‘Parasite’ Historic Win Tops Celebration Of Diversity And Inclusion At The Oscars
The South Korean comedy-drama, ‘Parasite’ about a poor family who infiltrates a wealthy household only to learn some dark secrets, took home all the top spots at the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony held on Sunday, 9th February 2020.
The foreign language film was the first in the history of the Oscars to win Best Picture. It also clinched the awards for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film.
Being the first film from South Korea to be nominated and win Best Picture, it also boasts a predominantly Asian cast and crew led by director, Bong Joon Ho. It also broke barriers by beating other English films such as The Irishman, Joker, Little Women, and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood with an A-list cast in the likes of Brad Pitt and Scarlett Johansson.
In the history of the Oscars, only 11 other non-English films have been nominated in the Best Picture category including Roma, Amour, Babel, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Bong Joon Ho wins as Best Director (Source: apnews.com).
Bong Joon Ho wins as Best Director (Source: apnews.com).
On winning the award for Best Director, Bong Joon Ho paid tribute to his role model, Martin Scorsese whose films he studied in school – “When I was young and studying cinema, there was a saying that I carved deep into my heart, which is that ‘The most personal is the most creative’. That quote is from our great Martin Scorsese. When I was in school, I studied Martin Scorsese’s films. Just to be nominated was a huge honor. I never thought I would win.”
He also thanked director, Quentin Tarantino for showing support when people in the United States were unaware of his films.
New Zealand’s Taika Waititi wins an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Source: The Hollywood Reporter).
New Zealand’s Taika Waititi wins an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay (Source: The Hollywood Reporter).
Another victory for diversity and inclusion was New Zealand’s Taika Waititi, the first indigenous filmmaker to win an Oscar, picking up Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit.
Kicking off the live performance segment was Janelle Monae singing an energetic Mister Rogers-style musical number including another diverse talent, Billy Porter. Even presenters invited onstage to announce the winners were talent of colour including Mindy Kaling, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sandra Oh, Anthony Ramos, Salma Hayek and Penelope Cruz.
A recap of the ceremony was done right with the rap performance by actor and singer, Utkarsh Ambudkar who highlighted the victory of inclusion with ‘Parasite’ and Waitit’s win – “Been a long time, trying to be color blind / What you see right in front of you is a sign of the times.”
[Insert rap video]
Natalie Portman also made a statement by wearing a cape embroidered with the names of 2019’s female directors.
A closer look at Natalie Portman’s cape reveals the names of 2019’s female directors (Source: pagesix.com).
A closer look at Natalie Portman’s cape reveals the names of 2019’s female directors (Source: pagesix.com).
The first-ever win for a female in the original score category went to Gudnadottir for the Joker, she said, “To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music opening within, please speak up. We need to hear your voices.”
Congratulations to all the Oscar winners this year!
View memorable moments from the Oscars 2020 below:
Source: YouTube/On The Red Carpet
*Featured image sourced from The Hollywood Reporter
Built with Shorthand