Toward Independence

{{short description|1948 film}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox film | name = | image = Toward_Independence_film_Opening_titles_(1948).jpg | caption = | director = George L. George<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0362-4331| title = George L. George, 85, Organizer of Directors| work = The New York Times| access-date = 2021-04-08| date = 1993-01-05| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/05/obituaries/george-l-george-85-organizer-of-directors.html}}</ref> | producer = | writer = | narrator = | cinematography = | editing = | studio = United States Army Signal Corps<ref>{{Cite news| issn = 0362-5745| volume = 35| issue = 2| pages = 75| last = Anzuoni| first = Robert| title = Signal Corps Produces Academy Award Winners| work = Army Communicator| date = 2010|url=https://archive.org/details/DTIC_ADA534192/page/n77/mode/2up}}</ref> | distributor = U.S Army | released = {{film date|1948}} | runtime = 30 minutes | country = United States | language = English }} '''''Toward Independence''''' is a 1948 American short documentary film directed by George L. George, about the rehabilitation of veterans with spinal cord injuries.<ref>{{Cite news| volume = 9| issue = 8–9| pages = 6| title = Toward Independence| work = Film News| date = May 1949|issn=8750-068X}}</ref><ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web|title=Toward Independence|url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150311783|access-date=1 December 2025|website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref>

== Accolades == In 1949, the film won an Oscar for Documentary Short Subject at 21st Academy Awards.<ref name="Oscars1949">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1949 |title=The 21st Academy Awards (1949) Nominees and Winners |date=March 24, 2015 |access-date=May 29, 2019 |publisher=Oscars.org (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)}}</ref> Army Surgeon General Raymond W. Bliss received the award.{{sfn|Med_Corps|1968|page=284}} The Academy Film Archive preserved ''Toward Independence'' in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=http://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=Toward+Independence&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

== Sources == * {{cite book|last= Med_Corps|first= United States Army |title= Army Medical Specialist Corps | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=qMEq09NH-y8C&q=%22Oscar%22+for+film+Toward+Independence+June+22%2C+1949+Bliss&pg=PA284 |date=1968|publisher= Army Medical Specialist }}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|id=0040893|title=Toward Independence}} *[https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47049 ''Toward Independence''] at the National Archives and Records Administration

Category:1948 films Category:1948 short documentary films Category:American short documentary films Category:American black-and-white films Category:Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners Category:Black-and-white documentary films Category:1948 English-language films Category:1948 American films Category:English-language short documentary films