UPDATE: since this article has been originally published, "My octopus teacher" won the Oscar for the best feature documentary and "Another Round" won in the best international film category.
We live in an era where mainstream journalism is continuously discredited by rogue politicians, by businessmen and even by head of states. In our era, the general public is very ill prepared to discern between quality information and junk content tailored to generate likes and shares. In our era, those voted by us and who are in charge of introducing laws to safeguard the public’s well being they mimic serving our interests. In our era, those who are in charge of implementing the existing legislation and ensuring the public’s well being, they channel their energy to ensure their re-election. In our era, those who are in charge of ensuring there is justice for all, no matter of the social and economic background, they ensure that they please those who nominated them for the job.
Collective's Producer Bianca Oana on the Oscar's 2021 red carpet
(photo from https://www.eonline.com/)
For the best documentary feature category, the 2021 Oscars received a record number of submissions: 238. Only five made to the final:
Time
A documentary about one woman's fight to have her husband released early from an unfair prison sentence.
The Mole
A charming film exploring the realities of growing old.
Crip Camp
An Obama (yes the ex US president) executive produced documentary about the disability revolution in the US. “A documentary that proves we can tell human stories about disabled people and our lives” as one review stated.
My octopus teacher
An unusual story about a long term relationship between a human and a mollusk.
And my favorite: Collective
A compelling story of a group of investigative journalists uncovering chronic corruption in a former socialist country health system. Collective is also nominated in the "INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM" category. The Mongolian Public Media Content Foundation is proud to have been able to bring this film to Mongolia with support from the Canadian Embassy and the British Embassy.
The pundits and the betting agencies predict that “My octopus teacher” is more likely to win. But the fact that a film like Collective, a story about good old fashion journalism made it on the red carpet on this year’s Oscar’s night, it's a celebration of our job. A triumph that every good journalist from around the world should enjoy. And a reminder that despite all the odds and obstacles that we face, there can still be light at the end of the tunnel for the Mongolian journalism.
PS
- The Oscars can be watched live on TV on Telgerleg Ekh Oron
- An interview in Mongolian with Catalin Tolontan, the protagonist of the Collective film can be seen here https://fb.watch/54FILpnFCj/
- The Collective film was premiered in Mongolia by Mongol HD in January 2021. The Mongolian National Broadcaster re-run it yesterday on April 25. The film is is still available for five days on SkyMedia and Univision catch-up services. The film licence, translation and dubbing to Mongolian was made courtesy of the Canadian Embassy to Mongolia and the British Embassy to Mongolia.
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