Video Game Violence Documentary Grabs Award at Dallas Festival

GamePolitics readers will likely recall previous coverage of Moral Kombat, the controversial documentary on video game violence directed by Spencer Halpin (left, brother of ECA president Hal Halpin).

According to a press release issued by the Dallas Video Festival, Spencer is the recipient of the META Media Award, described as "a Director’s Choice Award for outstanding achievement for media about media."

Of Moral Kombat, festival president Bart Weiss said:

This is not an easy ‘Nasty video games are bad and are the cause of the destruction of man’ type of video.  It is thoughtful, very thorough, and it definitely presents both sides of the argument. The film is incredibly well-produced and directed, melding the interview into hi-res images from the games.  Indeed, by the end of the film you are exhausted by the barrage of these graphics, many of them violent. 

 

The effect is, well, the effect of these images.  For someone like me who is not a gamer... the effect is disconnecting and without playing gives you an idea of what it's about.  The film makes you feel what video games really are while you're hearing about their effects; it's very powerful and a must-see. Many documentaries have footage that shows you what the subject is about very few make you feel it like this one does...

Those interviewed in Moral Kombat include:

• Senator Joe Lieberman
• Jack Thompson (game biz critic, recently disbarred)
• Dr. David Walsh (NIMF)
• Dr. Henry Jenkins (every gamer's favorite academic)
• Dean Takahashi (game journalist)
• Lorne Lanning (game designer)
• Andy McNamara (Game Informer editor)
• Lt. Col. Grossman (game violence critic)

Additional info on Moral Kombat is available at the film's website.

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