‘A Girl in the River’, ‘Amy’ Win Doc Oscars
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy wins Oscar for her short doc A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
By Pat Mullen
Canadian-Pakistani filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy won her second Oscar last night when A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness scooped the prize for Best Documentary Short Subject. The director previously won in this category for 2012’s Saving Face. (Read the POV feature on Saving Face.) Obaid Chinoy’s powerful film examines violence against women in Pakistan as it chronicles one case in which a young woman, Saba Qiaser, is asked to pardon her family after the leave her for dead in an attempted honour killing. (Read the POV review of A Girl in the River here.)
The director’s acceptance speech was a high point of the ceremony in a night in which Hollywood’s diversity problem was a hot topic. ‘This is what happens when determined women get together,’ Obaid-Chinoy said as she clutched her golden statuette and acknowledged the talents who behind her film and those who helped get it out there. New York Magazine called it a highlight of the night. The Express Tribune agreed.
After leaving the stage, Obaid-Chinoy gave a shout out to the Canadian doc scene. She told CBC, ‘When you live in a country like Canada, you begin to realize how right things can be. Then when you travel back to Pakistan and to other countries which are in conflict, you can see what’s going wrong.’
In the Feature Documentary category, heavy favourite Amy easily walked away with the prize. Director Asif Kapadia and producer James Gay-Reese won Oscars for their box office smash and handsomely assembled archival film about late singer Amy Winehouse and the fame that killed her. For a year defined largely by great music documentaries, Amy was a worthy winner.
#Oscars: 'Amy' doc winners dedicate win to "the fans who loved her through thick and thin" https://t.co/vfnFUirtdL https://t.co/vqAgcn6XRN
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 29, 2016
Another doc highlight of the night was Lady Gaga’s chilling performance of her song ‘Til it Happens to You’ from The Hunting Ground. The doc examines rape culture on school campuses. Lady Gaga, a survivor of sexual assault herself, gave an emotionally charged rendition of her nominated song, which brought fellow survivors to the stage. Vice President Joe Biden introduced the performance and made a notable stand for action. In one of the night’s bigger upsets though, the song lost to Sam Smith’s ‘The Writings on the Wall’ from the James Bond film Spectre. Watch Lady Gaga’s performance below:
Gaga, incredible. This made me emotional in every way. Sexual abuse must stop NOW. #TilItHappensToYou
— gomartpop (@gomartpop) February 29, 2016
https://t.co/KK5KElvRI6
Winners outside the documentary categories included Spotlight for Best Picture, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brie Larson in the Best Actor and Best Actress categories, respectively, for The Revenant and Room, and Mark Rylance and Alicia Vikander in the supporting categories for Bridge of Spies and The Danish Girl.
What were you favourite moments of the night? Here’s what Twitter said:
"This is what happens when determined women get together." Bravo, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/TqqKhY3HXK
— Tribeca (@Tribeca) February 29, 2016
Beautiful speech from Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy about empowering women. Just wonderful. #Oscars #OscHERs
— Emily Gagne (@emilygagne) February 29, 2016
First WoC filmmaker and world changer of the night. Winner of doc short #Oscars, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy. pic.twitter.com/AR28sZeLXP
— Nancy Wang Yuen (@nancywyuen) February 29, 2016
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and I are in the EXACT SAME outfit right now! #Oscars
— Jenny Mollen (@jennyandteets) February 29, 2016
A female filmmaker finally wins something! It's a miracle. Huge congrats to Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy!
— Paul Feig (@paulfeig) February 29, 2016
"Amy" directors: "This film's opening people's eyes to her again and now they understand what a great talent she was." #Oscars #IMDbOscars
— IMDb (@IMDb) February 29, 2016
Best Documentary: my favorite category!!! All are incredible. Big congrats to Amy! Well deserving #Oscars pic.twitter.com/yiLMJwHTuk
— Alicia Malone (@aliciamalone) February 29, 2016
Anyone else still patting away the tears after
ladygaga</a>'s powerful "Til It Happens to You" performance? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash">#Oscars</a></p>— Canadian Film Centre (
cfccreates) February 29, 2016
That performance of Til It Happens To You got a standing ovation. Whoa. It earned it. #Oscars
— Monica Castillo (@mcastimovies) February 29, 2016
If they voted in the Dolby Theatre right now, Til It Happens to You would win best song.
— Chris Knight (@ChrisKnightfilm) February 29, 2016
.
ladygaga</a> deserves her applause for vulnerable, brave performance of 'Til It Happens To You' <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oscars?src=hash">#Oscars</a></p>— Deadline Hollywood (
Deadline) February 29, 2016