I interviewed many Oscar nominees this season for Folha de S.Paulo, including two Academy Awards winners: Ruth E. Carter, the costume designer for both “Black Panther” movies, and Edward Berger, director of “All Quiet on the Western Front”.
I also talked to Laura Poitras (“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”), Shaunak Sen (“All That Breathes”), Pamela Ribon (“My Year of Dicks”), and Kartiki Gonsalves (“Elephant Whisperers”).
“All Quiet on the Western Front”, an epic antiwar movie nominated in nine categories, won four golden statues: best international film, cinematography, original score, and production design.
I talked to the German director Edward Berger via Zoom while he was finishing his new movie in Rome, Italy. I also talked to one of the producers, the Brazilian Daniel Dreifuss. The full interview is here.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’
It was my second time interviewing the American costume designer Ruth E. Carter.
Both times it was to talk about her work for the “Black Panther” movies, exhibited at the Art of Costume Design in Film, organized by the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM), in Los Angeles.
She won the Oscar for both works and became the first Black woman to win in the category and the first Black woman to win multiple Academy Awards in any category.
For the same story, I also interviewed Shirley Kurata, Oscar-nominated for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”.
Carter told me how the Mayans inspired the new subaquatic universe in the new “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, while Kurata shared the magic to find the perfect fanny pack for the character Waymong Wang.
My first interview with Ruth E. Carter, in 2019
‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’
My favorite interview from this Oscar 2023 season was with the American director Laura Poitras for her documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” about the legendary photographer Nan Goldin. It was one of my favorite movies of 2022.
This was Poitras’ third Oscar nomination: she won in 2015 for her Edward Snowden doc “Citizen Four.”
Read the full interview on Folha de S.Paulo here.
‘My Year of Dicks’
I also interviewed a former roller derby teammate!
Pamela Ribon, who played for Varsity Brawlers, got nominated for an Oscar for her short animation movie “My Year of Dicks”.
Read my full interview for Folha here
Her movie is so beautiful. You can watch it for free here.
Scene from “My Year of Dicks”
‘All That Breathes’
BIRDS! Of course, I had to go after the only movie talking about birds on this year’s list of Oscar nominations.
I interviewed the Indian director Shaunak Sen about his documentary “All That Breathes”, which follows two brothers who built a hospital to treat hundreds of injured black kites – birds of prey ignored by regular veterinary clinics in India because they are carnivores.
I ran the article on Folha de S.Paulo and it was re-published in BirdWatching Magazine, North America’s premier magazine about wild birds and birding.
‘Elephant Whisperers’ and more animals at the 2023 Oscar
I put together all the movies about animals nominated for the 2023 Academy Awards for Ecoa. Read the full story here
Fernanda Ezabella 