‘Son of Saul’ wins Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film

by: JTA, AP and Times of Israel staff

---

Hungarian Holocaust tale was favorite to win after taking Golden Globe, Grand Prix at Cannes; Amy Winehouse portrait awarded best documentary accolades

Actress Sofia Vergara and actor Byung-hun Lee present the award for Foreign Language film, Son of Saul, to director Laszlo Nemes (R) on stage at the 88th Oscars on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California (AFP PHOTO / MARK RALSTON)

Son of Saul,” the Hungarian Holocaust drama from first-time feature director Laszlo Nemes, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film on Sunday night’s 88th Academy Awards.

The film, which was partly financed by the Claims Conference, claimed the prize at the annual Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles.

The win is the second straight for a Holocaust film in the category. In 2015, the Polish film “Ida,” about a young soon-to-be nun who learns her parents were Jews killed during the war, took home the best foreign film Oscar.

Set in Auschwitz in 1944, “Son of Saul” tells the story of Saul Auslander, a Jewish inmate forced to escort his fellow prisoners to the gas chambers and help to dispose of their remains. The title role is played by Geza Rohrig, a Hungarian poet and observant Jew who now lives in New York.

The film was heavily favored to win on Sunday, having already claimed the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in May and the Golden Globe for best foreign film in January. On Saturday, it won the prize for best international film at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles.

In other Jewish-related wins, Asif Kapadia’s Amy Winehouse portrait, “Amy,” took best documentary.

Charles Randolph, husband of Israeli actress Mili Avital, won the Academy Award of Best Adapted Screenplay for the film “The Big Short,” along with Adam McKay. Accepting the award, Randolph dropped some Hebrew on the big stage telling his wife, “I love you,” in her native tongue.

Meanwhile “Spotlight,” a film about the efforts of (Jewish) Boston Globe editor Marty Baron to unearth a covered-up child sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church, picked up the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and won the night’s big prize of Best Picture, beating out the favored frontier epic “The Revenant.”

After going home empty-handed four times previously, Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar, for a best actor in “The Revenant” — a gruff, grunting performance that traded little on the actor’s youthful charisma. DiCaprio, greeted with a standing ovation, took the moment to talk about climate change.

“Let us not take our planet for granted,” he said. “I do not take tonight for granted.”

His director, Inarritu, won back-to-back directing awards after the triumph last year of “Birdman.” It’s a feat matched by only two other filmmakers: John Ford and Joseph L. Mankiewicz. “The Revenant” also won best cinematography for Emmanuel Lubezki, who became the first cinematographer to win three times in a row (following wins for “Gravity” and “Birdman”), and only the seventh to three-peat in Oscar history.

The cast of “Spotlight” accept the Best Motion Picture of the Year award onstage during the 88th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre, February 28, 2016. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images/AFP)’ class=”size-large wp-image-1348668″ alt=’The cast of “Spotlight” accept the Best Motion Picture of the Year award onstage during the 88th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre, February 28, 2016. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images/AFP)

Read more: ‘Son of Saul’ wins Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film

---

 

---