O.j.: Made In America

The Academy Awards’ Longest Contenders

... in America’ is longest film ever nominated for an Oscar. ‘War and Peace’ by Sergey Bondarchuk previously held the record. If you think the Academy Awards telecast is long, it’s got nothing on “O. J.: Made in America.”. Director Ezra Edelman’s best documentary nominee — which explores race and celebrity in America by shining a light on the life, career and downfall of O. J. Simpson — set a record as the longest film to ever be up for an Oscar. The movie, which aired in five segments on ESPN, clocks in at seven hours, 47 minutes. advertisement | advertise on newsday. The previous record holder, Sergey Bondarchuk’s Russian epic “War and Peace,” which went on to win the 1966 best foreign-language film Oscar, was a mere seven hours, 7 minutes. Story Will Natalie Portman win her 2 nd Oscar this year? TAKE ANOTHER 'BITE'Oscar no-shows who won big at ‘87 ceremony Story Flashback Friday: Oscar winners from ’07 ...

Made In America’ Reveals

... Slowly, as the 80 s closed and 90 s began, you started to hear about the other side to this super-star. Rage. Anxiety. Paranoia. It wasn’t surprising, however, because he was always above us. He sought to be separate: he would brag of his willingness to stop and be kind to everyone, sign every autograph, smile for every picture … but that was just it! He did what he had to do to remain separate; sure, he was kind but only to remain awe-inspiring and larger-than-life. He wanted his image to stay intact … nothing more. His obsession with himself grew stronger. He worked for his fame and respect, and he was going to keep them (no matter the cost). He worked for his image, and he was going to fan that flame. The thing the documentary does beautifully is provide context. It isn’t just about O. J. – it is equally about the world in which O. J. lived. He lived in LA, which was a completely volatile place to live in those times. It was bubbling with racial tension and inequality, police brutality and ...

Made In America For Best Documentary

... The murder trial began with the infamous slow-speed chase in O. J.’s white bronco, where at times it seemed as if he would take his own life while on the phone with police. During the chase, fans of the former football star stood on highway overpasses to cheer him on. The whole scene seemed unreal. When the trial ended, and the verdict came out as not guilty, there were hoards of people, again, cheering in the streets. So many people believed that O. J. was set up that they forgot the fact that two people were brutally murdered, with the killer still on the loose. As one of the best cinematic projects in recent history, O. J.: Made in America deserves acclaim and awards for its excellence. Not only is it impeccably made, but it takes the viewer back to the courtroom, it makes one feel as if they are living the trial in real time. The problems it addresses are ...

Made In America' For Best Picture At The 2017 Oscars

... picture, academy voters tend to reward  serious historical dramas, like 12 Years a Slave, Argo and The King's Speech; socially minded contemporary dramas like Spotlight and The Hurt Locker; and lighthearted, feel-good fare, like The Artist and Chicago. Most of these movies come through the traditional Hollywood studio system , or at least heavily feature studio talent. It stands to reason, then, that academy voters — a body made up overwhelmingly of industry professionals — would reward work done in their orbit. Documentaries — which are often conceived, developed and executed  outside  of this system — are a tough sell by this standard. OJ began as part of ESPN's 30 for 30 TV project — a series of nonfiction films commissioned, produced and aired on the sports network. It aired in five parts on TV — a medium that ...

Made In America’ On His Oscars Night Plans And Why O.j. Still Matters

... people calling. There’s like a cottage industry that has risen up around O. J. and the story. Especially around the anniversary, right? [October 2015 marked 20 years since Simpson’s acquittal.]. Especially that. A lot of things were being done concurrently, and going in, I understood that from both the juror standpoint and the prosecution standpoint, people were going to be reluctant to talk. There were four main people on the prosecution, and I thought, “Well, if I could get one person, [Chris] would be the person I’d want.” I really tried hard with him. I read his book and wrote him a personal letter and called him a couple of times, but he just didn’t respond. What about Simpson? You wrote him but never heard back. Still no word since the movie’s release? I mean, he’s the missing link here. No, I have not heard from him. I’m fine if I never hear from him. Have you heard from family members. No, I haven’t heard from anybody. Maybe it’s a “no news is good news” kind of thing. I do not disagree. I wanted to ask about Johnnie Cochran, the ...

Made In America’ Director On Trump Parallels And Why He’s Waiting To See ‘american Crime Story

... guy who is a reality television show host who is able to penetrate the culture through the name recognition that he had, it speaks to where we evolved from the trial itself. I think about what we are responsible for and complicit in. I remember the trial being covered like a soap opera when it wasn’t a source of parody for “Saturday Night Live.” It seemed like a circus. Did the media fail to realize how this case was exposing deep racial divisions. I don’t mean to denigrate anyone specifically or the media at that time, but clearly they weren’t seeing the forest for the trees. They were caught up in the soap opera nature of the trial, or being fixated on the specific characters and Marcia Clark changing her hair. The trial became this referendum on something else. It became about where we were at that time in the city of Los Angeles as far as criminal justice went. Somehow we lost sight of that. This is why history is important. This is why documentary storytelling is important. It can take two decades to be able to look at that moment in a sober fashion and to look at how we ...

