Filmmaker Garrett Scott, dead at 37

Documentarian Garrett Scott, whose Occupation: Dreamland (made with co-director Ian Olds) powerfully depicts the life of American soldiers in Falluja and was shortlisted for the best documentary Oscar, died in an accident on Thursday at the age of 37. Scott's film is nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards' Truer Than Fiction prize, and he had planned to attend today's ceremony; his shocking death will certainly give the normally celebratory ceremony a somber air. Though Dreamland was only his second film, Scott was already well-known in the independent film community. On the strength of his debut Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story - which told the story of "a man who stole an Army tank and drove it through the streets of a local suburb" - he was named one of Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces in Independent Film for 2002, and the outpouring of grief and affection at IndieWire indicates that the respect and regard of his peers only grew over the next few years.

Occupation: Dreamland will premiere on the Sundance Channel next month; the Independent Spirit Awards will air this afternoon on IFC.