Honorary Oscars 2019 - The Speeches
Tuesday, October 29, 2019 at 7:50AM 
by Nathaniel R
Our dream is to one day attend that invite only Honorary Oscars / Governor's Awards. The ceremonies aren't televised but for clips for YouTube and such but everyone who is anyone in Hollywood is there with an emphasis on Hollywood's golden history which we here at The Film Experience have always appreciated. Sites that only cover new releases -- what are you doing with your lives?!?
Here are the speeches and some notes from the special night. First up Geena Davis, Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award winner who shares that it was really Thelma & Louise (1991) that changed her life (you and me both, diva!) and set her on the path that she's now being honored for. Her face when Tom Hanks says her name... ❤
Wes Studi who was weirdly denied an Oscar nomination for his iconic turn in Last of the Mohicans (1992) and paved the way for Native American actors with a rare leading role in Geronimo (1993) finally got some industry-wide love with an Honorary for his contribution to the movies. Though two previous Native American actors have been nominated for an Oscar (Chief Dan George for Little Big Man and Graham Greene for Dances with Wolves) he's now the very first Native American actor to receive an Oscar. (Side note unmentioned in the speeches: the first indigenous (and heretofore only) indigenous person to win an Oscar was actually Buffy Sainte-Marie who shared the Best Original Song Oscar for 1982's hit "Up Where We Belong" from An Officer and a Gentleman.)
Lina Wertmuller, the first woman to receive a nomination from the director's branch (of only five women to date) for her masterpiece Seven Beauties showed up with her trademark white glasses to accept the Honorary statue. What a trailblazer she was having a rich career way back in the 1970s when so few women got directing gigs.
After an obsessive totally relatable speech from Greta Gerwig -- we see you Greta, we've been there before devouring the movies that spoke to us in some highly specific life-changing way -- and a pointed history of women in the Best Director category from Jane Campion (the second woman nominated), Lina remarks that she would like to call the statue "Anna" rather than "Oscar" in favor of the feminine! Haha.
And Hollywood made the most of Lina being in town because she also got a star on the Walk of Fame this week!
And finally, beloved American icon and eccentric genius David Lynch who gave what we believe is the shortest speech ever when receiving an Honorary Oscar...so thankfully Isabelle Rossellini, his former girlfriend and Blue Velvet star, was on hand with a bit more to say. If you're a Lynch fan isn't it heaven to see his core muses -- Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, and Isabella Rossellini surrounding him? Adorable that MacLachlan has to snap a picture on his cel.
And to each and every one of you reading The Film Experience each day, we share Lynch's sentiment...
You have a very interesting face.
Reader Comments (18)
First this, first that... I hope they have all the boxes checked now so they can start awarding people who really deserve it.
David Lynch, you genius, congratulations.
Isabella Rossellini is a very charming and nice presenter
Geena Davis, 2 Oscars -- I actually like her but it doesn't make any sense
I wish there was an Honorary Oscar for fat actresses who aren't particulary funny or for actresses with no botox, or for foreign actresses who aren't as fuckable as Cotillard, for actors who are out and proud... I could go on and on.
I love this, but all I can think of is how the great Albert Finney passed away last year without getting one of these. And that really sucks.
I think Geena's two Oscars make perfect sense. But I'd like it even more if the entertainment industry actually implemented her ideas. An honorary Oscar is great, but real change is better.
Liv Ullmann next year, please
Cronenberg please for auteurs Oscar will deny in a competitive ceremony. Glenn Close because fuck relying on voters to Consider Her (Melissa Leo trademark).
SOME CHOICES, DEAR ACADEMY! (Wes and Lynch were only my loves this year)
1)Honoraries: Max Von Sydow + Liv Ullmann, Ian McKellen
Humanitarian: Vanessa Redgrave
2) Honoraries: Gong Li, Wong Kar Wai, Catherine DeNeuve, Angela Bassett
Humanitarian: Danny Glover, Jane Fonda
So glad David Lynch has an Oscar, so deserved.
