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VOICE ONE:
Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special
English. I'm Barbara Klein.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember. Today, we tell about the
seventy-eighth Academy Awards ceremony which takes place next Sunday in
Los Angeles, California. For people who make movies and for people who
love to watch them, it is the most exciting event of the year.
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VOICE ONE:
On March fifth, actors, directors, producers and other
filmmakers will gather in Hollywood, the center of the American film
industry. They will receive Academy Awards for the best acting, directing,
writing, editing, music and other work on movies released last year.
The winners will receive an award called an Oscar. This statue is
shaped like a man. It is made of several metals covered with gold. The
Oscar is only about thirty-four centimeters tall. It weighs less than four
kilograms. But the award can be priceless to the person who receives it.
Winning an Oscar can mean becoming much more famous. It can mean
getting offers to work in the best movies. It also can mean earning much
more money.
VOICE TWO:
Five films are nominated for best motion picture. They
are "Brokeback Mountain", "Good Night & Good Luck", "Crash", "Capote"
and "Munich". The directors of these movies were also nominated for best
director.
These five films are different from the ones that are often nominated
for best picture. They are all realistic films for adults that deal with
serious political or social issues. Four of the movies were mainly
produced outside the major Hollywood movie studio system. They cost far
less money to produce than most major Hollywood movies.
VOICE ONE:
"Brokeback Mountain" received eight nominations, the most
of any movie this year. They include best director for Ang Lee and
nominations for two actors and one actress in the film.
"Brokeback Mountain" is the story of two young cowboys in the western
state of Wyoming. They fall in love during the nineteen sixties. They
marry young women and have children. But the two men continue their secret
relationship for twenty years.
VOICE TWO:
Two of the other films received six nominations each.
"Good Night, and Good Luck" is about the television newsman Edward R.
Murrow in the nineteen fifties. His broadcasts opposed the powerful
Senator Joseph McCarthy.
George Clooney directed "Good Night, and Good Luck". He also wrote the
screenplay with Grant Heslov. And Clooney acts in the movie. Clooney was
also nominated as best actor in a supporting role in another movie,
"Syriana". He plays a secret United States government agent in the Middle
East.
The film "Crash" also received six nominations. Paul Haggis wrote and
directed the movie. "Crash" is about racial tensions among a group of
people in Los Angeles. These strangers meet during thirty-six hours and
are involved in car crashes and crimes.
VOICE ONE:
Bennett Miller directed "Capote," another nominee for
best picture. It is a true story about the writer Truman Capote. It tells
about his relationship with two men sentenced to be executed for killing a
family in a small town in Kansas. "Capote" wrote about the killings in his
famous book, "In Cold Blood".
The last nominee for best picture is "Munich" directed by Steven
Spielberg. It is also based on true events. "Munich" deals with the
killing of eleven Israeli athletes and coaches by Palestinian terrorists.
That happened at the Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, in nineteen
seventy-two. The movie is about Israeli agents and their efforts to find
and kill the men responsible for the deaths.
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VOICE TWO:
Five men were nominated for the best performance by an
actor in a leading role. Three of them play famous American men during the
nineteen fifties and sixties. The three actors changed their appearances
and voices to look and sound like the real people.
David Strathairn plays Edward R. Murrow in "Good Night, and Good Luck";
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays Truman Capote in "Capote"; And Joaquin
Phoenix plays the famous country singer Johnny Cash in "Walk the Line".
Heath Ledger was nominated for his role as one of the gay cowboys in
"Brokeback Mountain".
And Terrence Howard was nominated for his role in the movie "Hustle and
Flow". He plays a man who tries to become a rap music singer in Memphis,
Tennessee.
VOICE ONE:
Five women receive nominations for best performance by an
actress in a leading role. Judy Dench plays a women who owns a musical
theater in London during World War Two. Her movie is called "Missus
Henderson Presents".
Keira Knightley plays a young woman in a family of five sisters who
seek husbands in nineteenth-century England. The movie is based on the
book called "Pride and Prejudice".
Reese Witherspoon plays, and sings
the songs of the famous country music singer June Carter Cash in "Walk the
Line".
Charlize Theron was nominated for the movie "North Country". She plays
a woman who works in a mine. She takes legal action against the male
workers who mistreat her.
And, in the most unusual role, Felicity
Huffman was nominated for "Transamerica". She plays a man about to have an
operation to become a woman. The man discovers for the first time that he
has a teenage son.
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VOICE TWO:
Five movies were nominated for best documentary, a movie
showing real people and events. "Darwin's Nightmare" is about the
difficult life for the poor people of Tanzania. The movie shows how
valuable fish from the country's waters are sent to rich countries while
the people of Tanzania are left hungry.
"March of the Penguins" is a French movie about the struggle for
survival of emperor penguins in Antarctica. "Murderball" is about disabled
American athletes who compete in specially designed wheelchairs in a sport
called Quad Rugby.
VOICE ONE:
Another nominee for best documentary is "Enron: The
Smartest Guys in the Room". It is about the top officials of the formerly
powerful energy-trading company. The failure of the company affected the
lives of its employees and American business. Two of those Enron officials
are currently on trial on charges of plotting to cheat investors.
"Street Fight" is the fifth nominee. It is about a recent election for
mayor in Newark, New Jersey. The film raises hard questions about American
politics, democracy and race.
VOICE TWO:
More than twenty Academy Awards will be presented on
Sunday. The people who designed the best costumes, makeup and special
effects will receive awards. So will the people who wrote the best
screenplays and did the best film and sound editing.
Songs from "Crash", "Hustle and Flow" and "Transamerica" are nominated
as best original song. Musical scores from five other movies are nominated
for best original score.
VOICE ONE:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents
the Oscars each year. Almost six thousand people who work in the movie
industry belong to the organization.
Members of the Academy begin the process of choosing award winners.
These people work in thirteen different professions. They nominate
candidates for Academy Awards.
The members choose among people doing the same kind of work. For
example, actors nominate actors. Directors nominate directors. Designers
nominate designers.
All Academy members vote to choose the final winners.
VOICE TWO:
The awards are presented in the Kodak Theater in
Hollywood. Important people in the movie industry attend the Academy
Awards ceremony. Crowds of people wait outside the theater. They watch the
famous movie stars as they arrive for the ceremony.
The women wear beautiful dresses and costly jewelry provided by famous
designers. Camera lights flash. The actors and actresses smile for the
photographers and television cameras.
During the Academy Awards ceremony, famous actors and actresses
announce the names of the nominees and the winners. Then the winners go up
onto the stage to receive their Oscars. Their big moment has arrived. They
thank all the people who helped them win the award.
Hundreds of millions of people in the United States and around the
world will watch the Academy Awards show on television Sunday night. The
American film industry will honor the best movies, actors and technicians.
These winners will go home with a golden Oscar.
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VOICE ONE:
Our program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was
produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein.
VOICE TWO:
And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for THIS IS
AMERICA, in VOA Special English.
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