Oscar Goes To HBO Veterans Crisis Line Documentary

Oscars 2015: Who Dana Perry Is and Why She Want Us to Pay Attention to Suicide 
ABC News
By JOI-MARIE MCKENZIE and EMILY SHAPIRO
Feb 23, 2015

Producer Dana Perry and director Ellen Goosenberg Kent accept the Best Documentary Short Award for "Crisis Hotline; Veterans Press 1" onstage during the 87th Annual Academy Awards on Feb. 22, 2015 in Hollywood, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

While accepting the Oscar for best documentary short subject, director Dana Perry said suicide should be talked about "out loud," dedicating the award to her son.

During her acceptance speech on behalf of "Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1," the music abruptly cut off when Perry mentioned her son, Evan Scott Perry, who committed suicide at age 15 in 2005. "I lost my son," Perry told reporters after the speech.

"We need to talk about suicide out loud to try to work against the stigma and silence around suicide because the best prevention for suicide is awareness and discussion and not trying sweep it under the rug."

Perry also mentioned veteran suicide in her Oscar speech, which she called "a crisis." Tonight's Oscar-winning HBO documentary, directed by Perry and Ellen Goosenberg Kent, is about the Department of Veterans Affairs' 24-hour call center for veterans.
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