Black Lives Oscar

This article is published in number 17 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until April 27, 2021

Women’s Oscar. Black Lives Oscar. Oscar for losers (but they win). Sad Oscars. Oscar the strange ones (the New York Magazine made a title using Oddscar or a crasis between Oscar and the word odd which means strange, bizarre). Finally different Oscars. There are many labels with which to define the Academy Awards that go on air on April 25, two months late compared to the usual location, from the Union Station in Los Angeles with a live ceremony and in the presence of the presenters and the most famous candidates. their guests.

No or few virtual connections then (the experience and the disastrous ratings of the Golden Globes have left their mark: Oscars that decree the end of the Zoom era, cheers). Also Oscar of transition, the passage from the old to the new normal. And we are not just talking about social distance and rapid Covid tests that will probably accompany us for quite a while longer. But also of candidacies, of first times, of records of women and members of minority groups, of films that everyone has seen at home because the cinemas were closed everywhere, and this is also a determining factor.

Without the mega-productions and with suspended sets, small and independent films have been made room that can be appreciated even if only from the sofa at home. Self Mank by David Fincher leads with ten nominations and is perhaps the most cinematic with its black and white and old Hollywood homage that always works, the other nominees are an ode to intimacy. Even Nomadland starring Frances McDormand, the story of the new nomads who live precariously on the streets of the American West, despite being a film of great landscapes, it is actually a confidential story. The victories at the Golden Globe and the Bafta give him the favorite, as is the director Chloé Zhao, first Chinese, first non-white and fifth woman in history nominated for best director (the only winner remains Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for The Hurt Locker).

Incredibly, Zhao is not alone: ​​this year in the category that has historically most ignored women there is also the British Emerald Fennel (in The Crown she plays Camilla). He wrote and directed the post comedy MeToo A promising woman, and won five nominations, including starring Carey Mulligan. It was said that the most diverse Oscars ever: in the category of acting, between leading actors and actresses, nine of the 20 candidates belong to ethnic minorities. Six black actors: Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman (favorite) for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Andra Day per The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Daniel Kaluuya e Lakeith Stanfield per Judas and the Black Messiah, Leslie Odom Jr. per One night in Miami. Two Korean actors: Steven Yeung and Yuh-Jung Young for Under threat. The first Muslim nominee for best actor: Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal.

A Covid anomaly, one might think. Not exactly. Or at least not only. It is also a reflection of a new Academy – or a new America, still under the impetus of the Black Lives Matter protests – far more diverse and younger, with half of the current voters arriving after 2012, just a couple of times. years before a slate of all-white acting candidates triggered the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag and led to a multi-year effort to diversify its ranks, an effort whose results are now being seen.

Similarly, the dominance of streamers – in the best movie category The Chicago Trial 7 e Mank sono su Netflix, Sound of Metal is on Prime Video – it’s already customary. The new normal, the one we would all do better to get used to or, at least, to a hybrid form of it, with films that come out in theaters and on our TV at the same time, leaving each of us the choice.

But there is one thing that Hollywood cannot disappoint on: the dream. Nobody wants to see the actors connected from their living rooms anymore. So the decision to favor live presence is welcome. Maybe for the British – and there are many – it will be difficult to be there, but the others – announced Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Bon Joon Ho, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Laura Dern, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon, Renée Zellweger, Zendaya – they will be there and they will have to be elegant too. In the letter sent by the three producers of the evening to the participants, in addition to a generic hint on the power of storytelling, there is also an indication on the type of clothing: casual clothing is not recommended. The desire for beautiful things starts again from here too.

Vanity Portfolio The show must restart – Michael B. Jordan, Charlize Theron, Zendaya e Sacha Baron Cohen. E poi Spike Lee, Maya Rudolph, Lakeith
Stanfield, Awkwafina, Michaela Coel and Dan Levy. They are among the protagonists of Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo’s portfolio

Ferrari for Vanity Fair America. Photos that combine play and glamor, waiting for the Oscars awards ceremony on April 25th.

PHOTO MAURIZIO CATTELAN and PIERPAOLO FERRARI

Katie Grand Service

Left to right: Michael B. Jordan: dresses, Berluti. Charlize Theron: top, skirt and décolletées, Dior. Zendaya: dress, Valentino Haute Couture. Jewelery, Bulgari. Sacha Baron Cohen: tuxedo and bow tie, Ralph Lauren. Shoes, Prada. Spike Lee: suit, Gucci. Fedora, Stetson. Eyewear, Optical Craftsmen of Sorrento. Maya Rudolph: dress, Marc Jacobs. Socks, We Love Colors. Ring, Cartier High Jewelry. Ballerinas, Jimmy Choo. Lakeith Stanfield: suit, Louis Vuitton Men. Sneakers, Nike. Awkwafina: dresses, Prada. Michaela Coel: long dress, Duaba Serwa. Earrings, Cheerybaby. Dan Levy: clothes and shoes, Louis Vuitton Men. Glasses, Cutler and Gross.

To subscribe to Vanity Fair, click here.