Meet the Directors of 2016's Oscar-Nominated Documentaries

The Brian Lehrer Show is continuing its tradition of talking to the filmmakers behind the five Oscar-nominated feature-length documentaries.

These films take on wildly divergent subject matters that intersect in fascinating ways as individuals struggle with their inner demons and with the violent political realities their communities face.

In an Oscar season where the politics of the academy itself is at the forefront of the discussion (Wendell Pierce had something to say about that on our show), these directors might be the best equipped to connect the personal with the political. Listen to them all and see if you can pick one as a favorite for the Oscar:

Asif Kapadia: director/writer/producer of “Amy”

"Amy" is about the life and music of Amy Winehouse. Kapadia talks about the breakthrough moment for him as a filmmaker when he found the person who tried, and failed, to get the young singer into rehab -- the real story that eventually becomes the hit song and brings the fame she was unable to survive.

🔊 Hear Asif Kapadia on the Brian Lehrer Show:

Matthew Heineman: director of “Cartel Land”

“Cartel Land” tells the story of vigilante groups in Mexico and Arizona and the murky world of the drug cartels where good and evil cross paths. In the interview, Heineman talks about filmmaking under gunfire and the life-changing effect his film has had on people far from the geographic centers of the story.

🔊 Hear Matthew Heineman on the Brian Lehrer Show:

Joshua Oppenheimer: director of “The Look of Silence"

This is Oppenheimer's second film about the ways the mass killings in Indonesia in 1965 play out today, where the participants in the death squads are hailed as national saviors and glibly reenact the horrific crimes. The first film, “The Act of Killing” was also nominated in this category in 2014. “The Look of Silence” focuses on the brother of one of the 1965 victims as he is witness to the reenactments and gently seeks acknowledgment of the crimes from those who remain unpunished.
 

🔊 Hear Joshua Oppenheimer on the Brian Lehrer Show:

Evgeny Afineevsky: director of “Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom"

Afineevsky's film documents the three months when student demonstrations in Ukraine grew into a wider revolution and a presidential ouster.

🔊 Hear Evgeny Afineevsky on the Brian Lehrer Show:

Liz Garbus: director of “What Happened, Miss Simone?”

Garbus (one of only two women nominated as feature film directors) draws on archival video and audio, diaries, and interviews to tell the story of performer and civil rights activist Nina Simone, an African-American woman born in the Jim Crow south who trained to become the “the first black classical pianist in America” and never fully reconciled to her career as a popular musician (or to way audiences behaved in jazz clubs versus concert halls).

🔊 Hear Liz Garbus on the Brian Lehrer Show: