What’s up, good people?! WE HAVE THAT LIT SHORT FILM AND MOVIE NEWS AT ITSASHORT.COM. HERE’S YOUR weekly roundup:
The Super Bowl is here, but there’s one battle that is expected to rage on all month: that’s the Oscar diversity controversy.
The latest chapter occurred Friday night during the 47th Annual NAACP Image Awards. One of the biggest Oscar snubs won big. The movie “Creed” took home Image awards for best actor (Michael B. Jordan), Best Director (Ryan Coogler), Best Supporting Actress (Phylicia Rashad) and Best Writing.
Creed lead actor Jordan won in every major category he was nominated for except one. Though Jordan won big there, he was not nominated for an Oscar. His co-star Sylvester Stallone was.
Image Awards host Anthony Anderson made sure to point this out:
“Listen, y’all, I don’t mean to sound cocky, but the movie’s called Creed, not Rocky,” he rapped at one point during his opening monologue.
Yet, the most powerful statement from that evening may have come from actress Taraji P. Henson of Empire, winner of the Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. This was her response to the overwhelming lack of diversity among this year’s Oscar nominees:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DoGt2eymR4
Again, this is what she said: “We don’t need to ask for acceptance from anyone. We are enough, we’ve been enough and we always will be enough.”
Can you say, “mic drop?”
This Oscar controversy is far from over. The 88th Academy Awards will air February 28, and comedian Chris Rock will be the host. Stay tuned…
SAG Swag
The Screen Actors Guild Awards came and went last week, but diversity prevailed there as well. Idris Elba won the best supporting actor award for his role in the Netflix film, “Beasts of No Nation.”
He also won a SAG Award for male actor in a television movie or miniseries for the BBC America Crime Drama “Luther.”
Queen Latifah won for her lead role in the HBO Film “Bessie.” Viola Davis took home a SAG for “How to Get Away With Murder,” and Uzo Aduba also won for her role in the Netflix hit “Orange Is The New Black.”
The most poignant statement during the SAG Awards came from “Orange Is The New Black” star Laura Prepon.
Check her out:
The SXSW Short Film Turned TV Hit
Itsashort.com will be in attendance for the SXSW Film Festival, which will take place March 11-19. We’re psyched, yet patiently waiting for the announcement of the 2016 Short Film Program. In the 21-year history of the SXSW film festival, some cool short films have gone on to do great things.
Before the wildly popular TV series “UnREAL” came to be, co-creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro directed this short that helped to inspire the hit show. The short film was called “Sequin Raze,” and it premiered at SXSW in 2013 where it won the Narrative Short Honorable Mention.
Obviously, premiering at SXSW was life-changing for Shapiro. Imagine what a SXSW selection could mean for your film. Submissions may be closed for 2016, but the 2017 period will be opening back up in a few short months. We’ll keep you posted when that happens. You can also, submit your work to us at itsashort.com, where we will help spread the word about your film.
Our Mission
We love the short film genre. Plus, we at itsashort.com want to introduce audiences to award-winning and award-nominated artists who create movies, web series and videos. Check out itsashort.com and register to see the wonderful work of these creatives here.
