Before the Oscars

What would it take for Géza M. Tóth to win? Who is Ellen DeGeneres? Where have all the stars and big names gone from the Oscars presentation?

filmhu: Géza M.Tóth's 'Maestro' is in the hunt for the statuette in the Best Animated Short Film category. What are its chances?

Anikó Návai: The only Academy members who can take part in voting on the animated short films—in contrast to feature films— are those who can prove that they have seen them. On the morning of the nominations—since there is no Hungarian cultural institute in Los Angeles—as the Los Angeles representative of the the Hungarian Film Committee, I helped the producer of 'Maestro' to find and hire the Hollywood marketing expert who specializes in such a  campaign startegy, meaning he can get the most Academy members to the official screenings of the film in Los Angeles.  

Anikó Návai on the red carpet

filmhu:Nominations for Best Actor and Actress, or Best Director do not show any overlap with the Best Picture category. (The only exception being 'The Queen.') Are there so many good performances, or on the contrary: are we dealing with a load of mediocre films?

AN: It is apparently a sign of weakness from the studios that the favourites for Best Actor and Actress—Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker—have given their outstanding performances in relatively small budget independent films, and the several nominations received by 'Babel' prove the same point. Studios are focused on mass production and distribution, and due to financial reasons they cannot change that, neither do they want to. But since Harvey Weinstein (the founder of Miramax, and its owner and driving force until last year) proved that special interest films can bring serious financial and moral rewards, all major studios have created their own boutiques (cf. Sony Classics, Paramount/Vantage, Universal/Focus, Warner/Warner Independent, Disney/Miramax, Fox/Fox Searchlight) where they partly make, partly buy special interest films (Helen Mirren's film, 'The Queen' was embraced by Miramax, Whitaker's film, 'The Last King of Scotland' by Fox Searchlight, and 'Babel' by Vantage.) Clint Eastwood ('Letters from Iwo Jima') and Martin Scorsese ('The Departed') have only found a place with 'big name' Warner because they are established directors with the right of the last cut.

filmhu:Acting awards went to the favourites last year. Will there be any changes this year?

AN: However much it might make the television audiences yawn with boredom, it is hard to imagine Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker not winning the votes of the members of the Academy of Motion Pictures. The two Academy Awards for the supporting roles in 'Dreamgirls' are mainly a question of conscience: (1) the film has to be awarded with something so that Hollywood does  not lose interest in musicals, (2) these two performances are at least as good as the other ones in their own categories, (3) Eddie Murphy (our dog's puppy!) dances and sings for the first time, (4) the delightfully talented Abigail Breslin came with the wrong message at the wrong time. Jennifer Hudson, voted off American Idol (but with plenty of front pages since her nomination), is meant to represent quite the opposite - that the American Dream is real.

Helen Mirren

filmhu: Not too many people know the novice female host, Ellen DeGeneres, either, although she has won professional acclaim for the 2001 Emmy Awards ceremony. Where have all the stars and the big names gone?
 
AN: The answer is simple: the Academy cooks with what was left in the pantry because stars do not want to host the Oscars. It requires immense preparation, even more stress, and even if they strain themselves there is no way they can get something out of a 4-hour strictly scripted live show.  Ellen De Generes did well at the television Oscars, the Emmy Awards. But she was in a favourable position because research has shown that audiences tuning in to award ceremonies nowadays much prefer TV stars than movie stars, since people all over the world go to the cimema much less than watch TV. That is why the Golden Globe Awards are much more popular than the Oscars because there is a television category, while there is none such at the Oscars. In addition, this years Oscars will also be plagued by the lack of true moviestar potential on the red carpet, only having outstanding but relatively unknown actors, and the same stars presenting the awards that we have already seen and heard at the Golden Globe and the SAG.

filmhu:The coverage of the 79th Academy Awards is accompanied by several related shows, and a new ad campaign based on famous movie quotes (”It’s not just the movies, it’s the Oscars”) also seems to suggest that this is an unmissable filming event. Are the Oscars worthy again of the old fame and glory?

ÁN: Viewer numbers and ratings of the Oscars are in constant decline, the show's format is outdated, and being last on the list of awards is not the icing on the cake but a gnawed bone. That is why what you hear in Hollywood nowadays is that the Golden Globe is not only the best party of the year but also the best and most influential awards ceremony. This is what the striking giant posters of the sparkling Oscar statuette are trying to balance out—with no lack of confidence—stating ”I am big, only the pictures got smaller!” It is true—as we have discussed in the first question and answer bit—that there are too many 'small, special interest films', but is it a workable idea if the tail tries to wag the dog?

Anita Libor