Director Jonathan Glazer referenced the Israel-Hamas conflict in his acceptance speech at last night’s Academy Awards.
Accepting the best international feature Oscar for The Zone Of Interest, Glazer, reading from a written statement, said: “Our film shows where dehumanisation leads at its worst. It’s shaped all of our past and present. Right now, we stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict for so many innocent people.”
He added: “Whether the victims of October – whether the victims of October 7 in Israel or the ongoing attack on Gaza, all the victims of this dehumanisation, how do we resist?”
The film’s producer Jim Wilson also referenced the conflict in his speech at the Baftas.
Several attendees, including Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef were wearing Red Artists4Ceasefire pins, with the ceremony slightly delayed because a protest calling for a ceasefire outside the Dolby Theatre held up traffic.
Meanwhile, Mstyslav Chernov, director of Ukraine conflict documentary 20 Days In Mariupol, said in his speech that he was proud to be the first Ukrainian to win an Oscar, but added: “I will be the first director on this stage who will say I wish I never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this to Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities. I wish to give all the recognition to Russia not killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians.”
“20 $10m movies”
Cord Jefferson, collecting his adapted screenplay prize for American Fiction, drew applause when he called for more smaller budget films. He said: “It’s a plea to acknowledge and recognise that there are so many people out there who want the opportunity that I was given. I understand that this is a risk-averse industry. I get it. But $200m movies are also a risk, you know. And it doesn’t always work out, but you take the risk anyway. Instead of making one $200m movie, try making 20 $10m movies or 50 – right? – 50 $4m movies.”
Justine Triet, collecting the original screenplay award for Anatomy Of A Fall alongside co-writer and husband Arthur Harari, said the Oscar will “help me through my mid-life crisis, I think.”
She added that they wrote the script whilst being “stuck in the house with two kids”. “It was a lockdown. And we hook them up to cartoons for peace. And, yeah, there was no line, I think, between work and diapers.”
In the final speech of the night, Oppenheimer producer Emma Thomas, collecting the best picture prize, paid special tribute to Imax and other venues. “I want to thank [CEO] Rich Gelfond at Imax and everybody else at Imax for believing in this movie when it maybe didn’t make that much sense to do so. Thank you to all the theatres. As a moviegoer and as a filmmaker, that’s why we do what we do.”
Actors
Best actor winner Cillian Murphy declared himself “a very proud Irish man standing here tonight” and dedicated the film to “the peacemakers everywhere”.
His Oppenheimer co-star Robert Downey Jr. quipped: “I would like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order.” He also said that “I needed this job more than it needed me.”
Poor Things’ Emma Stone was flustered during her speech, admitting that she’d broken her dress during Ryan Gosling’s performance of ‘I’m Just Ken’.
Finally, best supporting actress winner Da’vine Joy Randolph paid tribute to her mother for pushing her towards theatre when she was young instead of singing. She added: “For so long I’ve always wanted to be different, and now I realise I just need to be myself. And I thank you. I thank you for seeing me.”
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