Academy Award nominees express joy, surprise

THE EXECUTIVES
Patrick Wachsberger, co-chairman and president of Summit Entertainment, which earned nine nominations for The Hurt Locker. “We have lived and breathed all the way with this movie and it’s fantastically rewarding. We took time to figure out a plan. We didn’t come out of Toronto [2008] and set out to release it immediately. We took a long time to think about the campaign. Did we expect all these nominations? No. We take it one step at a time. For Summit it shows that we are able to handle different kinds of movies, from blockbusters like Twilight and New Moon to more specialised movies like The Hurt Locker.”

Tom Bernard, co-president of Sony Pictures Classics, whose films earned 13 nominations. “The Academy voters liked the movies. This is our business: you’re buying movies and trying to make a profit with them and if the Oscar tide comes your way it certainly makes the cruise easier.”

Oscilloscope’s David Fenkel, whose company earned three nominations – two for Oren Moverman’s The Messenger and one for Anders Ostergaard’s documentary Burma VJ. “It’s great for us and great for the film-makers. They really deserve it. Our company is about supporting film-makers and finding films that we love and sharing them with the world. These are important films for people to see.”

PICTURE
Greg Shapiro, producer, The Hurt Locker: “I remember Nicolas Chartier [producer] saying this would be The Deer Hunter of its generation, but once you start on the movie you’re so involved in the minutiae that you don’t allow yourself to think that. When you finally finish it you put it out in the world and you hope.”

Lawrence Bender, producer, Inglourious Basterds: “I produced a doc about nuclear proliferation called Countdown To Zero that just premiered at Sundance and I put together this conference in Paris with 200 world leaders, so I was sitting between an ambassador and someone from the CIA when I got a call from my mother to say we’d been nominated. Then I started getting all these emails. And I was in the middle of this conference. It’s the high point of my life. This is the culmination of a lot of people’s hard work.”

Finola Dwyer, producer, An Education: “Amanda [Posey, producer] and I were in our offices in Soho eating soup when we heard. We were beyond pleased. Amanda and I both thought it wasn’t going to be an easy filmbecause although it’s a universal story it’s near-period, which financiers always baulk at for some reason. The nomination means it will open the film up to a whole new audiences and we’re thrilled for all of us.”

Sarah Siegel-Magness, producer, Precious: “It’s a wonderful day in film-making when a film like this can share the stage with Avatar. We spent more than two years on this film but Lee Daniels spent many, many more trying to get the rights from Sapphire. Great films like this aren’t easy. This was unexpected and we feel grateful and blessed and excited.”

Pete Docter, director, Up, nominated in the best picture and animated feature categories: “It’s overwhelming. I keep pinching myself to remind myself that I am making movies, period, let alone movies that get accolades from my peers.”

DIRECTOR
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker: “This is a great honour and a wonderful compliment to everyone who worked on the film. I’ve always believed that the secret to film-making is that it is essentially a collaborative medium, and so to get recognised by the various branches of the Academy is truly heart-warming, and I know all of us who worked on The Hurt Locker are going to treasure this. Personally, I’d like to thank the director’s branch for their support.”

FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Jacques Audiard,director and co-writer, A Prophet (Un Prophete) (France): “My first reaction was to turn around and ask if it’s really me that they are talking about. Then, maybe, at the same moment, I became a little bewildered. I think of all these actors, all of the directors who have been in this same place, all of those lovely people who have made me dream and want to do what I do today, in many respects brought meaning to my life. So what am I feeling?  In short, immense gratitude.”

Claudia Llosa, The Milk Of Sorrow (Peru): “There is this need to talk about the most recent history of my country, but I didn’t want to go back and tell a story from the past; I wanted to tell it from a contemporary perspective. I was reading this book by a US anthropologist that featured testimonies from women who had been mistreated during the war with the Shining Path [Maoist guerillas] from the 1980s to the 1990s, and they spoke of this illness, La Teta Asustada [the Milk Of Sorrow, which is transmitted through the breast milk of pregnant women who were raped during or soon after pregnancy.] This is Peru’s first nomination. All of my country is celebrating. This story was buried in our memory and we wanted to close the door on this episode, and it created a block and people won’t be able to heal unless it is discussed.”

Yaron Shani, co-director with Scandar Copti, Ajami (Israel): “Some people in Jaffa don’t like the way we showed the reality. I had a conversation with an old man from Ajami who complained that we only showed the crime and the problems, but somebody then said the man had lost three sons this way. It’s amazing to see that even someone like this was complaining. The film is accurate and script is based in reality. For the general public in Israel, many people didn’t know the reality that was going on and it’s very near to Tel Aviv. We spent nearly two years finding real people from the neighbourhood to act in this film. A lot of them weren’t acting: we would shoot in a way that allowed them to react.”

