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VOICE ONE:
On March twenty-third, actors,directors and other filmmakers will gather in Los Angeles,California, for the seventy-fifth Academy Awards ceremony. It is anight of excitement for people who make movies and for people whowatch them. I’m Steve Ember.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Phoebe Zimmermann. The Academy Awards is our report todayon the VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
(MUSIC FROM “CHICAGO”)
VOICE ONE:
Sunday will be the most important day of the year for hundreds ofpeople in the movie industry. Filmmakers will receive Academy Awardsfor the best acting, directing, writing, editing, music and otherwork on movies released last year.
The winners will receive an award called an Oscar. It is shapedlike a man. It is made of several metals covered with gold. Thestatue is only about thirty-four centimeters tall. It weighs lessthan four kilograms. But the award can be priceless to the personwho receives it.
Winning an Oscar can mean becoming much more famous. It can meangetting offers to work in the best movies. It also can mean earningmuch more money.
VOICE TWO:
Movies from the United States and several other countries arecompeting to win Academy Awards. Five movies were nominated as BestForeign Language Film. They are from Mexico, China, Finland, Germanyand the Netherlands.
For the first time, actors and filmmakers from Spanish-speakingcountries received several Academy Award nominations. Filmmakersfrom Mexico and Spain received ten nominations, including BestActress, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
VOICE ONE:
The movie musical “Chicago”received the most Academy Award nominations. “Chicago” receivedthirteen nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress, and BestDirector.
“Chicago” is a version of a Broadway musical play of the samename. It takes place in that city during the nineteen-twenties. Itis about two female performers who are sent to prison for murder.But it is not a serious movie. It has lots of exciting music,singing and dancing.
VOICE TWO:
The movie “Gangs of New York” is also competing for Best Picture.It received ten nominations. It is a violent story about ethnicconflict in New York City during the eighteen-sixties.
A film called “The Hours” receivednine nominations, including Best Picture. It is based on a bookabout one day in the lives of three women during different periodsof the twentieth century. Two American women deal with illness andthe demands of family and friends. Their lives are linked with thelife and work of the famous British writer Virginia Woolf.
VOICE ONE:
“The Pianist” is the fourth movienominated for Best Picture. It received six other Academy Awardnominations. The film tells the true story of the survival of aJewish musician in Warsaw, Poland, under Nazi occupation duringWorld War Two.
The last movie nominated for Best Picture is “The Lord of theRings: The Two Towers.” It is a story about a struggle to save theworld from the forces of evil. It is the second of three movies inthe “Lord of the Rings” series. These are based on the books byBritish writer J-R-R Tolkien about an imaginary Middle-earth. Themovie is competing for six Academy Awards.
VOICE TWO:
A small movie studio called Miramax Films was extremelysuccessful last year. Miramax is based in New York City, unlike thelarge studios that are based in Hollywood. Miramax produced orco-produced several of the top movies last year. These include”Chicago,” “The Hours,” and “Gangs of New York.”
Films produced by Miramax received a total of forty Academy Awardnominations. This is the most for any film studio sincenineteen-forty.
(MUSIC FROM “THE HOURS”)
VOICE ONE:
Last year was also an important year for actresses. Critics saymovies had many more strong performances by women than in otheryears.
Julianne Moore became the first performer in ten years to receivenominations in two categories. She was nominated for Best Actressfor her role as a woman who discovers a secret about her husband in”Far From Heaven.” She was also nominated for Best SupportingActress in “The Hours.” She plays a wife and mother who struggleswith feelings of sadness and hopelessness.
Nicole Kidman was nominated for Best Actress in “The Hours.” Sheplays writer Virginia Woolf who battles mental illness while writingone of her most famous books.
Mexican-born Salma Hayek also received a Best Actress nominationfor portraying a famous person. She plays the Mexican artist FridaKahlo in the movie “Frida.” Another Best Actress nominee is ReneeZellweger, who sings and dances in “Chicago.” And Diane Lane wasnominated for playing a wife who has a sexual relationship with ayounger man in the movie “Unfaithful.”
Actress Meryl Streep also made history last year. She receivedher thirteenth nomination, the most of any performer in Americanmotion picture history. She was nominated for Best SupportingActress for playing a real-life magazine writer in “Adaptation.”
VOICE TWO:
Jack Nicholson received his twelfth acting nomination, more thanany other male actor. He was nominated for Best Actor in the movie”About Schmidt.” He plays an insurance salesman whose life changeswhen he retires from his job and his wife dies.
Michael Caine was nominated for Best Actor for playing a Britishreporter in Vietnam in the movie “The Quiet American. DanielDay-Lewis received a nomination for playing a violent gang leader in”Gangs of New York.”
Nicholas Cage was honored for playing a troubled moviescreenwriter and his twin brother in “Adaptation.” And the youngactor Adrien Brody is the fifth Best Actor nominee. He plays theJewish musician who hides from the Nazis in Poland during World WarTwo in “The Pianist.”
(MUSIC FROM ‘THE PIANIST’)
VOICE ONE:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents theOscars each year. About six-thousand people who work in the movieindustry belong to the organization. It was established innineteen-twenty-seven to support the film industry. The Academybegan presenting awards in nineteen-twenty-nine. At that time, filmswere just starting to have sound.
The awards were not called Oscars until much later. Innineteen-fifty-one, a woman who worked in the Academy library saidthe statue looked like a family member — her Uncle Oscar. Areporter heard this story and wrote about it. Some people said thereporter and the librarian named the statue Oscar.
But actress and former Academy president Bette Davis disputedthis. She said she named the Oscars in honor of her first husband,Harmon Oscar Nelson.
VOICE TWO:
The process of choosing award winners begins with members of theAcademy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. These people work inthirteen different professions. They nominate candidates for AcademyAwards. The members choose among people doing the same kind of workthey do. For example, actors nominate actors. Directors nominatedirectors. Designers nominate designers. All Academy members voteamong those nominated to choose the final winners.
The awards are presented every spring. The ceremony on Sundaywill be held in the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. Important people inthe movie industry attend the ceremonies. Crowds of people waitoutside the theater. They watch the famous movie stars as theyarrive for the ceremony. Camera lights flash. Actors and actressessmile for the photographers and television cameras. Some movie starsmake statements to waiting reporters. Others hurry inside thetheater.
VOICE ONE:
During the Academy Awards ceremony, famous actors and actressesannounce the names of the winners. Then the winners walk up onto thestage to receive their Oscars. Their big moment has arrived. Theycry. They laugh. They thank all the people who helped them win theaward.
Only a few hundred invited guests can attend the awardspresentation. But hundreds of millions of people in the UnitedStates and other countries watch the Academy Awards show ontelevision.
Thousands of Americans in almost forty cities will attend OscarNight parties to re-create the excitement of the Academy Awards.These parties raise money for local aid organizations.
Sunday will be the seventy-fifth Academy Awards presentation. TheAmerican film industry will honor some of its best. These winnerswill go home with a golden Oscar.
(MUSIC FROM “CHICAGO”)
VOICE TWO:
This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced byCynthia Kirk. I’m Phoebe Zimmermann.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English program,THIS IS AMERICA.