Oscars' Governors Awards Party in the Shadow of Hollywood's Dark Times

Left to right: Agnes Varda, Alejandro G. Inarritu, Owen Roizman, Charles Burnett, Donald Sutherland / AMPAS

The Academy’s 9th annual Governors Awards, which took place on Saturday night at the Ray Dolby Ballroom, was a Hollywood event that managed not to be overshadowed by Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and the other entertainment figures whose transgressions have dominated the news lately.

Instead, the focus was largely on two hours of warm and sometimes touching tributes to directors Agnes Varda and Charles Burnett, cinematographer Owen Roizman, actor Donald Sutherland and Alejandro G. Inarritu’s VR installation “Carne y Arena,” with a side helping of Oscar campaigning from a room full of contenders.

In a way, this year’s ceremony served as a moment of truth of sorts for 2017’s awards season. The event always does double duty as a celebration of career accomplishments and a supercharged campaign stop, with tables full of contenders from all the hot new movies mingling with Oscar voters and press during a crucial period early in the season.

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But with new names of transgressors and new lists of disgraceful behavior surfacing almost every day, can we feel good about the endless round of parties and kudos-fests that bestow shiny trophies on the work of an industry whose culture allowed predators to flourish for years?

If the culture of Hollywood is broken, is it unseemly to be celebrating its products?

“Yes,” said one top actress in attendance succinctly. “Unless we’re celebrating work that points the way to the future.”

But the Governors Awards focuses on the past, which meant that most people in the room wanted to pay tribute to Varda, Roizman, Burnett, Sutherland and Inarritu. And it’s hard to look askance at a night that saluted one of the greatest international female directors in cinema; the cinematographer of “The French Connection” and “Network”; a pioneer in African-American filmmaking; an actor whose career includes “M*A*S*H” and “Don’t Look Back”; and a VR work that asks viewers to walk in the footsteps of immigrants trying to cross the desert into America.

Also Read: Alejandro Inarritu's VR Experience 'Carne y Arena' Shakes Up Cannes Viewers - If They Can See It

Sure, talk during the lengthy cocktail hour often drifted to Weinstein, long a fixture at these events; to Spacey, who most likely would have been in attendance on behalf of “All the Money in the World” had his scandal not caused Ridley Scott to hastily cut his performance from the film; and to the looming shadow of additional names to come.

A person with ties to the currently-shooting Freddie Mercury biopic worried about whether audiences could shun that film because its director, Bryan Singer, has been accused of sexual misconduct; on the other side of the room, a past Oscar winner was buttonholing people and asking, “Who’s going to be next? What have you heard?”

But that was largely undercurrent, a tacit acknowledgment that this is an odd awards season. It wasn’t a real distraction from the main business of saluting the honorees, or the secondary business of seeing and being seen.

So as guests arrived on the top floor of the Hollywood & Highland center, mutual admiration societies sprung up everywhere. Steven Spielberg huddled with Laurie Metcalf, “Blade Runner” director Denis Villeneuve chased down “Lady Bird” actress Saoirse Ronan, Guillermo del Toro chatted with Andy Serkis and everybody grinned as the 7-year-old star of “The Florida Project,” Brooklynn Prince, bounced up the steps in a bright red party dress.

“I think she was born for this,” said Prince’s director, Sean Baker.

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On the big screens inside the ballroom, the first words to appear were a statement of purpose: “This is not the Oscars. No nominees, no rules, no envelopes.”

First-term Academy president John Bailey opened not by talking about the code of conduct that the AMPAS board has been asked to create, or by promising more diversity the way his predecessor, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, has done at the last two Governors Awards, but by simply praising the winners – whose films, he said, “have set a high bar for us to emulate.”

After a schmooze-filled dinner, Steven Spielberg opened the proceedings, and then other Academy governors kicked off each of the individual presentations: Daryn Okada for fellow cinematographer Roizman, Kimberley Peirce and Kate Amend for Varda, Gregory Nava for Inarritu, Reginald Hudlin for Burnett and Whoopi Goldberg for Sutherland.

Other presenters included Dustin Hoffman for Roizman, Jessica Chastain and Angelina Jolie for Varda, Sean Baker and Ava DuVernay for Burnett and Colin Farrell and Jennifer Lawrence for Sutherland.

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Roizman was the most emotional winner and Sutherland the most eloquent, with Burnett wielding the best punchline: After talking about his junior high teacher, Mr. Baker, who in front of class told him he’d never amount to anything, he added, “I don’t know if that teacher is still around. But if he is, I hope he reads the trades.”