Juan Jose Campanella, director, The Secret In Their Eyes (El Secreto De Sus Ojos) (Argentina): “This is the best news a film-maker can hope for. It is the kind of award that can change the life of a film forever. It is an amazing compliment for everyone who worked in the movie, that a group of your most qualified peers chose it as one of the best of the year. I also must mention how admirable I think it is that the Academy voters are perhaps the only juror in the world who is impervious to politicking, lobbies, critical pressure or fashionable trends. It is a group of the most talented film-makers in the world who vote with their heart. Only the movie matters nothing else. A nomination from that group is specially rewarding. Thank you so much on behalf of the entire cast and crew.”

DOCUMENTARY
Louie Psihoyos, director, The Cove: “To me the film plays like a thriller. We would go on these night ops and emerge from a town near Taijii [where the dolphin slaughter was taking place] and under our street clothes we’d have our camouflage and we’d bring face paint and walkie-talkies. We always had a camera rolling to document what was going on. The first night we went in we didn’t know the cops were following us so when we got back to Colorado to look at the footage the editors said we had to keep it in the movie and not just focus on Ric’s [O’Barry, dolphin trainer and activist] story and the broader environmental issues. The nomination makes financing easier. We’re now working on a new documentary, an ocean-based story that will be in 3D.”

Robert Kener, Food, Inc:“I am shocked at how strong and how big this consumer movement about food has become. It cuts across ideological boundaires and the companies that refused to be in the film are now realising how big this is. Monsanto made a statement saying they should have been in the film. Consumers are really concerned - there’s something really wrong and what’s shocking is how much information is kept from us. There are changes that can happen and hopefully this nomination will help.”

Lise Lense-Moller, producer, Burma VJ: “It started out in 2004 with the idea of doing something about Burma and during this long process we found a few young video journalists in Burma. They are very, very happy about the film because their motivation with doing this was to keep global attention on Burma.”

Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith, co-directors and producers,The Most Dangerous Man In America: Daniel Ellsberg And The Pentagon Papers
Ehrlich: “This is a story of one man’s change of heart from war maker to peacemaker, the story of the most courageous moment in the history of the American press, and of America’s most famous whistle blower. The nomination is a thrill because it gives me hope that many more people will be inspired to stand up against war by Daniel Ellsberg’s astounding act of civil courage.”

Goldsmith: “What I think audiences of all generations are responding to is, first, a compelling story about someone who chooses conscience over career. Second, the parallels between how our government deceived its own people to execute an immoral war in Vietnam resonate powerfully with our nation’s two current wars. And third, it’s easy to feel powerless to effect change in this country. People often feel, ‘Why bother?’   This film, I hope, will inspire, and can help to answer that question.”

ANIMATED FEATURE
John Musker,co-director of The Princess And The Frog with Ron Clements: “We got involved four years ago and we had this hand-drawn film with an African-American princess. We pitched it to [Disney animation overlord]John Lasseter and he liked it. He’s a huge fan of hand-drawn animation even though he’s often portrayed as the guru of computer-generated animation. It was a three-and-a-half-year production where each animator completes a few seconds each week.”

LEAD ACTOR
Colin Firth, A Single Man. “I thought I was managing my expectations, but on hearing the news I discovered new and unfamiliar vocal tones. Perhaps I should do another musical.”

Morgan Freeman, Invictus: “Id like to thank the Academy for this extraordinary honour. Congratulations to Matt Damon on his nomination. I’m especially grateful to Clint Eastwood, Invictus producer Lori McCreary, and the entire cast and crew of Invictus. Most importantly, thank you to Nelson Mandela for his encouragement, his blessing and his friendship, without which, this film would not have been possible.”

LEAD ACTRESS
Helen Mirren, The Last Station: “I’m very happy and honored for Christopher, myself and our film. I think Tolstoy himself would have been perplexed by all this, but, Sofya his wife would have been over the moon. So in that spirit, I am too.”

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side: “Who would have thought after all these years that I would be experiencing this moment now… I certainly didn’t. But I am honoured beyond words to experience this journey with John Lee Hancock and Gil Netter, and to continue this astounding ride with the extraordinary women I share this category with. My time with them these past few months has meant more than anything to me.”

Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia: “I am proud and grateful to stand with these women who have given such a range of beautiful, indelible performances this year.”

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station: “I’m absolutely delighted that Helen Mirren and I have both been nominated by the Academy for portraying that stormy couple, The Tolstoys. As I’ve just turned 80, there’s no way it will go to my head.”

Matt Damon, Invictus: “To be directed by Clint Eastwood every day and to sit across the table from Morgan Freeman and watch him do what he did was a dream come true. I’m so grateful that this role came my way.”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, Nine: “I am completely surprised and elated. Rob Marshall is not only a genius but an absolute joy to work with. I woke up every morning excited to collaborate with this amazingly talented group of actors. Filming this movie was such a special experience and to be nominated for this role makes me so happy.”

