A short film that followed a Greek Coast Guard official during the height of the massive influx of refugees in the waters around the island of Lesvos is one of 10 short documentaries selected as short list contenders for the 89th Academy Awards.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences selected 10 short subject documentaries out of thousands that were in contention.
Out of these ten films, five will become official Oscar nominees. The five nominees will be announced on January 24, 2017 and the winner will be selected at the 89th Academy Awards on February 26, 2017.
Daphne Matziaraki is a Greek documentary filmmaker who lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area. She returned to Greece last fall to make a film about the refugee crisis that had overcome her nation.
She told The New York Times that she discovered a situation that she never imagined possible. She followed a coast guard captain for three weeks and filmed during harrowing rescues.
“I followed a coast guard captain for three weeks as he pulled family after family, child after child, from the ocean and saved their lives,” she said.
The New York Times featured Matziaraki’s complete documentary, 4.1 Miles.