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Honorary Oscars 2020.jpg

David Lynch, Lina Wertmuller, Wes Studi and Gina Davis Win Honorary Oscars

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | October 28, 2019 |

By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | October 28, 2019 |


Honorary Oscars 2020.jpg

The Governors Awards, the home of the Honorary Oscars, took place last night and there were some historic moments. Alas, because the Academy thinks we don’t care about such things, we’ll only get to see a brief montage of the night on the actual Oscars broadcast. Sure, who cares about seeing DAVID F*CKING LYNCH win an Oscar?

The legendary director of Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, and co-creator of Twin Peaks received his first Oscar. No, seriously, David Lynch has never won a competitive Oscar. Why? Because the world sucks, obviously. Remember when he and Robert Altman were nominated for Best Director and they gave it to Ron Howard for A Beautiful Mind? Dark times. Lynch was celebrated by Isabella Rossellini, star of Blue Velvet and also his ex, as well as her former co-stars Kyle MacLachlan and Laura Dern. After many kind words and a solid standing ovation, Lynch’s own speech was very short.




I love them!

Wes Studi made history by becoming the first Native American actor to receive an Oscar. The legendary figure has appeared in films as varied as The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The New World, Avatar, and Hostiles. Q’orianka Kilcher and Christian Bale paid their tributes.




For her work in fighting for gender parity in media, Geena Davis took home the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. ‘Whatever you’re working on right now, boost the number of female characters’, she urged the room, noting how representation can help to reset the scales in real life.




The final award of the night went to the legendary Lina Wertmuller, the Italian director who became the first woman to be nominated for the Best Director Oscar. Sophia Loren celebrated her as ‘an artist who has made history by being herself.’ In 1976, she received her nomination for the film Seven Beauties, which is even more astounding in retrospect once you’ve seen the film (it is completely bonkers and fascinating!) Jane Campion and Greta Gerwig, the second and fifth women to be nominated for Best Director, celebrated her achievement and further drove home how incredibly sad it is that only five women have been honored in the way they have. Wertmuller, who is 91 and still amazing, got Isabella Rossellini to help translate her speech and made sure to let everyone know she wants to change Oscar’s name to Anna.





Jon Hamm escorted Sophia Loren on stage and he couldn’t have looked any giddier about it. I’d watch that rom-com.




Header Image Source: Getty Images.