Anna Kendrick, Up In The Air: “I am thrilled beyond words to be nominated with these talented and inspiring women. Being involved in a film as special as Up In The Air was a dream come true. I am overwhelmed and honored by this nomination and am so grateful to be able to share this experience with George, Vera and Jason.”

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Armando Ianucci, who co-wrote In The Loop with Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell and Tony Roche: “I was having lunch with Steve Coogan when I heard. I still haven’t had my lunch today. It’s an entirely UK-funded film made for a British audience, so when we had the premiere in Sundance [2009] I was hoping they were going to laugh and it was tense when the lights went down. But gradually they did laugh. It doesn’t surprise me that American audiences have responded to it because we love US comedy like Jon Stewart and Seinfeld, which has very fast-paced dialogue. It was America that gave us fast-talking comedy.”

Nick Hornby, writer,An Education: “I read [Lynn Barber’s memoir in Granta] and loved it and because my wife [producer Amanda Posey] is a producer I showed it to hear and didn’t think I would write it. When she started talking about possible writers I found myself becoming quite possessive of it. When Lone [Scherfig] got the dircting gig she was incredibly sympathetic to the script. The period in which it is set was a bit before my time, but I carry it with me because it was my parents’ time and so much of that time shaped our culture.”

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker: “Kathryn approached me because she’d seen my work on United 93 and her brief was to make the film as visceral as possible. I tried to bring my experience to the project; I’d done documentaries on explosives before. We went to shoot in Jordan and it was like mad dogs and Englishmen because we shouldn’t have been out there in that heat. We created long time lines where each scene was a story in long, continuous takes.” Ackroyd is about to go to Serbia to shoot Coriolanus for Ralph Fiennes.

COSTUME
Monique Prudhomme, The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus: “I would like to thank the Academy for this honour, as well as Terry Gilliam, who took me on his wagon and came this far, and the actors who wore the costumes so well, and my crews in London and Vancouver. This is a tremendous moment for all of us. Thank you again.”

Catherine Leterrier, Coco Before Chanel: “I would like to thank the Academy for this great honour. For a designer, the challenge of doing a film about Chanel is like playing Shakespeare for an actor. I share this wonderful acknowledgment with our director Anne Fontaine and our Coco, Audrey Tautou, and with my extraordinary costume team.”

ART DIRECTION
Dave Warren, The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus: “This is all so surprising, but welcome. My phone is red hot! On behalf of Anastasia and Caroline and myself I think I have to give many thanks to the Academy for this nomination, our design teams on both sides of the Atlantic who were so talented and committed, Terry for being such a wonderful taskmaster, and Amy and Sammy for having such confidence to keep paying the bills. I’m so glad the movie was completed and received this way – it is a testament to Heath and Bill.”

EFFECTS
Joe Letteri, Avatar: “It was such a tightly integrated process so this is a real reward. For us the work is done now and we’re really just hearing people’s reactions, which is great because when you’re making it you don’t know how a general audience will experience it. We pretty much achieved everything we set out to do and in the end it worked. There are other things we can do next time.”

SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, Fantastic Mr Fox: “Writing the music for Fantastic Mr Fox was a joyful moment of creativity that I was lucky to share with Wes Anderson. We tried to invent a world of musical sounds that would belong to the puppets only, and I took my inspiration from the craft of the animators, the set designer and the remarkable performances of George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Jason Schwartzman. I am proud to be once again honoured by the Academy for such a special movie.”

Michael Giacchino, Up: “The producers, director, myself and the writer have become such close friends over the past couple of years and it’s been such an enjoyable experience to go through this. Writing is an abstract process and I still don’t understand it. I let the story tell me what to write. The story is filled with so many different emotional time bombs, so it was difficult to navigate, but I loved that challenge. I translated what I felt on the piano and this music was informed by the nostalgia, happiness and sadness of life.”

Hans Zimmer, Sherlock Holmes, on his eighth nomination: “Conan Doyle realised that a successful lead character needs to play the fiddle. I wish all film-makers did. It makes writing the score so much easier. With Guy’s great encouragement we took the orchestra out of the lofty spheres of the concert hall and brought them back to the pub, where they seem right at home. After all, there is no human emotion that has not -
at one time or other - been profoundly expressed in a pub, and I’m so grateful that my peers at the Academy have recognised that. This is the year when we pit the humble banjo against the might of the orchestra.”

ANIMATED SHORT
Fabrice O Joubert, director, French Roast: “Being nominated for an Academy Award is such a great honor for me, for the amazing crew who worked with me on the film, and for my producers at Bibo Films and The Pumpkin Factory. This makes us very proud here in Paris!  French Roast was really an animator’s dream project, because we were able to tell a story entirely through characterization and pantomime, therefore using the medium to its maximum potential. I feel very grateful to the Academy for validating the film in this way.”