Gravity Is My Enemy

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Gravity Is My Enemy
Directed byJohn C. Joseph
Produced byJohn C. Joseph
Jan Stussy
Starring Mark Hicks
Jan Stussy
CinematographyJohn Sharaf
Distributed by Churchill Films
Release date
  • 1977 (1977)
Running time
26 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Gravity Is My Enemy is a 1977 American short documentary film about quadriplegic visual artist Mark Hicks, directed by John C. Joseph. It won an Oscar at the 50th Academy Awards in 1978 for Documentary Short Subject. [1] [2]

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Mark Hicks, of Manhattan Beach, California, was an abstract painter. He was also a quadriplegic, since falling out of a tree at age 12. Hicks was the subject of the 1977 Academy Award-winning documentary short Gravity Is My Enemy, produced by his art teacher at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Jan Stussy, and directed by John C. Joseph. The life and work of Mark Hicks is examined in this documentary, along with a discussion of his being a student at UCLA, culminating with his first gallery show in San Francisco.

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The Sand Castle is a 1977 stop motion animated short created by Co Hoedeman for the National Film Board of Canada. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 50th Academy Awards.

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My Enemy, My Brother is a 2015 Canadian documentary film about two war veterans who met twenty-five years later after the Iran–Iraq War in 1980s. It is directed by Ann Shin and produced by Melanie Horkan, Hannah Donegan and Fathom Film Group. The documentary was well received by critics and earned wide spread critical acclaim. My Enemy, My Brother was shortlisted with ten other documentaries from 74 entries submitted to 88th Academy Awards in Documentary Short Subject category. The final five nominations were scheduled to be announced on January 14, 2016.

Jan Stussy (1921–1990) was an American artist, film producer, and professor. He was a professor emeritus from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he taught there for 42 years. He was awarded an Academy Award for the documentary film, Gravity Is My Enemy (1977). Stussy was a prolific painter and printmaker.

References

  1. "The 50th Academy Awards (1978) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
  2. "1977 (50th) Academy Awards, Documentary (Short Subject), Gravity Is My Enemy". Academy Awards Acceptance Speeches, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Retrieved August 20, 2021.