Oscars recognize excellence in United States cinema at the annual Academy Awards. “Best Foreign Language Film” entries are due in October. The Foreign Film Shortlist and Oscar nominations are announced in January. Winners are announced in March.
2017 Oscar Winners at the 89th Academy Awards
2017 Oscar winners were announced at the 89th Academy Awards ceremony broadcast live on ABC from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood on February 26, 2017 at 8:30pm.
The only Latin winner was Sylvain Bellemare who took home an Oscar for the “Sound Editing” of French-Canadian sci-fi thriller Arrival.
Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won “Best Foreign Language Film” for The Salesman. He chose not to travel to the awards in protest of the president’s ill-conceived immigrant travel ban. Anousheh Ansari read his acceptance speech.
It’s a great honor to be receiving this valuable award for the second time. I would like to thank the members of the Academy, my crew in Iran, my producer Alexandre Mallet-Guy, Cohen Media, Amazon and my fellow nominees in the foreign film category.
I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people of my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S.
Dividing the world into the us and our enemy categories creates fear, a deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression.
Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others. An empathy which we need today more than ever.
Thank you.
~ Asghar Farhadi
Thank you Mr. Farhadi for speaking for all of us.
Latin on the Red Carpet
Alberta Ferretti dressed Taraji P. Henson
Alexander McQueen dressed Salma Hayek.
Armani dresssed Viola Davis, Nicole Kidman, Isabelle Huppert, Emma Roberts, Glen Powell, Aldis Hodge
Chanel dressed Pharrell Williams and Sofia Boutella
Dior dressed Charlize Theron, Kirsten Dunst, Felicity Jones, and Lucas Hedges
Ermenegildo Zegna dressed Mahershala Ali and Riz Ahmed
Givenchy dressed Emma Stone.
Gucci dressed Ryan Gosling, Dakota Johnson, and John Legend.
Kaufman Franco dressed Jessica Biel
Louis Vuitton dressed Alicia Vikander, Michelle Williams.
Narciso Rodriguez dressed Kate McKinnon
Oscar de la Renta dressed Brie Larsen
Prada dressed Teresa Palmer
Valentino dressed Ruth Negga
Versace dressed Halle Berry.
You can see photos of the stars and their finery at http://www.vogue.com/slideshow/oscars-2017-red-carpet-celebrity-fashion
Latin Oscar Nominations
Nominations were announced January 24, 2017.
American film La La Land tied Titanic (1997) and All About Eve (1950) for the most nominations ever with 14 in total. The largest number of Black candidates ever, put to rest previous year’s complaints about all-white Oscars.
French-Canadian science-fiction thriller Arrival earned eight nominations for Best Picture, Best Director (Denis Villeneuve), Best Adapted Screenplay (Eric Heisserer), Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Production Design, and Best Film Editing.
In the Best Actress category, French actress Isabelle Huppert was nominated for her work in Elle. Natalie Portman was nominated for her work in Jackie by Chilean director Pablo Larraín. Jackie was also nominated for Best Costume Design.
No Latin films made the Best Foreign Language Film shortlist or nominations.
Puerto Rican New Yorker Lin-Manuel Miranda was nominated in the Best Original Song category for his How Far I’ll Go in Moana. An Academy Award would put Miranda in the rarified company of EGOT winners (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony).
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Foreign Language Film submissions closed October 3, 2016.
Argentina entered Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn’s Spanish film El Ciudadano Ilustre (The Distinguished Citizen).
Bolivia entered Julia Vargas-Weise’ Spanish film Carga Sellada (Sealed Cargo).
Brazil entered David Schurmann’s Portuguese film Pequeno segredo (Little Secret).
Canada entered Xavier Dolan’s French-Canadian film Juste la fin du monde (It’s Only the End of the World).
Chile entered Pablo Larrain’s Spanish film Neruda.
Colombia entered José Luis Rugeles García’s Spanish film Alias María.
Costa Rica entered Hernán Jiménez’ Spanish film Entonces Nosotros (About Us).
Cuba entered Pavel Giroud’s Spanish film El Acompañante (The Companion).
The Dominican Republic entered Fernando Baez Mella’s Spanish film Flor de Azúcar (Sugar Fields).
Ecuador entered Sebastián Cordero’s Spanish film Sin Muertos No Hay Carnaval (Such is Life in the Tropics or Without Death there is no Carnival).
France entered Paul Verhouven’s French film Elle (She).
Italy entered Gianfranco Rosi’s Italian film Fuocoammare (Fire at Sea).
Mexico entered Jonás Cuarón’s Spanish film Desierto.
Panama entered Ricardo Aguilar Navarro and Manuel Rodríguez’ Spanish film Salsipuedes.
Peru entered Juan Daniel Fernández’ Spanish film Videofilia: y otros síndromes virales (Videophilia and Other Viral Syndromes).
Portugal entered Ivo M. Ferreira’s Portuguese film Cartas da Guerra (Letters from War).
Romania entered Cristi Puiu’s Romanian film Sieranevada (Sierra Nevada or Nevada Mountains).
Spain entered Pedro Almodóvar’s Spanish film Julieta.
Uruguay entered Manane Rodriguez’ Spanish film Migas de pan (Breadcrumbs).
Venezuela entered Lorenzo Vigas’ Spanish film Desde allá (From Afar).
Best Foreign Language Film shortlist
The Best Foreign Language Film shortlist was announced December 15, 2016. For the first time in memory, no Latin films made the shortlist.
Image courtesy of the Oscars. For more information, visit oscar.go.com
