Film: Citizenfour
Year: 2014
Win: Documentary Feature
Other Films in Category: Finding Vivien Maier, Last Days in Vietnam, Salt of the Earth, Virunga
Other Nominations: None
Winning Artist: Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, & Dirk Wilutzky
Interesting Facts About Winning Artist: Poitras was born in Boston in 1964. She also directed Citizenfour. In her work prior, she directed three documentary features, two TV documentaries, and three shorts. They all appear to be critical of the US government. She claims she has been stopped coming back into the country because of those documentaries.
Bonnefoy also edited the film. She also edited some fictional films, including Run Lola Run. She has directed several documentaries as well. She is the daughter of French poet Yves Bonnefoy and American actress Lucille Vines. She was born in France, has both French and American citizenship, and now lives in Germany.
Wilutzky was born in Germany. He was production manager on Bowling for Columbine. Bonnefoy and Wilutzky are currently dating.
Plot: Look at the NSA and Edward Snowden.
Analysis: It is an overrated documentary that is most interesting in its first twenty minutes before they introduce Snowden.
My Vote: This was not a great year for documentaries, but Citizenfour was the best of them.
Next Film in Category: Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport, 2000
Next Month: Anne of the Thousand Days, Picture nominee, 1969