Thursday, August 17, 2023

Emmy-nominated documentary 'Escape from Kabul' for the fall of Kabul two years later

Today is the second anniversary of my posting Colbert and Meyers take closer looks at the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, which inspired me to return to awards show coverage. Watch Escape From Kabul | Official Trailer | HBO, which promotes a documentary with two nominations at next month's News & Documentary Emmy Awards.

Escape From Kabul, an HBO original documentary featuring never-before-seen footage and exclusive interviews from Afghan citizens, U.S. Marines, and the Taliban during the 2021 withdrawal, premieres September 21 on HBOMax. #EscapeFromKabul
What a tragedy. Since today is National Nonprofit Day, I did some research on Charity Navigator to find a nonprofit that assists the evacuees. The organization I found with the most complete information is #AfghanEvac, "a coalition of organizations working with US government partners on sustained relocation and resettlement efforts to fulfill the United States’ duty to at-risk Afghans." Here is the link to their site. If my readers want to support our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, I recommend the USO. Do something useful to alleviate the horror of the situation for those who escaped and survived.

Follow over the jump for the nominees against which Escape From Kabul is competing in two categories, Outstanding Investigative Documentary and Best Documentary.

Outstanding Investigative Documentary
Escape From Kabul HBO Max
FIFA Uncovered Netflix
Flight/Risk Amazon Prime
I Am Vanessa Guillen Netflix
POV Delikado PBS
Escape From Kabul is the only nominee for this award with a nomination in another category, which just happens to be Best Documentary. On that basis alone, I'm considering it the front runner for this award, just like a related documentary, In Her Hands, is the favorite to win Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary.

With that, I'm moving on to the trailers for the other nominees, beginning with FIFA Uncovered | Official Trailer | Netflix.

From power struggles to global politics, an exploration of FIFA reveals the organization's checkered history — and what it takes to host a World Cup.
This trailer has two million views. If the global viewership were voting instead of American journalists and documentarians, it would probably win — but they're not. Electorates matter.

Next, Flight/Risk - Official Trailer | Prime Video.

Flight / Risk follows everyday people who find themselves in the midst of a global tragedy when two Boeing 737 Max planes crashed only five months apart in 2018 and 2019. This powerful documentary is told through the perspective of affected family members, their legal teams, whistleblowers, and Pulitzer-winning Seattle Times journalist Dominic Gates.
The 737 Max turned out to be less wonderful than when I shared a video promoting it in 2016. Even at the time, I called the video, which has since been made private, "Corporate salesmanship and greenwashing." That turned out to be not even the half of it.

Continuing on, I'm sharing I Am Vanessa Guillen | Official Trailer | Netflix.

Vanessa Guillen was 20 years old when she was found murdered at a US Army base. Rather than submit to silence, her family fought for justice and change.
Guillen's case has been in the news, as NBC News reported Woman who helped mutilate and conceal Vanessa Guillén’s body sentenced to 30 years in prison three days ago. As the trailer depicted, this became a cause celebre, which helps explain why the trailer has more than 1.8 million views. Wow!

The last trailer I'm sharing is Delikado | Official Trailer | POV | PBS.

Palawan is a tropical island paradise and one of Asia's tourist hotspots. But for a tiny network of environmental crusaders struggling to protect its spectacular forests and seas, it is a battlefield. Delikado follows three land defenders as they brave violence, death threats and murder while trying to stop politicians and businessmen from destroying the Philippines’ last ecological frontier. A co-production of POV and ITVS.
Just like The Last Out, also on PBS's POV, this trailer has far viewer views than the rest of the nominees, which makes me pessimistic about its chances. People won't vote for shows they haven't seen. That written, I'm glad I watched the trailer, as I found another documentary in the same vein as The Territory I can recommend to my students. Welcome to blogging as professional development.

Best Documentary
Escape From Kabul HBO Max
FRONTLINE, The Associated Press Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes PBS
Good Night Oppy Amazon Prime
The Janes HBO Max
I covered Best Documentary in 'Good Night Oppy' has six nominations at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Science and Technology Documentary and Best Documentary, but since then Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain is no longer listed among News & Documentary Emmy nominees. Until I examine all nominees, I'm going to be a good environmentalist by recycling my preliminary analysis.
While Good Night Oppy is the most nominated entry at this ceremony competing for this award, I don't know enough about its competition yet to pick a winner. The Janes has four nominations...and Escape From Kabul and the FRONTLINE episode "Putin’s Attack on Ukraine: Documenting War Crimes" have two each. Based on total nominations, I'd say The Janes is Good Night Oppy's stiffest competition...
Stay tuned as I continue my awards show coverage tomorrow. I have a choice — continue with nominees about the fall of Kabul, as three news programs with four nominations covered the story while another three nominees with four nominations cover life in Afghanistan under the Taliban, write about The Janes, or blog about nominees covering other topics entirely. Come back to see which one I choose.

Previous posts about the 2023 News & Documentary Emmy Awards
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