Moonlight’ Wins Best Picture At Oscars After ‘la La Land’ Was Given The Award First By Mistake

... when the interjection came that “Moonlight” had in fact won, as everyone wondered if it was a joke. But it wasn’t, and the “La La Land” people quickly exited the stage as producers and stars of “Moonlight,” just as stunned as everyone else, walked on. Warren Beatty and Dunaway had presented the best picture award. When Beatty opened the envelope, he took an extended pause before showing the card to Dunaway, who then announced “La La Land” as the winner. “I want to tell you what happened,” Beatty said in the chaotic moments after “Moonlight” was announced as the winner. “I opened the envelope, and it said “Emma Stone, La La Land.” That’s why I took such a long look at Faye and at you. I wasn’t trying to be funny. This is ‘Moonlight,’ the best picture.”. “Moonlight,” the story of a young, gay, black man, won three statuettes in total, including best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor. “Very clearly, even in my dreams this could not be true,” said Barry Jenkins, the director of “Moonlight.” “But to hell with dreams, I’m done with it, because this is true. Oh my goodness.”. Held up as an escapist, believe-in-yourself antidote for the ...

Oscar-winner Ezra Edelman On Making His Epic Documentary Oj

... “trial of the century” culminating in a not guilty verdict, followed by the civil trial with a guilty verdict. The OJ story was a sports movie that became a true-crime drama, then a legal thriller and, ultimately, a soap opera. Two decades later, the new surprise is that Simpson has recently been the subject of two long-form, high-profile works: FX’s star-studded The People v OJ Simpson , which aired on BBC 2; and ESPN’s eight-hour documentary OJ: Made in America , which has just launched on BBC i Player. The latter – which has just won an Oscar, the longest documentary ever to do so – looks set to become the definitive version of events. ‘There was no point I was trying to prove’ … Ezra Edelman. Photograph: Christopher Patey/Getty. If the film’s 42-year-old director was surprised by this acclaim, the shock seems to have worn off. “I underestimated the appetite people have for this story,” says Ezra Edelman, looking jet-lagged having just flown into London. Speaking to me a few days before the Oscars ceremony, he ...

Made In America' Producer Talks Oscars And The O.j. Zeitgeist

... reference point. O. J. had been approached to be an activist but had chosen a different path — which, at the time, made him a pioneer in his own way, representing these large, mainstream white corporations. And for audiences who only know him from the trial, it’s incredible to watch and enjoy his charm and screen presence in that earlier era. Oh yeah, definitely. And especially what a beautiful athlete he was. That was important from the beginning. We had to spend time with him in those early days so you understand the power he had. He was so beloved. If you picture yourself watching TV in 1975, there were only a handful of channels, and O. J. might have been on all of them. He might have been commentating and playing football and acting in a TV movie and appearing in a Hertz commercial. That doesn’t exist today with anyone. VINCE BUCCI/AFP/Getty Images. What does ...

Made In America Is A Sprawling Epic On Race In America

... in Simpson’s 1995 murder trial, when decades of police racism made the defense’s accusation of an LAPD conspiracy seem plausible. The defense labored to portray Simpson as a symbol of black oppression; to make their defendant seem “more black,” they even planted photos of Simpson with black people in his house. Court discussions turned from the incriminating evidence against Simpson to racial injustice, and acquittal was framed as payback for Rodney King. “People who didn’t have that experience in life, they didn’t understand why so many black people were connected to this, why they were rooting for [Simpson] — whether they were actually rooting for him or rooting for something bigger than him,” Edelman said. When the predominantly black jury acquitted Simpson, for many black people signified that the justice system was finally ...

Made In America’ Director Dedicates Oscar To Victims Of Police Violence

... wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman — set against the country’s racial and political divides that surrounded it. “I guess I’m not as young as I look,” Edelman said backstage when asked about his memories about another famous Los Angeles trial, Rodney King’s, which helped inform Made In America. “I was in high school, and that was a really seminal event for me,” the director added. “I grew up in Washington, D. C., and when that happened, it was an awakening. It was a loss of innocence, as far as how young black men are treated by police, and by the criminal justice system.”. He added about making the docu: “I definitely channeled my worldview, my relationship to O. J. before this happened, but also my experience growing up, and experiencing the world the way I did.”. Edelman was then asked about the resonance of the Simpson, which this year stemmed both his documentary and The People Vs. O. J. Simpson. “History is past, but it’s present. I can’t speak for the FX series, but I know that when we were offered the chance to make this movie, it was clear the story that was covered and told 20-something years ...