Audrey Marrs (Curatorial Practice 2008) won an Oscar last night for best documentary feature for Inside Job, which she coproduced with director Charles Ferguson. Only her second feature film, it exposes the truth behind the global financial crisis of 2008 and includes interviews with major financial insiders, politicians, and journalists.

The film was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2010 and was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics. The film has won many other top awards, including Best Documentary by the New York Film Critics and Outstanding Directional Achievement in Documentary by the Directors Guild.

From the stage at the glittering Academy Awards show, Marrs gave a brief but heartfelt acceptance speech. “Having only made two films, I still feel that Charles and I are newcomers to this community, but from the beginning we've been made to feel incredibly welcome and supported for which I'm immensely grateful. Thank you so much to the Academy and to Sony Classics, Michael and Tom, and much love and gratitude to my family. Thank you so much.”

Marrs has enjoyed almost instant success in filmmaking; on her first try at a feature film, she and Charles Ferguson scored an Oscar nomination in the Best Documentary Feature category with No End in Sight, a documentary chronicling the policy choices made by the Bush Administration during the lead–up to the war in Iraq and the months immediately following the invasion. Since its release, No End in Sight has collected many prizes, including Best Documentary by the National Society of Film Critics and a Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Marrs received her undergraduate degree in Media Arts from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. While there she made a number of short films and was active in Olympia’s indie music scene in the late 1990s. She played in several local bands including Mocket, Gene Defcon and Bratmobile. Following her time at CCA she was an independent curator of gallery exhibitions.

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