Welcome Remarks for 14th Annual Showcase of Academy Award–Nominated Documentaries and Short Subjects

Welcome to the William G. McGowan Theater at the National Archives. I’m David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and I’m very pleased to be here to kick off our five-day showcase of Academy Award–nominated documentaries and short subjects.

This year marks the 14th consecutive year we’ve hosted these screenings, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in partnership with the National Archives and the National Archives Foundation. We are honored to provide Washington, DC, filmgoers the opportunity to see all of these wonderful films for free.

I want to give a special welcome tonight to the members of the Young Founders Society. The Young Founders Society is a membership group for young professionals in the Washington, DC, area who are committed to the work of the National Archives Foundation to increase awareness of the cultural and historical value of the National Archives. To learn more about the Young Founders, please visit the National Archives Foundation website at www.archivesfoundation.org.

We thank the staff of the Academy for all their help and guidance in planning and executing these screenings—in particular Julie Gumpert, manager of public programming‎.

We’ll show the last of the Feature Documentary Nominees—Abacus: Small Enough to Jail—on Sunday, March 4, and the film will end in time for you to watch the awards ceremony on television that night. You can go to our website—www.archives.gov—to see the schedule of all the film screenings so that you can plan your movie-viewing through Sunday.

To find out more about all of our public programs and exhibits, please refer to our monthly Calendar of Events. Copies are in the lobby—along with a sign-up sheet to be included on our mailing list for the Calendar.

Also in the lobby, you can see an actual Academy Award. Charles Guggenheim’s Oscar for the 1964 film Nine from Little Rock is on permanent display outside the theater.

The driving force behind these special screenings is the partnership between the National Archives Foundation and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

The Foundation, as the Archives’ nonprofit partner, has raised millions of dollars from individuals, corporations, and foundations to support the work of the National Archives. Alongside our National Archives staff, the Foundation has helped to develop exhibits, public programs, educational activities, publications, and internet components both here in Washington, DC, and nationwide.

And now, without further ado, is tonight’s film. Nominated for Best Documentary Feature, here is Faces Places, a film by Agnès Varda, JR, and Rosalie Varda.

Thank you for coming, and enjoy the show.