It’s a night of artistic celebration where the best of the best are acknowledged for their innovative storytelling, and it’s a night that WorkingNation is proud to have a connection with one of the nominees.

Director Marshall Curry, who made our short film “Slope of the Curve,” garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary (Short Subject) for “A Night at The Garden.”

The seven-minute piece released by Field of Vision is a reminder of the power American pro-Nazi sympathizers had in mobilizing public sentiment for Germany prior to the start of World War II. The documentary, assembled from archival footage, shows the German-American Bund’s 1939 rally at  Madison Square Garden in New York City.

According to Curry’s Q&A about his short film, he wanted to showcase a hidden chapter of American history that was subsequently whitewashed from memory.

“The footage is so powerful, it seems amazing that it isn’t a stock part of every high school history class. But I think the rally has slipped out of our collective memory in part because it’s scary and embarrassing. It tells a story about our country that we’d prefer to forget,” Curry said on the film’s website.

This is Curry’s third Academy Award nomination. He was previously nominated for 2005’s Street Fight about Cory Booker’s political campaign for Newark, N.J. mayor and 2011’s If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front. WorkingNation commissioned Curry to direct “Slope of the Curve” in 2016, which also features black-ish lead actor Anthony Anderson as narrator.

“Slope of the Curve” is a leading-edge animated short that highlights the problem of technology skills training in the U.S. The exponential growth of new technologies and the speed of their implementation presents new challenges and opportunities for the American workers to gain new skills.

During this “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” workers who cannot acquire digital skills to program, operate and maintain automated systems are at risk of being left behind. The film serves as a warning that complacency in the face of technological change is no longer an option.

We at WorkingNation congratulate Curry on his nomination and are pulling for him to bring home the Oscar. We’ll be watching the Academy Awards ceremony on February 24 on ABC and invite you to cheer along with us.

Join the Conversation: Watch both short films and tell us what you think about their messages on our Facebook page.