“O.J.: Made in America” broke a record at the 89th Academy Awards on Sunday night as it won the Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category — it is now the longest ever film to win an Oscar.
According to the New York Times, the then-Soviet Union film “War and Peace” was the previous record-holder at 7 hours, 11 minutes (431 minutes), which won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1969. “Made in America” runs 7 hours and 47 minutes (467 minutes). Before that, 1939’s “Gone With the Wind” held the record, clocking in at 238 minutes.
“O.J.: Made in America,” which screened as a seven-and-a-half-hour feature in order to qualify for the Oscars, and was also released as a 5-part miniseries on ABC and ESPN. The film’s nomination sparked some debate about the increasingly blurred line between the two mediums.
The other nominees in the category, “13th,” “I Am Not Your Negro,” “Life, Animated” and “Fire at Sea” were all full-length documentary films. “Made in America” was released as a five-part miniseries on ESPN as well.
“O.J.: Made in America” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016 and debuted on ABC the following June.