#Mental Health and Female Empowerment: Two Oscar-Qualified Shorts Pushing the Boundaries of African Cinema

#Mental Health and Female Empowerment: Two Oscar-Qualified Shorts Pushing the Boundaries of African Cinema

In Her Perfect Life, Onajite Johnson-Ibrahim (played by Pearl Thusi) appears to have it all. She’s a 39-year-old entrepreneur with the perfect Instagram profile — a fantastic career, a loving husband (played by Ahmed Ibrahim), and two bright and beautiful children — but Onajite is secretly suffering from depression. She’s contemplating suicide. Iyawo Mi (My…

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#Producers of ‘American Fiction,’ ‘Maestro,’ ‘Origin’ and More Oscar Contenders Talk the Toughest Tasks Behind the Scenes of Their Films

#Producers of ‘American Fiction,’ ‘Maestro,’ ‘Origin’ and More Oscar Contenders Talk the Toughest Tasks Behind the Scenes of Their Films

Erika Alexander and Jeffrey Wright in Orion/Amazon MGM Studios’ American Fiction. Claire Folger/MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection Producer Jermaine Johnson worked primarily as a literary manager for clients like first-time movie writer-director Cord Jefferson (whom he’s represented for close to a decade) before the pair collaborated on Jefferson’s darkly comic adaptation of the novel Erasure by Percival…

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#Oscars: The Leading Men Leading the Race

#Oscars: The Leading Men Leading the Race

Nicolas Cage, Dream Scenario Nicolas Cage A24 / Courtesy Everett Collection Cage is at his Cage-iest in this dark comedy, playing a boring husband, father and academic who suddenly starts appearing in the dreams of strangers, making him world famous — for better and worse. The performance evokes memories of his Oscar-nominated turn in Adaptation….

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#Oscar Winner Buffy Sainte-Marie Responds to Questions About Her Native Heritage: “I Know Who I Am”

#Oscar Winner Buffy Sainte-Marie Responds to Questions About Her Native Heritage: “I Know Who I Am”

A year ago this week, accusations surfaced in the media that the late Sacheen Littlefeather, best known for representing Marlon Brando on the Oscars stage in protest of the treatment of Native Americans, had fabricated her Native heritage. Now Buffy Sainte-Marie, considered to be the first Indigenous Oscar winner (for co-writing the pop standard “Up…

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