The 2016 Oscar Nominated Short Documentaries From chaos comes order, survival and even fulfillment. Life-long learning and greater understanding of our world are goals shared by the CWC film family — artfully achieved this year in compelling short docs with global as well as local focus. These 2016 Oscar nominees impressively demonstrate the resiliency of the human spirit. They give voice to important, somber stories, offering emotional, often inspiring and even infuriating visions. Join us for two highly worthwhile and thought-provoking programs. QUICK LINKS ~ OSCAR SHORT DOCS EVENT DETAIL: Screening at The Carnegie, 1028 Scott Blvd., Covington KY 41011. Two distinct programs showing at 4:00 & 7:00 pm each day: Saturday, February 20 – programs A & B. Sunday February 21 – programs B & A. Discussion after each session led by Melissa Godoy, Noel Julnes-Dehner and Tim Swallow. Single tickets for each program are $12 in advance, $14 at the door. Combo tickets for both programs A & B are the best value — six outstanding films — $20 in advance and $24 at the door. Food & Beverage: The bar will be open. But due to exhibit construction in the Carnegie Gallery, food between sessions is limited to items you bring ("brown bag") or order-in/pick up, like pizza. We ask that you assist with clean up and keeping the venue tidy. Easy Access, Free Parking ... Google map, printable parking map, printable street map and written directions. 
~ PROGRAM A ~ Sat, Feb 20 4:00 PM, repeats Sun, Feb 21, 7:00 PM Total Run Time approx. 120 minutes including post-film discussion with Melissa Godoy & Noel Julnes-Dehner 
Body Team 12 Oscar Nominee
Director David Darg, Liberia, 13 min. Buoyed by her strong optimism, love of country and belief in God, Garmai Sumo is the glue holding her medical team together. Set at the height of the Ebola epidemic in Liberia the film tells about a teams of workers charged with the collection and disposal of victims' bodies. Garmai, the team's nurse and its only female member, is our guide and storyteller. In this inspiring character study, where the subject speaks directly to us by way of addressing the camera, Garmai says that her gender and the fact that she is a mother, makes her unafraid of blood or of dead bodies – she is there for the difficult moments when the men's courage fails them. As Maria Garcia notes in Film Journal International, this empowering film "stands out for celebrating ordinary Liberians who volunteered during the epidemic as a service to their country. Not only is Garmai Sumo a redemptive presence in an apocalyptic moment in her country's history, but she represents the best in all of us." 
Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness Oscar Nominee
Director Sharmen Obaid-Chinoy, Pakistan/Canada, 40 min. Every year, more than 1,000 girls and women are the victims of religiously motivated honor killings in Pakistan, especially in rural areas. Pakistani "honor" equates with female obedience and we learn how and why these murders continue, and the reasons men are not prosecuted for them. Eighteen–year–old Saba, who fell in love and eloped, was targeted by her father and uncle – shot in the head, stuffed in a bag and dumped in a river – but survived to tell her story. Saba gives a voice to the many women who are victims of violence as she recovers from the attack and conveys the grief, guilt, betrayal, and fear that compound her situation. The film boldly examines all angles, giving both sides a chance for expression, making the complexity of the situation clear as speakers, particularly several women, reveal how they internalize ancient traditions. In scrutinizing the misogynistic elements of Pakistan's theocratic and patriarchal structure, the finale invites empathy, compassion, and anger. 
Last Day of Freedom Oscar Nominee
Directors Dee Hibbert-Jones & Nomi Talisman, USA, 32 min. Bill Babbitt recounts the story of his younger brother, Manny, who served in Vietnam and returned greatly affected by post-traumatic stress disorder. Bill recalls the lack of resources available for Manny as his condition worsened, culminating in the difficult choice to hand Manny over to the police when his brother commits murder and puts his own family at risk. The film highlights the failures of America's commitment to veterans, as well as flaws in the legal system that allow a mentally ill man to be put to death. This powerful study in guilt, loss and forgiveness underscores the pain that Bill feels while telling this tragic story and the animation is visually stunning and refreshing. All told, this doc is bold, and seriously thought provoking. 
