. The film is being released by Cinedigm for home entertainment and broadcast, and was presented theatrically by Drafthouse Films and Participant Media.

“POV is privileged to bring the latest groundbreaking Joshua Oppenheimer film to American television audiences,” said Nagan. “On the heels of The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence takes an important step in uncovering genocide as one man displays incredible courage in confronting his brother’s killers. Oppenheimer tells jarringly personal, profoundly moving stories that open up universal dialogue. His latest film epitomizes the skilled storytelling that viewers look for in our series.”

American television’s longest-running independent documentary series, POV is the recipient of a 2013 MacArthur Foundation Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. Justine Nagan and Chris White are executive producers; Eliza Licht is vice president of content strategy.

About POV
POV is public television’s premier showcase for nonfiction films. Since 1988, POV has been the home for the world’s boldest contemporary filmmakers, celebrating intriguing personal stories that spark conversation and inspire action. Always an innovator, POV discovers fresh new voices and creates interactive experiences that shine a light on social issues and elevate the art of storytelling. With our documentary broadcasts, original online programming and dynamic community engagement campaigns, we are committed to supporting films that capture the imagination and present diverse perspectives.

POV films have won 34 Emmy® Awards, 18 George Foster Peabody Awards, 12 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards, three Academy Awards®, the first-ever George Polk Documentary Film Award and the Prix Italia. The POV series has been honored with a Special News & Documentary Emmy Award for Excellence in Television Documentary Filmmaking, three IDA Awards for Best Curated Series and the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) Award for Corporate Commitment to Diversity. Learn more atwww.pbs.org/pov

Major funding for POV is provided by PBS, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding comes from Nancy Blachman and David desJardins, Bertha Foundation, The Fledgling Fund, Marguerite Casey Foundation, Ettinger Foundation, New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee, and public television viewers. POV is presented by a consortium of public television stations, including KQED San Francisco, WGBH Boston and THIRTEEN in association with WNET.ORG.

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

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I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

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~ David Simon