TCM’s 31 Days of Oscar 2014 begins with documentary about Academy Awards

Although the Oscars are going back to being held in March in 2014 (March 2), TCM will again be airing its annual “31 Days of Oscar” event throughout February and through March 3. Helping to start off this monthlong celebration is the Feb. 1 premiere of the new original documentary And the Oscar Goes To…, a look back at 85 years of the famous award.

The documentary comes from filmmakers who have won Oscars themselves — Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman — and includes interviews with Oscar-nominated actors and actresses such as Annette Bening, Ellen Burstyn, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and more, along with award-winning filmmakers and producers like Steven Spielberg, Michael Moore and Kathleen Kennedy. Also among the interviewees are frequent Oscars host Billy Crystal and head writer Bruce Vilanch.

And the Oscar Goes To… features great moments from the Academy Award ceremonies over the years. By and large, it does a nice job of capturing the various changes in the Academy over the years, as well — and how Oscar ceremonies often reflected that change. The film doesn’t avoid some of controversy, like Oscar’s ignoring of minority actors for much of its history, or Hollywood’s infamous “blacklist” period.

Naturally, plenty of clips from Oscar-nominated and -winning films are also included in the special.

And beyond just clips, film fans will get a big treat on the day that Oscar premieres, as TCM will kick off “31 Days of Oscar” with a salute to the year 1939 — often considered to be Hollywood’s greatest year — with the airing of the 10 Best Picture nominees from that year starting at 6am ET. Titles airing on Feb. 1, leading up to and after the documentary’s premiere, include legendary features such as Gone With the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, Ninotchka, Wuthering Heights, Stagecoach and more.

And the Oscar Goes To … premieres Feb. 1 at 8pm ET on TCM. CNN will be encoring the documentary as part of its CNN Films Presents showcase following the TCM premiere.

1 Comment

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