Octavia Spencer, Academy Award Winner, Might Star As Oscar Grant's Mom In Fruitvale

Academy Award-winning actress Octavia Spencer is apparently in negotiations to play the role of Oscar Grant's mother in the forthcoming indie film about the New Year's Day 2009 killing of the Oakland man. Spencer is best known for her role as Minny in the 2011 film ‘The Help’. 

The film, titled ‘Fruitvale’ will feature the final hours before Grant was shot and killed by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle after he got off the train at the Fruitvale station in Oakland. The shooting was video-recorded by other passengers, making it one of the most sensitively charged officer-involved shootings in Oakland's latest history. Mehserle was convicted of unintentional manslaughter but was released from prison on good behavior after serving 11 months of his two-year sentence. The movie, being written and directed by Oakland resident Ryan Coogler, is set to air by July.

Chinese Film Festival To Screen The Iranian Movie 'A Separation'

China has invited the cast and crew of the Academy Award Winning Iranian movie Nader and Simin : A Separation to the 2nd Beijing International Film Festival.

Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s internationally-acclaimed film is scheduled to be screened during the festival that is to be held from April 23 to 28, 2012.

Nader and Simin : A Separation won the Oscar Award for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards in 2012.

The drama grabbed The Best Foreign Film Award of the 27th annual Independent Spirit Awards during a ceremony held a day before the 84th Academy Awards.

A Separation also won the Best Foreign Film Award of the 2012 Cesar Awards on February 24, in Paris.

Farhadi's prize-magnet drama has hit the Canadian and the Brazilian cinemas ever since January 20, 2012.

Christopher Plummer Delivers One Of The Best Oscar Speeches

Christopher Plummer took home the award for Best Supporting Actor during the Oscars this year.

At 82, Plummer may be the oldest Oscar winner ever, but that didn't stop him from being one of the best dressed men of the entire night,in a blue velvet tuxedo. But it was Plummer's speech that grabbed everyone’s attention. He commenced with a bit of humor that gave Billy Crystal a run for his money, gazing at the Oscar statute and joking: "You’re only two years older than me darling, where have you been all of my life?" In a night of bad, callous old people jokes it was good to hear a genuine laugh out of the audience.

Plummer went on to deliver one of the most congenial and heartfelt speeches of the night, saying that he was born "already rehearsing my Academy acceptance speech, but it was so long ago mercifully for you I’ve forgotten it." He then ran through the customary list of people to thank before giving one of the best tributes in the long history of awards shows. He thanked his wife, saying that she "deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for coming to my rescue every day of my life."

Acceptance Speech of Meryl Streep at the 84th Academy Awards

Meryl Streep won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2012 Academy Awards for her role in The Iron Lady.

The other nominations in this category includes Viola Davis for ‘The Help’, Glenn Close for ‘Albert Nobbs’, Rooney Mara for ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ and Michelle Williams for ‘My Week With Marilyn’.

Quite surprised that she won she exclaimed.."Oh my god.Oh c’mon.Alright.Thank you so much.Thank you, thank you," Meryl said on stage as she commenced her acceptance speech."When they called my name I’d had this feeling I could hear half of America going 'oh no..oh c’mon..why..her..again?' But whatever."

"First I’m going to thank Don because when you thank your husband at the end of the speech they play him out with the music and I want him to know that everything I value most in our lives you’ve given me," she continued. "And now secondly, my other partner: 37 years ago, my first play in New York City I met the great hairstylist and makeup artist Roy Helland and we worked together pretty continuously since the day we clapped eyes on each other. His first film with me was ‘Sophie’s Choice’ and all the way up to tonight when he won for his beautiful work in ‘The Iron Lady’, 30 years later, every single movie in between."

Meryl Streep concluded by saying, "And I just want to thank Roy but also I want to thank — because I really understand I’ll never be up here again — I really want to thank all my colleagues, all my friends. I look out here and I see my life before my eyes, my old friends, my new friends and really this is such a great honor but the thing that counts the most with me is the friendships and the love and the sheer joy we have shared making movies together. My friends, thank you, all of you, departed and here for this enigmatically wonderful career. Thank you so much. Thank you."

After accepting her award, Meryl spoke to reporters offstage and further joked about her long history of always being nominated but never winning. Still, Streep said that she wasn't worried about never winning again.

Inspite of several nominations, Meryl Streep hadn't won an Oscar since 1982.She had won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in ‘Sophie’s Choice’ in 1982.Earlier in 1979 she also had won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ‘Kramer vs Kramer’.

84th Academy Awards - 2012

The 84th annual Academy Awards or The Oscars took place at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles on Feb 29th 2012. The Artist and Hugo were the big winners on that night. Nine time host Billy Crystal was the host for this year’s Oscar too.

The list of winners for this years Oscars include:

Best Motion Picture : The Artist

Best Actor in a Leading role : Jean Dujardin for ‘The Artist’

Best Actress in a Leading role : Meryl Streep for ‘The Iron lady’

Best Actor in a Supporting Role : Christopher Plummer for ‘Beginners’

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Octavia Spencer for ‘The Help’

Best Director : Michel Hazanavicus for ‘The Artist’

Best Writing(Adapted Screenplay) : Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Community’s
Dean Pelton for 'The Descendants'

Best Writing (Original Screenplay): Woody Allen won for his screenplay for
‘Midnight in Paris’

Best Animated Film : Rango

Best Original Score : Ludovic Bource for ‘The Artist’

Best Original Song : Bret McKenzie for ‘Man or a Muppet’

Best Documentary : TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas
for their documentary film ‘Undefeated’

Best Cinematography : Robert Richardson for ‘Hugo’

Best Animated Short Film : The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris
Lessmore

Best Short Film (Live Action) : The Shore

Best Art Direction : Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo for
‘Hugo’

Best Costume Design : Mark Bridges for ‘The Artist’

Best Make Up : Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland for ‘The Iron
Lady’

Best Foreign Language Film : The Iranian film..’A Separation’

Best Film Editing : Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall for ‘The Girl With
The Dragon Tattoo’

Best Sound Editing : Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty for ‘Hugo’

Best Sound Mixing : Tom Fleischman and John Midgley for ‘Hugo’

Best Visual Effects : Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and
Alex Henning for ‘Hugo’