“It’s happening right now”.
Advertisement
“I’m here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the White People’s Choice Awards!”
But some say they don’t hold out much hope that the elevated status from the film’s Best Picture award will prompt changes at the highest levels of the church.
In a long ceremony with few upsets, “Spotlight” pulled one off at the end, winning the Academy Award for best picture Sunday night, edging out the front-runner “The Revenant”, which took home awards for best director and best actor.
“It’s rare to make a film that impacts the world as significantly as this one has”, “Spotlight” producer Michael Sugar said on stage.
The film about the Boston Globe’s unveiling of Catholic priests’ sexual abuse of children and the the cover-up of the crimes received six nominations, winning best picture and for the original screenplay penned by director Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer.
“As expected, Leonardo DiCaprio finally earned his first Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal as hunter Hugh Glass in ‘The Revenant”.
“The Spirit Awards honor the films you’ve been meaning to see”, Nanjiani said. “The Revenant” also won best cinematography for Emmanuel Lubezki, who became the first cinematographer to win three times in a row (following wins for “Gravity” and “Birdman”), and only the seventh to three-peat in Oscar history.
And Nate Parker, the director behind Sundance race-themed phenom “Birth of a Nation”, presented the award for first feature, garnering a highly enthusiastic response from the room. “But I realized they’re going to have the Oscars anyway … and the last thing I need is to lose another job to Kevin Hart”.
His cast-mate, British actor Idriss Elba, picked up best supporting male as an army commandant in the film, and paid tribute to the people of Ghana. It was a subtle plea from the film community that the movies and artists honored at Sunday night’s ceremony did have goal and meaning – even in this second year of #OscarsSoWhite.
In one of the most popular announcements, transgender actress Mya Taylor won for best supporting actress for the transgender drama “Tangerine” for her role as sex worker Alexandra. At 27, Vikander was the youngest nominee in the category, beating far more experienced actresses like Kate Winslet and Rachel McAdams. But McCarthy took the opportunity to celebrate the movie’s distinction as an independent film, released by indie distributor Open Road.
Advertisement
The foreign language favorite from Hungary, Laszlo Nemes’ Holocaust drama “Son of Saul” took best global film.