~ PROGRAM B ~ Sat, Feb 20 7:00 PM, repeats Sun, Feb 21, 4:00 PM Total Run Time approx. 120 minutes including post-film discussion with Melissa Godoy & Noel Julnes-Dehner Chau, Beyond the Lines Oscar Nominee
Director Courtney Marsh, USA/Vietnam, 34 min. Courtney Marsh spent eight years making this documentary, rendered with considerable emotion and journalistic skill. Just how does Chau, a teenager in modern day Vietnam, achieve his dream of becoming a professional artist when the odds are stacked against him? Talent isn't the issue – it's his body – Chau was born with severe disability as a result of his mother's exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. In spite of indifferent (and sometimes cruel) treatment at the care center where he resides, we see his courage and determination as he shares his quest in his own words.  Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah Oscar Nominee
Director Adam Benzine, Canada/USA, 40 min. Refined and tightly executed, Spectres of the Shoah brings us a revealing conversation with 90-year-old filmmaker Claude Lanzmann as he recounts his experience making the landmark 1985 documentary Shoah, a ten-hour epic considered to be the definitive non-fiction film about the Holocaust. One doesn't need to have seen Shoah in order to appreciate this short documentary, as Lanzmann's commentary is vivid and detailed, while the film offers an extraordinary breadth of visual research, including unseen footage shot for the original doc, that lets the viewer experience the images that make the film so powerful. Lanzmann also discusses his relationships with Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, and his teenage years spent fighting in the French Resistance during World War II. Overall, the film is a handsome, dignified portrait of the filmmaker which grants the subject esteem and authority. Coming Home from the Streets Bonus doc, local filmmaker
Director Noel Julnes-Dehner, Cincinnati, USA, 25 min. Coming Home from the Streets tells the powerful story of Cincinnati women leaving the world of prostitution. The women overcome childhood demons, drug addiction and complicated situations that keep them on the streets. The Cincinnati Union Bethel, police officers and Off the Streets staff, a trucker against trafficking, and an outreach advocate share their struggles and victories as they contend with this dark world.
~ DISCUSSION LEADERS ~ Cincinnati Filmmakers Melissa Godoy and Noel Julnes-Dehner Director Melissa Godoy 
Winner of two regional Emmy Awards, Melissa Godoy is a director and producer of television and independent film. Her programs have aired on public television stations nationwide, and screened locally at events and exhibits at Cincinnati World Cinema, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Cincinnati Ballet.
In 2013, she was awarded a Cincinnati Arts Ambassador fellowship to create The Art Carvers of Music Hall, about the effort to conserve historically significant hidden treasure in Music Hall and celebrate the women artisans involved. For the past five years Melissa's been shooting a narrative documentary that tells the story of revitalization in our historic core – Rebirth of Over-the-Rhine. Her award-winning documentary about creativity and aging, Do Not Go Gently, premiered at Cincinnati World Cinema, and is airing for the 6th consecutive year on PBS stations through American Public Television. Godoy previously served as Line Producer for the Oscar-nominated documentary short, The Last Truck by Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert (HBO); and for the national Prime Time Emmy Award-winning documentary about children with cancer, A Lion in the House, by Bognar and Reichert (Independent Lens/PBS). She was a co-field producer and the Cincinnati cinematographer for Election Day by Katy Chevigny (POV/PBS). Melissa was the cinematographer for Andrea Torrice's A Family Recipe for Success. Locally, she produced Erich Kunzel: A Cincinnati Legacy, by CET; as well as Classical Quest and violinmasterclass.com, both with Kurt Sassmannshaus and the Starling Project Foundation. Godoy studied Theatre and Creative Writing for the Media at Northwestern University and she shares her love of filmmaking as an Artist in Residence with the Ohio Arts Council's Arts Learning Program. Learn more about Melissa and her work, here: CinemaSol.com. Filmmaker Noel Julnes-Dehner 
Noel Julnes-Dehner is a documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on human-interest stories. Coming Home from the Streets recounts the experience of women trapped in prostitution who yearn for a better life.
Other documentaries by Noel include The Right Track: Stories of Justice and Redemption about people released from incarceration who are struggling to re-enter society. Under Fire: Soviet Women Combat Veterans, WWII tells the story of what it was like for women on the battlefield on the eastern front. It was shown on CET and Ukrainian television, in national and international film festivals and at the Kennan Institute of the Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC. For the European-American Chamber of Commerce, she produced and wrote a video in French, Y a til une vie?, marketing Cincinnati in France. She co-wrote The Body of Christ for the Episcopal Community Services Foundation, which raised over $100,000 for the organization. Her writing appears in Minerva, the journal of women in the military, Wisdom Found, Sojourners and Forward Movement. She was a foreign correspondent for a Ukrainian newspaper. As an Episcopal priest, she has worked in prison, parishes, private school, retirement centers, hospitals, and as a writer and assistant editor for an Episcopal publisher.
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