"And the Winner Is..." Oscar Night Viewing Party Returns to the New Normal

By Cheryl L. Dixon, DC Film Society Member

We’re back! Film Society Director Michael Kyrioglou signalled it was time to “party on,” so excited Film Society fans gathered on a frosty afternoon to witness the 29th Edition of our FUN-raising event celebrating the 94th Edition of the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 27, 2022 at the Art Deco Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse to watch Hollywood’s biggest night broadcast LIVE on the BIG screen.

The Beginning
The audience and Film Society staff agreed it was time for us to return to the “New Normal” and gather in-person for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The meet and greet was warm and wonderful inside. Not even COVID fears could keep away our dedicated movie-loving fans. Oh, what a night! Tim Gordon and Travis Hopson, local film critics and our event co-hosts, confirmed how wonderful it was to be back together. Things got off to a great start at our party and at the Oscars. Attendees gathered in the lobby to make their selections from the swag offerings, including The Batman t-shirts, Cyrano journals and quill pens, and No Time to Die tote bags. Once inside, attendees viewed and bid on a range of items in the Silent Auction, including autographed posters, DVDs, books, theatre tickets, and movie passes, and once seated, voted in the Predict the Winners contest.

The Oscar Red Carpet fashion show did not disappoint. The colors red and hot pink were everywhere, joining traditional basic black, and the fellas also donned tuxes, even in bold and bright shades of turquoise. The stars were back with fashion in full force. “Cleavage” was the operative word for the ladies. Our audience appreciated the show’s musical opening number featuring Beyonce and a host of dancers in bright yellow hues to match the colors of the Compton tennis court where it all started for the Williams Sisters, as Venus and Serena practiced under the watchful eyes of their father Richard “King Richard” Williams. Producer Will Packer had his work cut out for him: to reverse the trend of the Oscars audience declining numbers. He promised to reverse this trend with innovative and exciting programming and he succeeded, mightily. The choice of three women co-hosts, Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes was pure genius. They were laugh-out-loud hilarious. Tim and Travis did a check-in before the commercial break movie trivia questions, which were really hard! Most of the audience seemed to like the reboot.

The Oscars was cool, until it wasn’t. As Chris Rock prepared to introduce the Oscar for Best Documentary, he made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith that Will Smith did not appreciate. He walked onstage, in what all of us thought was yet another clever bit, and delivered the “slap heard round the world.”

There were historic wins and engaging speeches, notably Troy Kotsur’s, as he accepted the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for CODA. His sign-language speech, which was interpreted, was inspiring and one of the best of the night, as was Ariana DeBose’s and Jessica Chastain’s. Everything seemed to echo and reinforce the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the Oscars seemed to be divided between before the slap and after the slap. Once we realized that the “incident” was very real, we all went into complete shock and disbelief. QuestLove’s much-deserved win for Summer of Soul and his touching speech had his mother in tears. It was beautiful to witness, but it seems like everyone was in a post-slap daze. Tim and Travis helped us to process what we had seen LIVE and Direct in the BIG screen and giving new meaning to the term “Star Struck.” They explained to us about Jada Pinkett-Smith’s alopecia diagnosis and tension between her and Chris Rock, who hosted the Oscars the year that Ms. Pinkett Smith had proposed an Oscars boycott. Attention went from “Will Will win?” to “what if Will doesn’t win?” Fortunately, he did, and his tearful, apologetic (but not to Chris Rock) acceptance speech and explanation for his behavior still left the audience reeling.

The Aftermath
The Oscars stage became the scene of irony: an unfolding drama of epic proportions.

The two Wills nonetheless triumphed that night. Will Packer for his Oscars broadcast production and Will Smith for Best Actor in King Richard and it was a big night for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Will’s win bringing his wife’s wish for minority recognition and reward to fruition. Sure that this was not the way that Packer wanted to get attention to the Oscars. But we will ALL tune in next year and many more will too. Hopefully, Will Smith and Chris Rock will be able to meet later and work out their issues more appropriately. Hopefully this edition will be remembered more for its historic achievements in time and less the high onstage drama.

These Oscars were major for the LBGTQ community, the deaf community, women, Latinos, as well as African-Americans. Props to the three women hosts for their excellent entertainment and ability to keep calm and carry on with the show.

Attendees appreciated and loudly applauded show highlights including: 60 years of Bond tribute, Jane Campion’s Director win, the Encanto “We don’t Talk About Bruno” singalong, Samuel L. Jackson’s Honorary Oscar, reunited casts from The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, and White Men Can’t Jump, and gave the thumbs up to Wanda Sykes’ tour of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.

Did I miss anything?

Nice to see BTS and a shout out to Lady Gaga and Liza Minnelli onstage together as special guest presenters. Maybe we went through the four stages of grief, on Oscars Night, but out of darkness, there’s always the light. Last thought, borrowing a quote from Just Mercy:

“Each of us is better than the worst thing we have ever done – we can change this world for the better. We all need mercy.” [Just Mercy].

The Cinema Lounge

JxJ – the Washington Jewish Film and Music Festival – returns!

Running May 12-22, the in-person Festival showcases 60 films from 15 countries, alongside 10 concerts with musicians hailing from Israel, Canada, Ethiopia and the US. All of the films are presented as DC-area premieres, and many are playing for the first time in North America.

“We’re ecstatic to return to in-person presentations of the best in Jewish and Israeli cinema and music” said Ilya Tovbis, Artistic and Managing Director of JxJ. “At its beating heart, our mission is to foster community through the arts, to create space for people to connect, and to celebrate the full breadth of the Jewish experience together—there’s really no virtual substitute for being in the same place at the same time. Basking in the glow of a great movie, or tapping your toes along with a re-imagined but centuries-old Jewish song is exponentially better when done with friends and community than when experienced alone – the need for human connection and the role great art plays in it has never been more evident than after the last few years.”

JxJ showcases a wide and diverse array of Jewish perspectives; some popular programming strands return from prior editions—such the queer cinema series Rated LGBTQ and the music-focused cinema strand BEATSxJ. New to the lineup is a focus of Jews of Color, with stories and sounds emanating from the global Jewish diaspora as well as closer to home.

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