Inequality in the film industry got a high-profile spotlight at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 11th annual Governors Awards, where Cherokee actor Wes Studi, Italian director Lina Wertmüller and filmmaker David Lynch all received honorary Oscars on Sunday.
Statistics — like the fact that Studi is the first American Indian actor to get an Oscar, that only five women have ever been nominated for best director and that gender inequality is still an issue in front of the camera, too — existed well before the stars gathered in the heart of Hollywood for the untelevised dinner event. But there is nothing quite like seeing Jane Campion stand beside Greta Gerwig — two of the five female directing nominees in Oscars history — and count, by 10s, the number of men who have been nominated for best director. She got up to 350.
While toasting Studi, his "The New World" and "Hostiles" co-star, Christian Bale noted that indigenous people have been underrepresented on both sides of the camera but "we're in a room full of people who can change that." Indeed, the Governors Awards crowd is a powerful one, featuring A-list stars, directors, producers and executives populating nearly every table: Leonardo DiCaprio, Quentin Tarantino, Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, Sony Pictures Chairman Tom Rothman, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Amy Pascal were just a few of the power players in the audience.
Lynch directed "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive," and Wertmüller was the first woman nominated for best director for "Seven Beauties" in 1977.
It was his lucky day
A colon cancer patient was on his way to his last chemotherapy session when he stopped to buy a lottery ticket. It wound up making the end of his medical treatment even sweeter. Ronnie Foster of Pink Hill, N.C., initially bought a $1 ticket at a Short Stop Food Mart in Beulaville and won $5, according to the North Carolina Education Lottery. Then he decided to trade it in for two more tickets. The result was a $200,000 prize. "I was already happy because it was my last round of chemo," said Foster, a retired worker for the state Transportation Department., said in the statement. "Winning this made it my lucky day."
More rock royalty in New Jersey
New Jersey rock royalty was onstage Sunday night in the state's musical cradle as rocker Jon Bon Jovi brought soulful crooner Southside Johnny Lyon with him into the New Jersey Hall of Fame. The two rockers played a duet at Asbury Park's Convention Hall, a place where both had performed many times on their way up from Jersey shore local bar bands to worldwide stars. Bon Jovi and Southside collaborated on "I Don't Wanna Go Home," backed by the band Kings of Suburbia. "I am very proud to be from New Jersey," said Lyon, who is from Neptune and best known for his cover of "We're Having A Party," the Sam Cooke standard.
Associated Press