But the award to Varda, a pioneer in the French New Wave whose career contains more than 60 years of adventurous narrative features and documentaries, was in many ways the high point of the evening. Peirce kicked off the presentation with a lengthy description of how influential Varda’s unapologetic female characters were, interweaving a story about her own battles with the MPAA ratings board over a female orgasm depicted in Peirce’s “Boys Don’t Cry.”

Varda looked a little baffled by the comparison, but Peirce brought the house down – as did Documentary Branch governor Kate Amend who began her own remarks by noting, “Well, sadly, we don’t have a lot of orgasms in documentaries.”

Chastain then lauded Varda for her credo that “rebelliousness is part of being a woman,” and Jolie added, “To be around Agnes is to feel more oxygen come into the room.”

Also Read: 'Faces Places' Review: Agnès Varda Takes a Joyful Artist's Journey Into Rural France

The 89-year-old filmmaker tried to brush off the praise, but her eyes welled up and it was clear she was touched. Her own speech was playful and impish, beginning by noting that all her presenters were female – “Are there no men in the room who love me?” – and ending in a little onstage dance with Jolie.

Inarritu’s speech, though, was the most passionate. He received a rare special Oscar for “Carne y Arena,” a VR installation that ran at the Cannes Film Festival and is now at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and one that immerses an audience – one viewer at a time – in the world of immigrants trying to come from Mexico to the United States.

Before receiving the award, Inarritu told TheWrap that he made the film with absolutely no thought of “this awards stuff.” But director and Academy governor Michael Mann pushed for the special award, saying that “Carne y Arena” “is to virtual reality what Eisenstein’s ‘Battleship Potemkin’ was to film.”

Also Read: 'Revenant' Director Alejandro Inarritu Blasts Donald Trump After Winning DGA Award

“There is no better prize in life than the one you win without competing,” Inarritu said when he took the stage. After a round of thank-yous, his speech turned into a charged denunciation of the ideologies and words that have been used to demonize and stereotype people.

“Only ideologies have f—ed up the world,” he said. ” … When the word ‘rapist’ or ‘illegal alien’ is fired, the reality of a certain human life or community is reduced to an idea, and whoever believes or possesses and fires that idea ends up impoverishing, misleading and degrading their perception of reality.”

He concluded, “I dedicate and receive this beautiful recognition on behalf of all the immigrants from Mexico, Central America, Asia, Africa and all corners of the world whose reality has been ignored and held hostage by ideologies and definitions, denying them the possibility of being understood and loved.”

117 Amazing Portraits From TheWrap's Toronto Studio, From Angelina Jolie to Jim Carrey (Photos)

Actors Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney and director Craig Gillespie, "I, Tonya"

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Actress-producer Margot Robbie, "I, Tonya"

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Margot Robbie, "I, Tonya"

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Actress Allison Janney, "I, Tonya"

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Sebastian Stan, "I, Tonya"

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Helen Mirren, "The Leisure Seeker"

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Helen Mirren, "The Leisure Seeker"

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"Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond" Jim Carrey

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Jim Carrey, "Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond"

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Director Chris Smith, "Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond"

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Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Current War"

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Michael Shannon, "The Current War"

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Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon with actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon and Nicholas Hoult, "The Current War"

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Director Angelina Jolie, "First They Killed My Father"

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Director Angelina Jolie with producer Rithy Panh, stars Kimhak Mun, Sareum Srey Moch and co-writer Luong Ung, "First They Killed My Father"

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Writer-director Greta Gerwig, "Lady Bird"

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Greta Gerwig, "Lady Bird"

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Actress Laurie Metcalf, "Lady Bird"

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Actor Tracy Letts, "Lady Bird"

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Brie Larson, "Unicorn Store"

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Actor Sam Rockwell, "Woman Walks Ahead"

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Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci, "The Children Act"

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Writer Ian McEwan, actor Stanley Tucci, director Richard Eyre and actors Emma Thompson and Duncan Kenworthy, "The Children Act"

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Stanley Tucci, "The Children Act"

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"Outside In" director Lynn Shelton with her cast Jay Duplass, Kaitlyn Dever and Edie Falco

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Jay Duplass, "Outside In"

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Edie Falco, "Outside In"

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Kaitlyn Dever, "Outside In"

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Director Lynn Shelton, "Outside In"

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Jake Gyllenhaal, "Stronger"

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Tatiana Maslany, "Stronger"

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Miranda Richardson, "Stronger"

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"Stronger" star Jake Gyllenhaal with Jeff Bauman, the Boston Marathon bombing survivor he plays in the fiilm

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Writer Jeff Bauman, "Stronger"

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Actor Cedric the Entertainer, "First Reformed"

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Cedric the Entertainer, "First Reformed"

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Cedric the Entertainer and director Paul Schrader "First Reformed"

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Director Paul Schrader, "First Reformed"

