According to IMDb: 30 Worst Oscar Short Documentary Winners
by booklover1 | created - 22 Sep 2014 | updated - 22 Sep 2014 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. A Chance to Live (1949)
18 min | Documentary, Short
This documentary short is part of The March of Time series. This one is about priest Monsignor John Patrick Carroll-Abbing setting up and running a Boys' Home in post-war Italy.
Director: James L. Shute
Votes: 56
2. A Tribute to Dylan Thomas (1961)
30 min | Documentary, Short
An atmospheric tribute to the genius of Welsh poet and dramatist Dylan Thomas, using many of the windswept locations where Thomas himself grew up and found his inspiration. The film is ... See full summary »
Director: Jack Howells | Star: Richard Burton
Votes: 50
3. Hitler Lives (1945)
Approved | 17 min | Documentary, Short
This short propaganda film, produced at the end of World War II, warns that although Adolf Hitler is dead, his ideas of racial hatred, violence and conquest live on in the German people, and in like-minded people in the United States.
Director: Don Siegel | Stars: Knox Manning, Joseph Goebbels, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin
Votes: 399
(Y)
4. A Year Toward Tomorrow (1966)
25 min | Documentary, Short
Documentary about the VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program.
Director: Edmond Levy | Star: Paul Newman
Votes: 68
5. Men Against the Arctic (1955)
30 min | Family, Documentary, Short
Part of Walt Disney's People and Places series. This is the story of the "Icebreakers" - ships of very special construction that are built to make their way through the heavy Arctic ice packs on a trip to Thule.
Director: Winston Hibler | Star: Winston Hibler
Votes: 86
(Y)
6. The True Story of the Civil War (1957)
29 min | Documentary, Short
Academy-Award winning short subject documentary that chronicles the Civil War through nearly 400 authentic artifacts, as opposed to using actors or sets.
Director: Louis Clyde Stoumen | Star: Raymond Massey
Votes: 47
7. Project Hope (1961)
30 min | Documentary, Short
Documenting the maiden voyage of the SS Hope, a hospital ship operated by Project HOPE, were it brought medical care to Indonesia and South Vietnam in 1960-1961.
Director: Frank P. Bibas | Star: Bob Considine
Votes: 56
8. Chagall (1963)
25 min | Documentary, Short, Biography
Chagall is a 1963 short documentary film directed by Lauro Venturi which focuses on the work of artist Marc Chagall.
Director: Lauro Venturi | Stars: Marc Chagall, Claude Dauphin, Vincent Price
Votes: 60
9. Why Korea? (1951)
30 min | Documentary, Short
This film examines the reasons why the United States decided to engage in the Korean War. Scenes describe Russia's attempt to gain power following World War II (Korea included), and its ... See full summary »
Star: Joe King
Votes: 45
10. Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements (1985)
29 min | Documentary, Short, Biography
Documentary of Charlie Clements, a Vietnam War pilot who was convinced by his experiences in the war that he should become a doctor working behind enemy lines.
Director: Deborah Shaffer | Stars: Charlie Clements, Richard Nixon
Votes: 69
11. Women - for America, for the World (1986)
30 min | Documentary, Short
22 prominent American women discuss their activism for nuclear disarmament and their motivations in seeking the end of the arms race.
Director: Vivienne Verdon-Roe | Stars: Joanne Woodward, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Betty Bumpers, Shirley Chisholm
Votes: 64
12. Toward Independence (1948)
30 min | Documentary, Short
A documentary short about the rehabilitation of people living with spinal cord injuries following World War II.
Director: George L. George
Votes: 54
13. Ama Girls (1958)
G | 29 min | Documentary, Short
A depiction of the lives of "ama" divers, Japanese women who dive for pearls.
Director: Ben Sharpsteen
Votes: 69
14. Big Mama (2000)
35 min | Short, Documentary
The story of Viola Dees, an elderly woman who is trying to care for her troubled grandson.
Director: Tracy Seretean | Stars: Walter Dee, Viola Dees
Votes: 127
15. December 7th (1943)
Unrated | 82 min | Documentary, Action, Drama
"Docudrama" about the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 and its results, the recovering of the ships, the improving of defense in Hawaii and the US efforts to beat back the Japanese reinforcements.
