Oscar Nod for Controversial Amy Winehouse Documentary

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By Maia Efrem January 14, 2016

Nominees for the 88th Academy Awards were announced this morning and the road to the February 28 telecast of the Oscars has officially begun.

While this year’s favorites, “The Revenant” and “The Martian,” lead the pack with 12 and 9 nominations, respectively, but there were several nominations for Jewish films and documentaries.

Already a winner at the Golden Globes, Hungarian Holocaust film “Son of Saul” was nominated for best foreign language film, “Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah” was nominated for best documentary short and the controversial posthumous documentary “Amy” of late Jewish singer Amy Winehouse was nominated for best documentary feature.

Mitch Winehouse, Winehouse’s father, distanced himself from the documentary, that the documentary focused on his daughter’s drug addiction. “There are so many great things in Amy’s life that were missed in that film. It was a great opportunity that [director] Asif Kapadia had and he didn’t grab it,” he said. “Everyone had heard that rubbish. Let’s hear something new about Amy, and this is what this is about – creativity and positivity.”

Matt Charman, Joel and Ethan Coen were also nominated for best original screenplay for “Bridge of Spies.” With the Steven Spielberg production also earning a nod for the coveted best picture prize.

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“The Revenent,” which is produced by Israeli billionaire Arnon Milchan, is a fan favorite to win, and if it does, it will be Milchan’s third Best Picture win in a row.

Maia Efrem is the former research editor and assistant to the editor and was also responsible for the Forward’s annual Salary Survey. Previously she served as the editor of Blognik Beat, a blog written by students who emigrated from or have ties to the Former Soviet Union. Maia is a graduate of Hunter College and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

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