“Cuda,” a touching film about a hearing daughter in a deaf family, won Best Picture at the Academy Awards last night, an event that saw a slap in the face from Best Actor winner Will Smith for host Chris Rock.
“CODA” became the first film produced by the online streaming platform “Apple TV”, to win the largest award in the film industry.
In a moment that at first seemed like a prepared joke, Smith took to the stage and slapped Rock after the presenter had mocked the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
It soon became clear that the slap was real when Smith, who was back in his seat, exchanged words with Rock that included an obscene insult that he repeated twice, shocking the audience at the Dolby Theatre.
Minutes later, Smith learned that he had won Best Actor. In his victory speech, Smith cried and apologized to the other nominees and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but did not offer an apology to Rock.
The altercation contrasted with the happy moments associated with the movie “Coda.” When he announced his wins for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay, nearly everyone in the audience stood and applauded in sign language.
“Coda” outperformed “Power of the Dog” movie “Power of the Dog” produced by “Netflix”, a grim drama from the American Westerns, and other films from the traditional production companies in “Hollywood”.
“I really want to thank the Academy for appreciating a film about love and family at this difficult time which is what we need today,” producer Patrick Wachsberger told the film crew, standing on stage. Hollywood’s most famous awards ceremony has returned to its usual form, after pandemic restrictions limited last year’s ceremony. Smith won Best Actor for his role as the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in “King Richard.”
In other awards, Jane Campion became the third woman in the 94-year history of the Academy Awards to win Best Director for “The Power of a Dog.”
Jessica Chastain won Best Actress for her role as TV missionary Tammy Faye Packer in ‘The Eyes of Tammy Fay’.
Deaf actor Troy Kotsur made history when he became the first deaf person to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the movie “Coda”, which derives his name from the English initials for words meaning “son of deaf adults.”
The Best Supporting Actress award went to Ariana DeBose for her role as racy Anita in a remake of Steven Spielberg’s Westside Story.
The sci-fi epic “Dion” won the most awards of the evening, with the film taking home 6 awards in categories such as cinematography and editing.