The *Other* Oscars Ceremony
This year’s AMPAS ‘Governors’ Awards’ will honor the lifetime achievements of four movie legends
It’s the most wonderful time of the year (unless you’re ABC): The 2022 Academy Awards are upon us. Already, hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to clean the streets of Los Angeles are instead being spent on billboards, swag bags, and YouTube ads racing to grab your attention before the ‘skip’ button appears. This is campaign 2022, it happens every year and this one is no exception.
There’s been a lot of chatter about this year’s controversial Oscar telecast, which airs on ABC this Sunday, March 27, but I’d like to focus another event happening on the Friday before. Unless you’re an industry insider — or someone who closely follows the biz o’ show— you probably aren’t aware that there is an entirely separate, scaled down Academy Awards ceremony before the annual televised spectacle. It’s the Governor’s Awards, an event held not necessarily award, but reward filmmakers.
Did you know the Academy gives out awards other than the Oscar? Ever heard of the Hersholt? Or the Thalberg? These may sound like foreign terms, but they are just two of Oscar’s cousins — and they are bestowed by The Academy’s esteemed board of governors, a group of about 60 people who represent each branch of the organization, from acting and writing to sound mixing and stunts. These are the Honorary Awards, or awards for lifetime achievement in a particular field. There are three of them:
- The Honorary Oscar — An Oscar for a lifetime of work in craftsmanship in the film medium.
- The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award — A recognition of the humanitarian efforts of filmmakers utilizing their resources in and out of the industry.
- The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award — An honor bestowed solely to producers, commending a lifetime of work (really, for the business part of show business).
Usually held in November in the years before the pandemic, the Governor’s Awards, which were started in 2009, sees a meeting of creative minds free from the tension of competition. After all, one can’t be nominated for an honor and then lose to someone else. There is a dinner held in the _, attended by families and friends of the honorees, as well as stars who show to pay tribute (and, really, campaign for the competitive Oscar). After the meal, the ceremony commences with a toast of the finest champagne to the honorees, of which there are usually three or four, and individual tributes are given by fellow craftsmen, ultimately presenting the honoree to take the stage and give a speech. Perhaps the most rewarding part of all this? There’s no time limit for the speech. Seriously. In fact, there’s not even an orchestra. The Governor’s Awards are not televised, although they are recorded and can be found the next day on the Academy’s YouTube channel and other social media outlets. Without the need for commercial constraints or standards and practices, speakers can pretty much say whatever they want for however long they want. In 2015, filmmaker Spike Lee gave the longest known Oscar speech, clocking in at around 17 minutes. Four years later, David Lynch gave the shortest at 56 seconds, consisting entirely of, “To the Academy and everyone who helped me along the way, thanks. You have a beautiful face. Goodnight.”
In 2020 and 2021, there was no Governor’s Awards. This year, they’re being held on March 25th, a mere two days before the “big” show. There will be four honorees, like normal, meeting together under medical protocols to at least attempt to get this thing back on track.
Here’s a brief look at who is being honored this year:
The Honorary Oscars
Samuel L. Jackson
Need I say more, mother…? His career speaks for itself (in bold, four-letter words at that). He’s become a household name far beyond the world of acting, beginning in 1981 with his first film role in Milos Forman’s Ragtime. 1994’s Pulp Fiction earned him his first Academy Award nomination. What followed was decades of explosive performances in action, comedy, and, more recently, epics, as Nick Fury in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Unbelievably, he has never won an Oscar (nor have any of these honorees), but, finally, that will change*.
- Side Note: You’re gonna want to see his speech when its uploaded the next day. Tired of living? Play a drinking game for every time he inevitably swears.
Elaine May
The inscription of Elaine May’s statuette should simply read “girlboss” (forgive me, she is greatly admired by yours truly). The elementary school-dropout-turned-performer’s career can be traced back to Chicago’s esteemed “Compass Players” improv group in the 1950’s. There, she found her creative partner, the late Mike Nichols, and the two formed an improvisational duo that would go on to help change the face of comedy in America. Dripping with witty satire, Nichols & May brought irony to the forefront. A young admirer named Steve Martin was once quoted as saying they were “death to comedy”, in that there was no more to mine than what they dug up.
After Nichols & May split up, Elaine May went on to become a pioneering director, eclectic screenwriter, and occasional actor. Her 1972 comedy The Heartbreak Kid, starring Charles Grodin and Cybill Shepherd, was recognized by the American Film Institute in 2000 as one of the 100 Greatest Comedies of the 20th Century (it ranks #91). Her directing credits include the audacious crime thriller Mikey & Nicky (1976) and the legendary flop Ishtar (1987), renowned for being considered one of the worst commercial and critical failures in film history. Nevertheless, she persisted.
May’s writing portfolio includes credited and uncredited work on Heaven Can Wait (1978), Tootsie (1982), Labyrinth (1986), and The Birdcage (1996). She earned two Academy Award nominations for co-writing Heaven Can Wait and Primary Colors (1998).
Liv Ullmann
Though unfortunately not as revered by America’s general audience, Liv Ullmann is one of cinema’s greatest acting treasures, and one of Europe’s most beloved performers. The Norwegian-born actress graced some legendary films by legendary directors, particularly Ingmar Bergman, who considered her his muse.
Ullmann starred in 10 of Bergman’s movies, most notably Persona (1966), Cries and Whispers (1972), and Scenes from a Marriage (1973). She also co-starred in the 1974 British World War Two epic, A Bridge Too Far, directed by Richard Attenborough.
Ullmann continued to act and direct until the early 2010’s. In her career, she earned two Oscar nominations, for The Emigrants (1972) and Face to Face (1976).
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Danny Glover will receive this year’s Hersholt for “[his] decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his dedication to recognizing our shared humanity on and off the screen.” ( — AMPAS).
It is a wise move by the Motion Picture Academy, as Glover has used his gifts and influence as an actor to speak out against injustices at home and abroad. Really, this can be traced back to his college years; while at San Francisco State University, he participated in the Black Students’ Union’s collaborative, five-month strike in an effort to establish a Department of Black Studies. The mission was successful, and SFSU created both the first school of Black and Ethnic Studies in the United States.
Glover’s efforts to educate and liberate go even further. Like many millennials and fellow Gen-Z’ers, I watched hours of his A&E Civil War Journal docu-series for Television in high school (gosh, remember when ‘A&E’ actually stood for ‘Arts & Entertainment’ and not truckers and old guys who hunt ducks?). He was also an outspoken critic of the Iraq War from its very start, blasting then-President George W. Bush and the US Congress for the prospect of loss and devastation that would ensue. Glover has defended democracy at home and abroad, and was one of few celebrities who openly criticized Barack Obama’s presidency, seeing it as a continuation of the Bush-era.
(For more information on the Governor’s Awards, visit the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences’ website.)