I second Max Von Sydow, my god the man is an international treasure. How does he not have an Oscar? Come on.
I second Glenn Close: enough already, the voters keep screwing it up so make her an honorary winner.
I want to second (third, fourth, etc.) those naming Max Von Sydow and Liv Ullmann. Way way way overdue.
@Cash, such change happens incrementally, not instantly, unfortunately. For what it's worth:
- Hollywood Diversifies After Rebuke Over Racial and Gender Inequality
- Festivals That Have Committed to the Gender Parity Pledge
- The Oscars 2019 Set A New Record For Women, But Gender Equality Is Still A Long Way Off, A New Report Shows
- ‘We Corrected It.’ HBO Says It’s Eliminated Gender Pay Gaps on Its Shows
I'd like to think that Davis (et al) had a hand in at least starting the conversation and moving this ball forward in her own way.
P.S. Love Lynch's speech—short, sweet, and so in his wheelhouse. Bravo.
Every year I hope Max Von Sydow will be chosen.
I love Isabella Rossellini. Great to see her here!
Wow! GREAT to see Lynch, Wertmuller and Studi Oscar/Anna-honored! What a thrill it must be to be directed by Lynch. I wish he spoke a minute more but I like the brevity too. Almost like an anti-Oscar Oscar.
I wish next year's Honorary Anna goes to: Glenn, Fernanda Montenegro, Isabelle H., Mike Leigh, Cronenberg, and Tsai Ming-Liang.
O that's right: Mike Leigh doesn't have an Oscar? Please remedy that ASAP.
Both Chief Dan George (born & buried in Vancouver) and Graham Greene (born in Six Nations Reserve, Ontario) are Native Canadian, not American.
The reason I make the distinction is because Wes Studi proclaimed that he was the first Native American to win an Academy Award. Which is true. Because Buffy Saint Marie (who won an Academy Award for Best Song: Officer & a Gentleman) is Native Canadian, born in the Piapot Reserve, Saskatchewan, Canada. So, to be clear, I am not splitting hairs. I am 1/4 Algonquin, and many of my relatives and friends are full Native Canadian. So we understand the reason why Wes said he was the first Native American to win. It is too bad, however that he did not recognize his fellow indigenous family in the North of North America, and their achievements.
I fear I have not been coherent in making my point, and most likely this post will never be read, but just in case, I would like to attempt to make my point one last time, for my own sake, so here goes:
"Wes Studi who was weirdly denied an Oscar nomination for his iconic turn in Last of the Mohicans (1992) and paved the way for Native American actors with a rare leading role in Geronimo (1993) finally got some industry-wide love with an Honorary for his contribution to the movies. Though two previous Native American actors have been nominated for an Oscar (Chief Dan George for Little Big Man and Graham Greene for Dances with Wolves) he's now the very first Native American actor to receive an Oscar."
TO WHICH I RESPONDED:
Both Chief Dan George (born & buried in Vancouver) and Graham Greene (born in Six Nations Reserve, Ontario) are Native Canadian, not American, that is why, presumably they did not "pave the way" for Native Americans, though they both had nominations before Wes Studi made a name in Hollywood, but, alas, was never nominated.
The reason I make the distinction is because Wes Studi proclaimed that he was the first Native American to win an Academy Award. Which is true. Because Buffy Saint Marie (who won an Academy Award for Best Song: Officer & a Gentleman) is Native Canadian as well, born in the Piapot Reserve, Saskatchewan, Canada. So, to be clear, I am not splitting hairs. I am 1/4 Algonquin, and many of my relatives and friends are full Native Canadian. So we understand the reason why Wes said he was the first Native American to win. It is too bad, however that he did not recognize his fellow indigenous family in the North of North America, the Native Canadians, and their achievements, who are not Native American, and yet, described as such. In other words, you can't have it both ways.