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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums‘Selma’ Director Calls Sony Emails ‘Sickening and Sad’
On the same day that she became the first black woman to receive a Golden Globe nomination for best director, Selma filmmaker Ava DuVernay took a moment to remark on the controversial email exchange that, for some, has highlighted a dispiriting lack of progress in some of the higher echelons of Hollywood.
I have two words: sickening and sad, DuVernay told Variety at Thursday nights Washington, D.C., premiere of Selma. Thats really all I have to say.
The director was referring to one of many conversations between producer Scott Rudin and Sony Pictures Entertainment co-chair Amy Pascal that were made public as a result of the massive Sony hack attack by Guardians of Peace, a group protesting the upcoming release of the studios North Korea-skewering satire The Interview. In the exchange in question, Pascal and Rudin traded quips about President Obamas movie tastes which, the two speculated, might run toward the likes of Django Unchained, 12 Years a Slave, The Butler and the comedies of Kevin Hart.
A later version of that conversation might well have included mention of Selma, which re-creates the 1965 voting-rights marches led by Martin Luther King Jr. in heavily segregated Alabama. On Thursday morning, the much-lauded Paramount release picked up Golden Globe nominations not only for DuVernays direction but also for picture and best actor for David Oyelowo for his portrayal of King.
During the post-screening Q&A held at the Newseum in D.C., the first question taken from the audience concerned the Sony hacking scandal. While DuVernay was circumspect about the matter onstage, Selma producer Dede Gardner spoke at greater length, acknowledging that Pascal and Rudin were being judged on the basis of a private communication.
Its confusing because its obviously a private conversation that was exposed and made public to the world, and its hard, I think, for people who know those people, Gardner said. You get let into spaces that youre not meant to be in.
Id like to think that it can be a very valuable lesson in how powerful the slightest words can be, and how lasting and impactful they are, she added. It is no joke. There are not grades of racism. Theres racism.
http://variety.com/2014/film/news/selma-director-calls-sony-emails-sickening-and-sad-1201377767/
Related: Major Dem donor apologizes for mocking President Obama in hacked racist email.
DonCoquixote
(13,615 posts)because we know when Hillary runs in 2016, Bill will tell these same jokes, to a big big audience here at DU.