The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences says the recipients of its 2016 honorary Oscars have instilled a love of cinema in future filmmakers.
President Cheryl Boone Isaacs said on Saturday that actor Jackie Chan, film editor Anne V. Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and documentarian Frederick Wiseman “inspire the next generation with that same sense of wonder and enchantment that first touched us as kids.”
Jeff Bridges and Warren Beatty were among the stars greeting Stalmaster, who was the first person to receive an Oscar for casting.
Honorary Oscars used to be presented during the annual Academy Awards ceremony and to generally recognised talents. Establishing the untelevised Governors Awards ceremony has allowed for more comprehensive presentations and more diverse recipients.
For example, Stalmaster — whose casting credits include West Side Story, The Graduate and The Right Stuff — will become the first to receive an Oscar for casting. No casting category exists at the Academy Awards.
“This is exactly what the Governors Awards are meant to do,” said David Rubin, who is producing this year’s ceremony at Hollywood & Highland’s Ray Dolby Ballroom. “It’s a look at entire careers.”
Chan has said that as an action star, despite his decades in film, he never expected to win an Oscar. “I never imagined that I’d receive such an award,” Chan said. “I still remember my very first proudest moment was when I received an award for stunt choreography. At that time, I didn’t know much about directing, I just knew how to do action and fighting sequences and stunts. Receiving this honorary award has raised my feelings to another level,” he said.
Previous recipients have included stuntman Hal Needham, independent filmmaker Roger Corman and studio chief John Calley, as well as Steve Martin, Spike Lee and Lauren Bacall.
The Governors Awards ceremony has also become an early stop on the awards-season campaign trail for 2017 Oscar hopefuls. Among the guests expected are Loving stars Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga, La La Land writer-director Damien Chazelle and star Emma Stone, and Moonlight director Barry Jenkins and co-star Naomie Harris.
