J.K. Simmons, best supporting actor nominee for his role in "Whiplash" and his wife Michelle Schumacher arrive at the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2015.
Photo by Robert Galbraith
Patricia Arquette (L) and Rosanna Arquette (R) arrive for the 87th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, USA, 22 February 2015. The Oscars are presented for outstanding individual or collective efforts in 24 categories in filmmaking.
Photo by Mike Nelson
Laura Poitras (2nd L) speaks after accepting the Oscar along with colleagues for Best Documentary Feature for "Citizenfour" at the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2015.
Photo by Mike Blake
Julie Andrews hugs Lady Gaga after she performed songs from the Sound of Music at the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2015.
Photo by Mike Blake
Neil Patrick Harris refers to a scene from the Oscar nominated film "Birdman" while hosting the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2015.
Photo by Mike Blake
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (L) and Michael Keaton (R) arrive for the 87th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, USA, 22 February 2015. The Oscars are presented for outstanding individual or collective efforts in 24 categories in filmmaking.
Photo by Paul Buck
Bruce Dern (L) and daugther Laura Dern (R) arrive for the 87th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, USA, 22 February 2015. The Oscars are presented for outstanding individual or collective efforts in 24 categories in filmmaking.
Photo by Paul Buck
The cast and crew from best animated feature film nominee "BIG HERO 6" pose together as they arrive at the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2015.
Photo by Robert Galbraith
Graham Moore accepts the award for the best adapted screenplay for "The Imitation Game" at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Photo by John Shearer
John Travolta (L) kisses Scarlett Johansson (R) as they arrive for the 87th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, USA, 22 February 2015. The Oscars are presented for outstanding individual or collective efforts in 24 categories in filmmaking.
Photo by Paul Buck
Actor Eddie Redmayne reacts after winning the Oscar for best actor for his role in "The Theory of Everything" during the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2015.
Photo by Mike Blake
Julianne Moore (R) and husband Bart Freundlich arrive for the 87th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, USA, 22 February 2015. The Oscars are presented for outstanding individual or collective efforts in 24 categories in filmmaking.
Photo by Mike Nelson
Alejandro G. Inarritu accepts the award for best director for "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)" at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Photo by John Shearer
Composer and singer-songwriter Danielle Brisebois (L) and singer-songwriter Gregg Alexander (R) arrive for the 87th annual Academy Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, USA, 22 February 2015. The Oscars are presented for outstanding individual or collective efforts in 24 categories in filmmaking.
Photo by Mike Nelson
Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes poses with his wife Gracinha at the 87th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California February 22, 2015.
Photo by Lucas Jackson
Co-hosts Miles Teller, left, and Margot Robbie pose together before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 87th Scientific and Technical Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
Two weeks before the glamour of the Oscars, the film academy hosted its annual "night of the nerds" honouring software engineers, digital projection innovators and a former sound guy for Frank Zappa and the Kinks who helped modernize movie audio.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized 58 men and one woman for their behind-the-scenes science and technical work, including creation of a camera rig used in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and development of software that forms the realistic hair seen in "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."
Actors Miles Teller and Margot Robbie hosted the ceremony on Saturday night in Beverly Hills with a light comedic touch. Robbie, who just completed filming the effects-heavy "Tarzan," made a drinking game of the word "voxels." Teller, starring as Mr. Fantastic in this summer's "Fantastic Four" reboot, laughed off his inability to pronounce "diodes."
The academy handed out two actual Oscar statuettes. One went to Dolby executive David W. Gray, the former rock sound engineer who has led that company's surround-sound advancements. The other went to Larry Hornbeck, who in the late 1980s helped invent the optical semiconductor at the heart of most digital projectors.
Hornbeck thanked his father, who "with only an eighth grade education taught me to ask the question, 'Why?' and to go out and find the answer."
Love for movies ran deep in the crowd: Two separate honorees gave shout-outs to sons named Oscar. "I'll thank all the supervillains and giant monsters that like to destroy stuff," Ron Fedkiw of Industrial Light and Magic said.
Attendees stood at their dinner tables and gave an extended ovation for the lone woman recognized in a predominantly male industry. Colette Mullenhoff of ILM, who helped develop a "shape sculpting" system for quickly modifying character animations, got a hug from Robbie and quickly thanked her husband and parents, startled by the attention.
The visual effects world has faced upheaval in recent years, with globalization and fierce competition for work on Hollywood's biggest movies leading to high-profile effects houses downsizing or closing altogether.
DreamWorks Animation software engineers, honoured for systems that render trees and other foliage in animated movies like Oscar-nominated "How To Train Your Dragon 2," dedicated their award to PDI, the Northern California-based studio shuttered last month in an effort to save costs.
Dr. Larry Hornbeck, inventor of the digital micromirror technology used in DLP cinema projection and the recipent of an Oscar statuette, poses before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 87th Scientific and Technical Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
Veteran sound engineer and Dolby Laboratories executive David W. Gray, the recipient of an Oscar statuette, poses before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 87th Scientific and Technical Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
87th Academy Awards Scientific and Technical Awards recipients pose for a group shot after the awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, California February 7, 2015.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
Technical Achievement Award winners (L-R) Kim Libreri, George Borshukov and Dan Piponi arrive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Technical Awards Ceremony in Beverly Hills, California February 7, 2015.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
Academy Award of Commendation winners (L-R) Michael Fecik, Steven Tiffen and Jeff Cohen arrive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Technical Awards Ceremony in Beverly Hills, California, February 7, 2015.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
Scientific and Engineering Award winners Iain Neil (L) and Andre de Winter arrive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Technical Awards Ceremony in Beverly Hills, California February 7, 2015.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
Technical Achievement Award winners (L-R) Shane Cooper, Alasdair Coull and Marco Revelant arrive at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Technical Awards Ceremony in Beverly Hills, California February 7, 2015.
