Half the world wakes up before the sun rises to watch The Oscars and it is almost every time; worth it. This year The Academy celebrated independent films, raw emotions of the gut-wrenching past and the brutality of everlasting domination all together, all of them were in it, to win it. The three major categories of The Best Picture, Best International Feature Film and Documentary Feature film were won by Anora, I’m Still here (Ainda Estou Aqui) and No Other Land respectively, all of them brilliant films that did not fail with their message.
No other land was extraordinarily victorious, given the current situations, Basel and Yuval come from two different sides of the wall, as they repeatedly say in the documentary, for this film to win, sends a message in itself.
About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter is that she will not have to live the same life I am living now, always fearing violence, home demolitions, forced displacement that my community, Masafer Yatta, is facing every day.
When I look at Basel, I see my brother. But we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy lives, that he cannot control. There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.
The intents in the speech are clear, peace, but this peace has costed them years. The documentary captured everything in such a beautiful manner, it flowed seamlessly. It showed generations from Basel’s father to the end, how each one of them believed and followed their sense of activism, without fear and resistance. For him to say that “I would think: My father is invincible.”, for a son to say that, it is a clear picture, how much his father instilled the deafeningly roaring love for his people in him.
People usually think that films are just entertainment, but in true moments of horrors the chaotic distraction is easily differentiated by the art that is Cinema. “When I was a boy, people around me started to film.” “I started filming, when we started to end.” In a situation of helplessness when they couldn’t get out, more like, didn’t want to get out and fight, Basel with his camera easily depicts what the power of filming is, it makes you heard, not only the filming, Yuval religiously wrote, he understood the power of words and so did The Academy.
“You want it to end in ten days, you want it all fast. It requires patience.” Basel stated this and it sure does and the win was patient and commendable.
The beauty and savour of Masafer Yatta was framed with perfection and nothing less.
The Best International Feature film must have been adored by the locals, after all, it did capture what they had to endure for so long and this story portrayed a problem that shattered many in those times; forced disappearances. Rubens Paiva indeed was a fighter, the hardships his family faced because of the most horrendous things that regime used to do to the people was depicted in such raw manner, that this film surpassed one single category and was nominated for many, including The Best Actress in a Lead Role and Best Picture and was a sharp contender.
The film depended on showing the initial happiness of the family, so that the loss later on, struck more brutally that it would have if we didn’t know just how perfect they were. Even in moments when they yell “Ditch the ‘Ditchtators’!” they found ways to laugh. Although, the film didn’t run away from showing others who were equally suppressed, we all feel it when even a military soldier whispers that “I want you to know that I don’t think it’s right.” in a crucial moment.
“There’s no way to just standby, Eunice. Especially Us. We have the means to help. So, me, Rubens, Gaspa, Raul, we all do what we can. One talks to the foreign press, another one provides shelter to people on the run, deliver letters to families with no news.” There is palpable and unavoidable helplessness but some still find a way to fight, it makes one wonder, this is one single story, the brutal things they must have had to face altogether would be just inhuman, even worse is to feel, to know, that even today there are many who cannot avoid it.
Fernanda Torres allegedly gives a brilliant performance, but for us less fortunate, unavailability of the film robs us to see just how great she must have been, relying on the screenplay is all we can do. The film ends positively, with joy around the family members, Eunice finally organizes the photos. The flow from old camera, to a digital one and to a phone adds such reality to the unreal screen.
The star of the ceremony without a doubt was Anora, with Sean Baker breaking records and winning four Oscars in one night and Mikey Madison taking home The Best Actress in a Lead Role award as one of the youngest ones to win in the history of The Academy. Anora has been a controversial win, but it won and it surely had the material to do so.
If we set out to find it, we can see very clearly why Annie loves to be separated from Anora. Almost the entire film was carried by Mikey and the display of emotions were impeccable. The story was a tad bit predictable, but that just added to the charm of it, the psychopath man handler, runaway selfish billionaire and chaos. Madison’s act surely was inspiring, but for obvious reasons, the connection between Anora and Igor stole many hearts.
It all makes sense, when for any kind of display of affection, Anora relies on Igor and she finally gets what she craves for, intimacy, love and family. At that moment to be held is all that matters and we understand how much Annie has had to bear all through her life, she certainly was badass. The movie being an independent film, achieved a great feat and credited their victory to the sex workers and made sure they felt heard since they had the chance to because of the platform that is The Academy.
The Best picture nominees were Anora, Emilia Perez, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Nickel Boys, I’m Still here, The Substance, Dune: Part 2, Wicked and The Brutalist, each of them affected the audience as films should, achieving awards in other categories and creating marks. May the next Oscars be even more glorious.