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Actors Aaron Pederson, Abbey Lee, Matt Nable, Simone Kessell, Josh McConville and Ryan Corr, "1%"
Abbey Lee, "1%"

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Actress Simone Kessel, "1%"

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Actor Ed Harris, "Kodachrome"

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Actor Ed Harris and director Mark Raso, "Kodachrome"

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Mark Raso, "Kodachrome"

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Writer-producer Jeremy Chilnick, writer-director-producer Morgan Spurlock and producer Matthew Galkin, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"

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Producer Matthew Galkin, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"

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Writer-producer Jeremy Chilnick, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"

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Writer-director-producer-star Morgan Spurlock, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"

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Morgan Spurlock, "Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken"

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Director Joseph Kahn, "Bodied"

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Actress Rory Uphold, "Bodied"

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Actor Calum Worthy, "Bodied"

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Director Armando Iannucci, "The Death of Stalin"

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Director Darren Aronofsky, "mother!"

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Director Darren Aronofsky, "mother!"

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Willem Dafoe, Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince and Sean Baker, "The Florida Project"

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Willem Dafoe, "The Florida Project"

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Director-star James Franco, "The Disaster Artist"

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Director-star James Franco, "The Disaster Artist"

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Actor Dave Franco, "The Disaster Artist"

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Actor Dave Franco, "The Disaster Artist"

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Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber, "The Disaster Artist"

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Alison Brie, "The Disaster Artist"

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Alison Brie, "The Disaster Artist"

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Ari Graynor, "The Disaster Artist"

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Actress Jessica Chastain, "Molly's Game" and "Woman Walks Ahead"

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Actress Jessica Chastain, director Susanna White and Michael Greyeyes, "Woman Walks Ahead"

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Actress Julianne Nicholson, "Who We Are Now"

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Zachary Quinto, "Who We Are Now"

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Actor Josh Lucas, "Mark Felt"

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Selma Blair, "Mom and Dad"

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Selma Blair and Nicolas Cage, "Mom and Dad"

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Co-directors Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, "One of Us"

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Director Kyle Rideout, "Public Schooled"

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Judy Greer "Public Schooled"

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Actor Eddie Izzard, "Victoria & Abdul"

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Actor Ali Fazal, "Victoria & Abdul"

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Actress Elisabeth Moss, "The Square"

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Actor Terry Notary, "The Square"

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Director Ruben Ostland, "The Square"

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Actor Claes Bang, "The Square"

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Screenwriter Anthony McCarten, "Darkest Hour"

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Writer Anthony McCarten, stars Ben Mendelsohn, Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas with director Joe Wright, "Darkest Hour"

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Actor Ben Mendelsohn, "Darkest Hour"

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Actor Gary Oldman, "Darkest Hour"

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Gary Oldman, "Darkest Hour"

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Actress Kristin Scott Thomas, "Darkest Hour"

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Director Joe Wright, "Darkest Hour"

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Actor Nahuel Peres Biscayar, "BPM (Beats Per Minute)"

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Actor Arnaud Valois, "BPM (Beats Per Minute)"

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Director John Curran with actors Jim Gaffigan, Ed Helms and Kate Mara, writers Andrew Logan and Taylor Allen, "Chappaquiddick"

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"Chappaquiddick" director John Curran

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Kate Mara, "Chappaquiddick"

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Kate Mara, "Chappaquiddick"

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Jim Gaffigan, "Chappaquiddick"

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Ed Helms, "Chappaquiddick"

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Director Dan Gilroy, "Roman J. Israel, Esq."

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Actress Diane Kruger, "In the Fade"

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Actress Diane Kruger, "In the Fade"

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Director Alexander Payne, "Downsizing"

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Actors Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau and director Alexander Payne, "Downsizing"

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Actor Christoph Waltz, "Downsizing"

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Actress Hong Chau, "Downsizing"

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Actors Wes Studi, Rosamund Pike, direcor Scott Cooper, Christian Bale and Jonathan Majors, "Hostiles"

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Actor Simon Baker, "Breath"

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Simon Baker, "Breath"

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Director Neil Burger, "The Upside"

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Writer-director Martin McDonagh, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"

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Director and co-writer Dee Rees, "Mudbound"

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Actor Jason Mitchell, "Mudbound"

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Rob Morgan, "Mudbound"

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Jason Mitchell and Rob Morgan, "Mudbound"

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Actors Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, director Dee Rees, actors Rob Morgan and Carey Mulligan, "Mudbound"

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Garrett Hedlund, "Mudbound"

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Writer-director Robin Campillo, "BPM (Beats Per Minute)"

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Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, "Battle of the Sexes"

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Screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, "Battle of the Sexes"

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Brady Jandreau, "The Rider"

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