Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision is a 1994 American documentary film made by Freida Lee Mock. It explores the life of American artist Maya Lin, whose best-known work is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The film won the 1994 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. While a number of movie critics objected to it receiving this award, Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision met with mostly positive reviews, garnering praise for its look at the controversy surrounding the Vietnam Veterans Memorial design and Lin's growth as an artist.
In 2023, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Reception and legacy
Accolades
The film won the 1994 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It later aired on the PBS series POV.The award was mired in controversy as acclaimed films such as Hoop Dreams failed to receive a nomination. Film critic Roger Ebert also suggested that the nomination of Maya Lin stemmed from cronyism, since Mock was the chair of the committee which makes the nominations, and was thus close friends with many of the committee members. Mock denied that the nomination in any way stemmed from cronyism and hired an attorney to respond to the press criticism. Ebert and his associate Gene Siskel publicly apologized to Mock after seeing Maya Lin, with Ebert saying "I think it's a good film and deserved to be nominated.", but other prominent critics such as Janet Maslin maintained that while Maya Lin was a good film it was clearly outshone by documentaries such as Hoop Dreams and Crumb which were passed up for nomination.
In 2023, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".