THE OSCARS

My NSJour Column this week:

This time I would like to dedicate my column to the Oscars as recently its ceremony took place live. I really look forward to watching this year’s sensation film Nomadland as I have a feeling it will resonate with me too. Also it was so nice again to see bright dresses and emotions after last year Covid skip.

I celebrated watching another film that took the Oscars in 2016 called Spotlight. It connected me with my love for investigative journalism and was a reminder that a conspiracy is only conspiracy before the spotlight takes it out of darkness and then it is of no speculation anymore.

I just respect so much the work of those who really care to try to make the world a better place.

This film recommended to me my Canadian friend Ben Soldinger who was actually participating in creation of this masterpiece as Set Production Assistant. I thought his experience is very unique and it will be interesting to hear what he said about it. Here are a few words he agreed to share:

“With it being the 93rd Presentation of the most viewed, prestigious and sought-after awards show in the world of cinema. I’ve been Reminiscing to 5 years ago this evening, when SPOTLIGHT won Best Picture & Best Original Screenplay at the 2016 Academy Awards.

What a massive privilege and life changing experience it was for a guy originally born in Essex, and who started a new career in the Television Industry that was mostly for the Reality/Un-Scripted landscape in London for two years from 2012, to then securing my first full-time contract and work on this production…..my first ever Feature Film in 2014 as an Assistant Director in Toronto, Canada.

“During the two months of filming in various locations in and around the city, I was surrounded by a group of A-List actors for an average of 14 hours a day, in who I had admired and respected so much for their phenomenal talent from when I watched them portray other roles they had acted in previously.

“Looking back at it all…..It really was the most memorable & unforgettable experience of my life. From start to finish, and then to see my first and last name printed in the rolling credits at a movie theatre, to then being associated with an Oscar will always make me proud of what I have achieved in such a short time period, since relocating to a brand-new city in the world and starting my life from scratch again.

When we work on shows here in Toronto, it’s just a job and so to answer your question if the film team expected this success I doubt it was on the minds of the cast and crew if they thought about winning a prestigious award such as an Oscar.

“But it definitely came as a surprise to me as statistics show that awards at the golden globes normally are a sign of who will win Oscars and Spotlight came up empty at the Globes – so it was most definitely a huge surprise plus if you research the moment you can see even Morgan Freeman was shocked to announce them as a winner.”

Seeing the Oscars ceremony again was a sign of the world coming back to normality and this definitely filled my heart with joy.