Photo by Gus Ruelas
Left to right, actor/singer/activist Harry Belafonte, Japanese animator/director Hayao Miyazaki, French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere and actress Maureen O'Hara pose together onstage with their Honorary Oscars during the 2014 Governors Awards on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in Los Angeles.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
Harry Belafonte gave one of the all-time great acceptance speeches at Saturday night’s Governors Awards, citing Hollywood’s often-shameful power to influence attitudes, and challenging the heavy-hitters in the room to instead create works that allow global audiences “to see the better side of who we are as a species.”
The performer, receiving the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, pulled no punches, and his words were all the more effective because of the soft, even tone in his voice and the cautious optimism that concluded his speech.
The occasion was the sixth annual Governors Awards, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland, an annual gathering that always mixes a celebration of Hollywood’s past, some words of encouragement to the room’s artists, and a heavy dose of awards-schmoozing.
The three recipients of Honorary Oscars — Maureen O’Hara, Hayao Miyazaki and Jean-Claude Carriere — all provided moments that were touching and charming. But, concluding the evening with a long and electric speech, Belafonte took things to a whole other level.
He reminded the crowd about “Birth of a Nation,” the early “Tarzan” films (depicting “inept, ignorant Africans”) and “Song of the South,” as well as the industry’s cowardice during the McCarthy hearings. He also referred to the industry’s decades-long treatment of Native Americans in films, “and at the moment, Arabs aren’t looking so good.” The industry doesn’t like trouble-makers and “on occasion, I have been one of its targets.”
But he said that “today’s harvest of films yields sweeter fruit,” citing “Schindler’s List,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “12 Years a Slave” as examples. He also thanked such inspirations as Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Eleanor Roosevelt and Paul Robeson, quoting the latter’s statement that “Artists are the gatekeepers of truth” as well as the radical voice of civilization.
He then called Sidney Poitier to the stage, recognizing the actor’s role in changing public attitudes toward blacks. And he added that he hopes things will improve this century: “Maybe it could be a civilization game-changer.”
The first recipient of the evening was Maureen O’Hara, now 94, who came onstage in a wheelchair and charmed everyone by singing a few lines of “Danny Boy.” She read her thanks and when her escort asked her to stand and take a bow, she said “Oh, no!” saying she intended to stay another 10 minutes onstage and tell her life story. She got partway through it, talking about growing up in the FitzSimons family in Ireland, but eventually her mike was removed and she exited the stage in a bittersweet moment.
Hayao Miyazaki, speaking with a translator, said he feels “lucky to be part of the last era when we can make films with paper, pencils and film.” Introducing him, John Lasseter hailed the Japanese filmmaker as one of animation’s greats, along with Walt Disney, and said Miyazaki has directed 11 animated features, more than anyone else in history.
Jean-Claude Carriere, who boasts 139 credits, said he was particularly pleased that an award was given to a scripter. “Very often screenwriters are like shadows passing through the history of cinema,” he said, accepting the award on behalf of all his fellow scribes throughout the world.
Among attendees were directors Clint Eastwood, Richard Linklater, Rob Marshall, Bennett Miller, Morten Tyldum and Jean-Marc Vallée; and writers Dan Gilroy, Jason Dean Hall and Mike Binder.
There was an all-star lineup of actors, including Jennifer Aniston, Patricia Arquette, Steve Carell, Jessica Chastain, Kevin Costner, Benedict Cumberbatch, Laura Dern, Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke, Felicity Jones, Michael Keaton, Keira Knightley, Logan Lerman, Edward Norton, David Oyelowo, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Ruffalo, J.K. Simmons, Timothy Spall, Octavia Spencer, Hilary Swank, Christoph Waltz and Reese Witherspoon. Composers included Alexandre Desplat, Atticus Ross and John Powell.
Actor/singer/activist Harry Belafonte, left, the recipient of the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, is joined onstage by actor Sidney Poitier during Belafonte's acceptance speech at the 2014 Governors Awards on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in Los Angeles.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
Maureen O'Hara, left, arrives at the 6th annual Governors Awards at the Hollywood and Highland Center on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 in Los Angeles.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
Hayao Miyazaki arrives at the 6th annual Governors Awards at the Hollywood and Highland Center on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014 in Los Angeles.
Photo by Chris Pizzello
French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carriere, right, receives his Honorary Oscar from director Philip Kaufman during the 2014 Governors Awards on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014, in Los Angeles. Carriere and Kaufman worked together on the 1988 film "The Unbearable Lightness of Being."
Photo by Chris Pizzello
(From L to R) Actress Susan Sarandon, honoree Harry Belafonte, and Pamela Frank pose during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Governors Awards in Los Angeles, California November 8, 2014.
Photo by Kevork Djansezian
Eliane Cavalleiro (L) and actor Danny Glover pose during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Governors Awards in Los Angeles, California November 8, 2014.
Phorto by Kevork Djansezian
Actor Ethan Hawke (R) and comedian Chris Rock attend the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Governors Awards in Los Angeles, California November 8, 2014.
Photo by Kevork Djansezian
