John Sinno, one of the producers of the critically-acclaimed documentary Iraq in Fragments, has written a very interesting open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In the letter, Sinno takes issue with the flippant disrepect shown towards docs in general by Oscar’s presenter Jerry Seinfeld. Here’s a few short snippets:

“While I appreciate the role of humor in our lives, Jerry Seinfeld’s remarks were made at the expense of thousands of documentary filmmakers and the entire documentary genre…With his lengthy, dismissive and digressive introduction, Jerry Seinfeld had no time left for any individual description of the five nominated films…He wasted a wonderful opportunity to excite viewers about the nominated films and about the documentary genre in general.”

“Seinfeld’s introduction arrived on the heels of an announcement by the Academy that the number of cities where documentary films must screen to qualify for an Academy Award is being increased by 75%. This will make it much more difficult for independent filmmakers’ work to qualify for the Best Documentary Feature Award, while giving an advantage to films distributed by large studios. Fewer controversial films will qualify for Academy consideration, and my film Iraq in Fragments would have been disqualified this year. This announcement came as a great disappointment to me and to other documentary filmmakers. I hope the Academy will reconsider its decision.”