Culture

Roger Ebert Declares First-Ever Oscar-Worthy YouTube Video

By Caitlin Dickson
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Jamie Stuart may have just created the first Oscar-worthy YouTube video. Stuart, who recorded the clip during the day-after-Christmas blizzard in New York this weekend, edited and emailed the video, entitled "Idiot With a Tripod," to Roger Ebert the next day. Ebert was so impressed he shared it with readers on his Chicago Sun-Times blog, proclaiming, "this film deserves to win the Academy Award for best live-action short subject."

Ebert goes on to explain why he believes to 3 minute and 35 second video should win Hollywood's most coveted award:


(1) Because of its wonderful quality. (2) Because of its role as homage. It is directly inspired by Dziga Vertov's 1929 silent classic "Man With a Movie Camera." (3) Because it represents an almost unbelievable technical proficiency. It was filmed during the New York blizzard of Dec. 26, and Jamie Stuart e-mailed it to me with this time stamp: December 27, 2010 4:18:18 PM CST. 

Cord Jeffereson at MSN's Culture blog responds to Ebert's enthusiasm, predicting that an Oscar may be "a long shot." Still, he believes the video is "a testament to technology--both its power to create and to disseminate information--that a film that took just a day to complete is receiving Oscar buzz from one of the most respected critics in the world."


This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.