2016 Oscar Documentary Shorts (B)

Chau, Beyond the Lines ---------------------- dir. Courtney Marsh, USA/Vietnam, 34 minutes Synopsis: Chau, a teenager living in a Vietnamese care center for children born with birth defects due to Agent Orange, struggles with the difficulties of realizing his dream to become a professional artist and clothing designer. Despite being told that his ambitions are unrealistic, Chau is determined to live an independent, productive life. Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah -------------------------------------- dir. Adam Benzine, USA, 40 minutes Synopsis: Thirty years after the release of the documentary SHOAH, filmmaker Claude Lanzmann discusses the personal and professional difficulties he encountered during the more than 12 years it took to create the work. 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.