Alumnus wins Academy Award for doc 'Undefeated'

Western Washington University alumnus TJ Martin has won an Academy Award for his documentary "Undefeated." The award was announced at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony Sunday, Feb. 26, in Los Angeles.

Martin will be on Western’s campus March 1 for an exclusive screening of the film; the event is sold out.

With “Undefeated” having won the Oscar for Best Feature Documentary, Martin is the first African-American director of a full-length feature film to win an Oscar. John Singleton, Lee Daniels and Spike Lee have received nominations for directing full-length features, but none has won an Oscar statue. Among black directors, only Roger Ross Williams has claimed the golden statue, in 2009 for best documentary short subject.

Martin, 32, won the Oscar alongside fellow director and editor Dan Lindsay.

The documentary, considered by many an underdog to win the Oscar Sunday night, created a huge buzz on social media channels. The film's announcement as the Oscar winner was the "most tweeted Oscars moment," according to Twitter.

"Undefeated" first received critical acclaim at its SXSW debut in March and was signed by The Weinstein Co. for distribution soon after.

Martin's second film, “Undefeated” documents the struggles of an inner-city Memphis football team as they attempt a winning season with their charismatic and devoted coach, Bill Courtney, at the helm. Faced with virtually every strike against them – from poverty to criminal behavior – this inspirational true story shows how a group of young men transformed into an academic and athletic team.

Martin credits his time at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies as prepping him for the next stage of his life – a move to New York and then Los Angeles to work in film.

“Fairhaven [College] allowed me to go off and dabble in the film world and integrate what I learned in my classes through the media,” he says. “You’ll fail a million times before you make one success. Fairhaven and WWU created a comfortable environment for that to happen. It was a good stomping ground where I could experiment a lot and felt comfortable making mistakes.”

Martin will spend his day on campus Thursday talking to students, faculty and staff before the exclusive Bellingham screening, at which Martin will introduce the film, talk about his experience at WWU and answer questions from the audience.