Faith and Film Critics Circle: Best Documentary

Winner: At the Death House Door
Pickett's odyssey makes for an incredible story. One of the executions he had to preside over was of a man who killed a popular parishioner during a prison riot. Watching Pickett negotiate, even in memory, the complex of emotions that his job has forced him to reconcile, I was struck by how the film begins with the political and moves to the spiritual. Like Plato's Republic, which cannot answer the question "What is Justice?" without describing the perfect society, At the Death House Door begins with a seemingly simple, direct question and shows how hopelessly complicated the simplest questions can be. (Kenneth R. Morefield, from his 2008 top 10 list)

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Runner-up:
Man on Wire

Also nominated:
Encounters at the End of the World
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Young@Heart
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Purpose

• We strive to develop a stronger presence of mature, intelligent film criticism by Christian writers in the cultural dialogue on cinema - including print and the Internet.

• We work towards a fuller, more rewarding appreciation of the arts, acknowledging that the arts are an innately spiritual endeavor.

• We acknowledge that what has in the last few decades become popularly known as "Christian criticism" is generally an inadequate response to art that leads to narrow interpretations, moralizing, and didacticism. Thus we seek to examine and interpret film in all its aspects - from aesthetic qualities to social, political, and spiritual implications and beyond. We promise to avoid relying on a "ratings tyranny" - a "checklist" of potentially offensive elements that distracts readers from a fuller examination of the work.

• We seek to provide community, resources, and challenges to Christian film critics on the Internet.

• We seek to "cross-pollinate" member film criticism by directing readers to the larger group.

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Best Documentary

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