In 1946, John Huston’s Let There Be Light was suppressed from release by the Pentagon. The documentary was about soldiers dealing with the traumas they suffered during and after World War II. 35 years later, under pressure from the director and the White House, the film is released.
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is Paul Robeson: Tribute to an Artist, and Features winner is Best Boy.
1981
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is Karl Hess: Toward Liberty, and Features winner is From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China.
1982
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is Close Harmony, and Features winner is Genocide.
1983
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is If You Love this Planet, and Features winner is Just Another Missing Kid.
1984
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is Flamenco at 5:15, and Features winner is He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin’.
1985
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is The Stone Carvers, and Features winner is The Times of Harvey Milk.
1986
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is Witness to War: Dr. Charlie Clements, and Features winner is Broken Rainbow.
1987
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is Women — for America, for the World, and Features winners are Artie Shaw: Time is All You’ve Got and Down and Out in America. This is the first year two documentaries share the Best Feature honors.
1988
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is Young at Heart, and Features winner is The Ten-Year Lunch.
1989
Michael Moore completes Roger & Me for $260,000. The film deals primarily with the General Motors automotive plant closings in Flint, Michigan, and the effects these closings have on the local community and the desperate measures the unemployed pursue just to get by. Moore strikes a deal with Warner Bros. to distribute the film in theaters and on home video. Warner Bros. pays $3 million for the world distribution rights. Part of this agreement includes paying $25,000 to run housing for homeless families in the city.
Academy Awards: Short Subjects winner is You Don’t Have to Die, and Features winner is Hotel Terminus.