With the 90th Academy Awards approaching, the entertainment industry is buzzing over the recent announcement of the Academy Awards’ shortlist of possible nominees in the Best Documentary Short category. The New York Film Academy (NYFA) is celebrating that this year’s shortlist includes a film edited by our very own Documentary Filmmaking instructor Kristen Nutile.
Nutile edited the film “Heroin(e),” which not only made the cut for Oscar consideration but has now been identified by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as one of the top 10 films in the Best Documentary Short category.
“Heroin(e)” is an original documentary produced and released by Netflix earlier this year, and was directed by Elaine Mcmillion. The film follows three women in Huntington, West Virginia, as they struggle with the city’s infamous opioid epidemic. Huntington’s overdose rate is 10 times the national average. With the United States facing an “Opioid Epidemic,” the story is as gripping and emotional as it is relevant in today’s national climate, with political and social leaders fighting a similar war on drugs across the country.
Netflix has been making headlines for its original content for just a few years, but the company’s diverse coverage of subjects and genres has brought both critical and commercial praise. Their short documentary “The White Helmets” won Best Documentary Short at this year’s 89th Academy Awards, setting Netflix up for two consecutive wins. If it’s selected from the shortlist in January, “Heroin(e)” will be the eighth documentary from Netflix nominated for an Oscar.
Before working on “Heroin(e),” Kristen Nutile edited two dozen other films, and directed six of her own shorts. In addition to her prolific professional film work, Nutile is an instructor at New York Film Academy’s New York campus, working closely with aspiring documentary students looking to tell their own stories. New York Film Academy’s lauded Documentary Filmmaking program is on The Independent Magazine’s list of Top 10 Academic Programs for Documentary Filmmakers and boasts both award-winning alumni and faculty.
The final five nominees that will vie for the Oscar during the televised broadcast will be selected from these 10 and announced along with the final nominees for all the other categories on January 24, 2018.
The New York Film Academy congratulates Kristen Nutile and “Heroin(e)” on its current success and important message and wishes them the best of luck as the Academy selects its final nominees.