No sooner did local filmmakers Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine arrive in Los Angeles for Oscar week than they were getting a special shout-out from Michael Moore.
The controversial liberal filmmaker threw a dinner for all the Oscar-nominated documentarians (Moore himself was nominated for “Sicko” and the Fines for “War/Dance,” their film on Ugandan schoolchildren).
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He recognized the Fines because, when he first came to D.C. to shoot, during the making of “Roger & Me,” he asked for advice from a number of local filmmakers, among them Sean’s parents, Paul and Holly Fine.
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When we caught up with her on Tuesday, Andrea Nix Fine called the weekend “a whirlwind.”
She said it began a few days before the ceremony, when they attended a screening at the International Documentary Association, which earned them a standing ovation at the end of their film.
On Oscar day, she said, “the day starts about 3. The hotel starts to buzz. … It becomes like a police state. You need a special pass just to walk to your hotel.”
The red carpet is “like a gantlet of paparazzi that you have to go through.”
Ultimately, “War/Dance” had to settle for being a nominee, as it lost out to “Taxi to the Dark Side.”
“Of course we would have liked to win,” she said. “But millions of people saw a clip of ‘War/Dance’ that night, so that will get the message out about these kids.”
So what’s next for our famous filmmakers?
“Some sleep,” said Fine.
And beyond that, a project with Washington lawyer Joseph Califano that takes a look at addiction.
Oh, what a night
Andrea Nix Fine recalls some highlights from her night:
» Walking the red carpet right in front of George Clooney, and chatting up the actor for about 20 minutes afterward.
» Talking to actor Forest Whitaker, and Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the duo behind the Oscar-winning song, “Falling Slowly,” at the Governor’s Ball.
» Watching Jack Nicholson prep Javier Bardem before the show started.
» Receiving a compliment on her dress from Cate Blanchett.
» Seeing host Jon Stewart in jeans and a T-shirt immediately after the show concluded.
