BABEL: Great To Be Nominated
by Andre Soares
The 2006 Best Picture nominee Babel is the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ "Great To Be Nominated" series. Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga and director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s multi-language, globe-spanning drama will be screened on Monday, August 11, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Following the screening, producer Steve Golin, cast member Aaron Spears, and sound rerecording mixers Chris Minkler and Jon Taylor will take part in a discussion about the film.
In Babel, one tragic event in the Moroccan desert reverberates across the globe, reaching the United States, Mexico, and Japan. Among those involved in this international tangle are Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Rinko Kikuchi, Adriana Barraza, Gael García Bernal, and Elle Fanning.
Babel earned a total of seven Academy Award nominations, but won only one Oscar: for Music — Original Score (Gustavo Santaolalla; his second back-to-back Oscar, following his Brokeback Mountain win the year before). The film’s other nominations were for Best Picture (González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik, Golin, producers), Actress in a Supporting Role (Barraza), Actress in a Supporting Role (Kikuchi), Directing (González Iñárritu), Film Editing (Stephen Mirrione, Douglas Crise), and Writing — Original Screenplay (Arriaga).
Among its numerous other award wins, Babel received the best director prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, the best motion picture (drama) Golden Globe, and the David di Donatello for best foreign-language film.
After Babel, Arriaga and Iñárritu — who had previously collaborated on 21 Grams and Amores perros — decided they spoke different languages. Following that much-publicized falling out, Arriaga set out to launch his own directorial career. His feature-film debut, The Burning Plain, revolves around a mother-daughter (Kim Basinger-Charlize Theron) relationship; it is one of the films in competition for the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
Chris Renaud and Mike Thurmeier’s Oscar-nominated animated short No Time for Nuts will be screened prior to the feature.
Including Babel, there are three films remaining in the series. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID. Tickets may be purchased online at www.oscars.org, by mail, in person at the Academy during regular business hours or, depending on availability, on the night of the screening when the doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Curtain time for all features is 7:30 p.m., and pre-show elements will begin at 7 p.m. The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call (310) 247-3600.
Photos: Courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library
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