LOS ANGELES, United States — Oscar
nominees from Steven Spielberg and
Will Smith to first-time Bhutanese director
Pawo Choyning Dorji gathered at a Los Angeles ballroom Monday, as Hollywood’s
award season enters its final stretch.
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The
Academy’s glitzy annual luncheon for nominated A-listers and indie auteurs did
not take place last year because of the pandemic, but returned with a starry
in-person crowd of those who made the best films released in 2021, a year
during which many movie theaters reopened.
Javier
Bardem and
Penelope Cruz chatted with Guillermo del Toro and
Maggie Gyllenhaal
over drinks, while Denzel Washington posed for photos with a long line of
admirers.
“If
there’s ever been a time to be grateful for, and to revel in, an occasion that
allows us to be in the same room, ladies and gentlemen, this is the year,” said
Will Packer, who will produce the 94th Academy Awards show.
Last
year’s
Oscars took place at a Los Angeles train station, with nominees mingling
outdoors and then rotating in and out of the venue during the show, but this
year’s is expected to be closer to normal.
Voting
begins next week ahead of the March 27 prize-giving gala, meaning film
campaigns that began as long as a year ago are mounting one last push.
Benedict
Cumberbatch — star of Oscar best picture contender “The Power of the Dog,”
which first premiered at September’s
Venice film festival — told AFP he was
“happy to keep banging the drum” for the Western, especially with director Jane
Campion absent due to a positive COVID-19 test.
“I believe
this (film) will stand the test of time,” he said, adding that Campion was
“fine” and experiencing no symptoms.
Also in
attendance were the cast of “CODA,” a drama about a deaf family and their
musical child, which surged back into Oscars contention with a key win at last
week’s Screen Actors Guild awards for best cast.
“We’re
such a tight cast, so it was a lovely prize to win — it was so unexpected,”
said its star
Emilia Jones.
The film
first premiered at the virtual Sundance festival in January 2021, meaning Jones
and her ensemble are still campaigning against rival movies that “came out
months after ours.”
And then
there is “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” the first Bhutanese film ever
nominated for an Academy Award, which was originally submitted the previous
year but held over due to a technicality.
Director
Dorji told AFP he at first “thought it was a mistake” when his film’s historic
nomination was finally announced.
“I just
cried meeting
Jessica Chastain,” added his star-struck producer and wife
Stephanie Lai, sitting one table away from the “Eyes of Tammy Faye” star, who
is a favorite to win best actress.
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