Directors: John Ford, Gregg Toland | Stars: Walter Huston, Harry Davenport, Dana Andrews, Paul Hurst
Votes: 1,007
16. First Steps (1947)
10 min | Documentary, Short
United Nations, 1947 - In this film one crippled child learns to walk: first to move, then to stand, and finally to take his first steps. The film deals with modern techniques of ... See full summary »
Director: Leo Seltzer
Votes: 80
(Y)
17. Seeds of Destiny (1946)
20 min | Documentary, Short
Postwar propaganda film in support of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Strident but poignant, focusing on children. The film surveys the Nazi/Japanese atrocities... See full summary »
Director: David Miller | Star: Ralph Bellamy
Votes: 117
(Y)
18. Defending Our Lives (1994)
42 min | Documentary, Short
Documentary about the magnitude and severity of domestic violence. This film features four women imprisoned for killing their batterers and their terrifying personal testimonies.
Directors: Margaret Lazarus, Renner Wunderlich, Stacey Kabat
Votes: 80
19. Czechoslovakia 1918-1968 (1969)
13 min | Documentary, Short, History
Short documentary about 50 years of history of Czechoslovakia, with archive images.
Directors: Robert M. Fresco, Denis Sanders | Stars: Leonid Brezhnev, Neville Chamberlain, Alexander Dubcek, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 232
20. Young at Heart (1987)
Not Rated | 29 min | Documentary, Short, Romance
Filmmakers Sue Marx and Pamela Conn document the romance between Sue's father Louis Gothelf and Reva Shwayder, each in their mid-80s. Both artists and residents of the Detroit suburbs, they... See full summary »
Directors: Pamela Conn, Sue Marx | Stars: Louis Gothelf, Reva Shwayder-Gothelf
Votes: 76
21. Gravity Is My Enemy (1977)
26 min | Documentary, Short, Biography
A look at artist Mark Hicks of Manhattan Beach, California, a quadriplegic since falling out of a tree at age 14. His work is examined, along with a discussion of his being a student at ... See full summary »
Director: John C. Joseph | Stars: Mark Hicks, Jan Stussy
Votes: 50
22. You Don't Have to Die (1988)
27 min | Documentary, Short, Family
A young boy's successful battle against cancer and his subsequent efforts to help other children overcome their fears of the illness.
Directors: Malcolm Clarke, Bill Guttentag | Stars: Jason Gaes, Adam Gaes, Craig Gaes, Geralyn Gaes
Votes: 78
23. Churchill's Island (1941)
TV-PG | 21 min | Documentary, War, Short
The people of Britain resist the German air force and navy with help from North America.
Director: Stuart Legg | Stars: Lorne Greene, Gérard Arthur, Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler
Votes: 233
24. The Personals (1999)
Not Rated | 40 min | Documentary, Short
Documentary about a Jewish senior citizens' acting group on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The film covers both the progress and impediments of a play the group is mounting about senior ... See full summary »
Director: Keiko Ibi | Stars: Gloria Bobrofsky, Abram Calderon, Deborah Ehrlich, Seth Glassman
Votes: 64 | Gross: $0.01M
25. A Time for Justice (1994)
38 min | Documentary, Short
A short history of civil rights movements in the US.
Director: Charles Guggenheim
Votes: 105
26. The Alaskan Eskimo (1953)
G | 27 min | Family, Documentary, Short
Depicts the everyday home life of the families in a typical Eskimo village. The building and hunting activities of the summer, the winter activities underground when the blizzards come, and... See full summary »
Director: James Algar | Star: Winston Hibler
Votes: 104
27. Princeton: A Search for Answers (1974)
30 min | Documentary, Short
A film portrait of teaching and learning at Princeton University. From black holes in space to the B Minor Mass. A film about teachers and students who care to ask the question "Why?"
Directors: Julian Krainin, DeWitt Sage | Stars: William G. Bowen, Edward Cone, Aaron Lemonick, Daniel Seltzer
Votes: 68
28. Benjy (1951)
31 min | Short, Drama
An orthopedic pediatrician wants to cure a scoliosis patient, but first he needs to convince the parents, who have rejected the child because of his disabilities.
Director: Fred Zinnemann | Stars: Lee Aaker, Neville Brand, Helen Brown, Henry Fonda
Votes: 47
29. If You Love This Planet (1982)
26 min | Documentary, Short
An Australian pediatrician gives a speech on the consequences of a nuclear war.
Director: Terre Nash | Stars: Helen Caldicott, Vannevar Bush, Winston Churchill, Leslie Groves
Votes: 178
30. Educating Peter (1992)
30 min | Documentary, Short
Peter Gwazdauskas, a child with Down Syndrome, attends a normal school with regular students. The documentary follows Peter and how much he has improved throughout the school year.
Director: Gerardine Wurzburg | Stars: Judy Gwazdauskas, Peter Gwazdauskas
Votes: 213
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