SHARE
COPY LINK

OSCARS

Oscar winner’s emotional speech in Swedish

Cinematographer Linus Sandgren was the only Swede to win an Oscar last night, thanking his colleagues, wife and children in speech in English and Swedish.

Oscar winner's emotional speech in Swedish
Meryl Streep and Javier Bardem hand the Oscar to Linus Sandgren. Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

Sandgren took home the Oscar for Best Cinematography at the 2017 Academy Awards gala in Los Angeles on Sunday night, for his work on Damien Chazelle's newest blockbuster 'La La Land'.

“Wow. Wow. Thank you so much, the Academy, this is such an amazing honour. This film was made with so much love and passion and struggles and it was all thanks to you, Damien. You're a poetic genius. And I'm so happy I met you and I really love you, man,” he said in his acceptance speech.

The 44-year-old, who was born in Stockholm, went on to thank lead actors Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, the producers and the entire crew, before thanking his wife and daughters in Swedish.

“Ceclia, Betty and Lucy… älskar er. Ni är mitt allt (love you, you're my everything).”

Clearly emotional, he then switched back to English to thank his mother and father.

As he walked off stage, host Jimmy Kimmel could not resist referring to comments by President Donald Trump last week about “what's happening in Sweden” on a night when not very much happened at all.

“Linus, on behalf of all of us, we just want to say we're so sorry about what happened in Sweden last week,” joked Kimmel. “Hope your friends are okay.”

This is the first time in 34 years a Swede takes home an Oscar for Best Cinematography. Sven Nyqvist won the category both in 1983 ('Fanny and Alexander') and 1972 ('Cries and Whispers').

'A Man Called Ove', which was nominated in the Best Foreign Film and Best Makeup categories, lost out on an award to 'The Salesman' and 'Suicide Squad'. Producers Max Martin and Shellback also failed to claim the Oscar in the Best Original Song category, beaten by 'La La Land'.

The biggest scandal of the evening was when Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway wrongly announced 'La La Land' as the winner of the most prestigious award of the night, Best Picture. The actual winner was 'Moonlight', which was only revealed after the 'La La Land' crew had already gone on stage to accept their awards.


La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz reveals the actual winner was Moonlight. Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

OSCARS

‘Another Round’: a spirited Oscar-winning ode to life

Danish film ‘Another Round’ (‘Druk’ in the original Danish), which won an Oscar on Sunday for best international feature film, is a dark existential comedy about the joys and dangers of being drunk, and letting go to embrace life.

'Another Round': a spirited Oscar-winning ode to life
Thomas Vinterberg accepts the Oscar for International Feature Film on behalf of Denmark.Photo: A.m.p.a.s/Reuters/Ritzau Scanpix

It is the fourth Danish film to win an Oscar for best non-English language film, after ‘In A Better World’ in 2011, ‘Pelle the Conqueror’ in 1989 and ‘Babette’s Feast’ in 1988.

Filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg, who is also nominated for best director, gave a moving, tearful speech, paying tribute to his daughter Ida, who was killed in a car accident four days after shooting began in May 2019.

“We ended up making this movie for her, as her monument,” Vinterberg said at the gala in Los Angeles.

“So, Ida, this is a miracle that just happened, and you’re a part of this miracle. Maybe you’ve been pulling some strings somewhere, I don’t know. But this one is for you.”

The movie is set around four old friends, all teachers at a high school near Copenhagen. Martin, played by Mads Mikkelsen, is a history teacher going through a midlife crisis, depressed about his monotone life.

To spice things up, the quartet decides to test an obscure theory that humans are born with a small deficit of alcohol in their blood, resolving to keep their blood alcohol level at a constant 0.05 percent from morning till night.

At first, they experience the liberating joys of inebriation, before things quickly go from bad to worse. 

But the film refrains from passing moral judgement or glorifying alcohol.

“‘Another Round’ is imagined as a tribute to life. As a reclaiming of the irrational wisdom that casts off all anxious common sense and looks down into the very delight of lust for life … although often with deadly consequences,” Vinterberg said when the movie came out last year.

Vinterberg was devastated by the loss of his daughter, and production on the movie was briefly halted, but he soon resumed shooting.

He said he was spurred on by a letter she had written about her enthusiasm for the project, in which she was to have had a role.

But the film took on a new dimension.

“The film wasn’t going to be just about drinking anymore. It had to be about being brought back to life,” Vinterberg said in the only in-depth interview he has given about her death, in June 2020 to Danish daily Politiken.

Selected for the 2020 Cannes Film Festival which ended up being cancelled due to the pandemic, ‘Another Round has already won several awards, including a BAFTA for best film not in the English language, and a Cesar in France for best foreign film.

The film is carried by Mikkelsen, who previously teamed up with Vinterberg in the 2012 psychological thriller ‘The Hunt’ (‘Jagten’).

In one of the most talked-about scenes in ‘Another Round’, Mikkelsen even shows off his dance talent — the former Bond villain was a professional contemporary dancer before becoming an actor.

READ ALSO: How Danish Oscar-nominated dark booze comedy was inspired by director’s tragic loss

SHOW COMMENTS