Two Hamilton alumni — Yance Ford ’94 and Andrew Metz ’91 — are each nominated, albeit for different roles and films, for best documentary feature at the 90th Academy Awards this Sunday. Ford is the director of Strong Island, which tells the story of his brother, William Ford, Jr., who was murdered in 1992 and who’s killer was never convicted. Ford visited the College in September to screen the film and has received widespread praise since its release, including profiles in

The New Yorker

and

The Guardian

.

Metz was the managing editor for Abacus, the story of the only bank that was prosecuted in relation to the 2008 financial crisis.

FiveThirtyEight

has said it has “no clue” who will win in the best documentary category, with none of the five nominees having won a significant amount of awards relative to the others in the lead-up to the Oscars, so it is entirely possible that Hamilton could have an Academy Award-winner to its name by this time next week. If the prestige and pomp of the night was not already enough to prompt students to tune in, perhaps this close-to-home connection will be.

The Spectator wishes Ford and Metz the best of luck on Sunday and hope everyone enjoys the celebration of an excellent year in film.