How the Irish fared: Branagh pays tribute to 'people of Belfast' in Oscars acceptance speech
Kenneth Branagh accepts the award for best original screenplay for Belfast at the Oscars. Picture: AP Photo/Chris Pizzello
It was not to be for most of the Irish stars nominated for many Oscars but actor and director Kenneth Branagh collected his first Academy Award in a decades-long career.
Branagh won best original screenplay for Belfast, his autobiographical coming-of-age film set at the advent of the Troubles. He described the film as “the search for hope and joy in face of violence and loss”.
He paid tribute to his family, the people of Belfast and the whole island of Ireland in his acceptance speech.
"This is an enormous honour for my family and a great tribute to an amazing city and fantastic people."
He added: “We will never forget all of those lost in the heartbreaking, heartwarming, human story of that amazing city of Belfast on the fabulous island of Ireland.”
Branagh was also nominated for directing but that gong went to The Power Of The Dog’s Jane Campion, who became the third woman to win a best director Oscar. Campion had already broken new ground this year by becoming the only woman to be nominated twice for best director.
Branagh had missed several award ceremonies earlier this week after testing positive for Covid-19. The actor and director said he was “delighted” to be nominated in a record-breaking seven categories at this year’s awards but “more delighted to be here”. Speaking to ABC’s On The Red Carpet that it was “beautiful to see a Belfast story speak to the world”.
He has been nominated for Academy Awards across seven different categories during his career – itself an Oscars record – including best actor, but until this year had always come away empty-handed.
Kerry actor Jessie Buckley was nominated for best actress in a supporting role for The Lost Daughter but missed out as West Side Story star Ariana Debose collected the award. Also in the running for that category was Judi Dench, for her role in Belfast.
DeBose spoke of her pride of being an “openly queer woman of colour” as she won the Oscar for her performance as Anita in the classic musical, 60 years after her predecessor in the role, Rita Moreno, earned the statue herself. She paid tribute to Moreno, saying she “paved the way for tonnes of Anitas like me”. Concluding her speech, DeBose added: “Imagine this little girl in the back seat of a white Ford Focus.
“Look into her eyes, you see an openly queer woman of colour, an Afro-Latina, who found her strength in life through art. And that’s what we’re here to celebrate. So to anyone who has ever questioned your identity or you find yourself living in the grey spaces…I promise you this, there is indeed a place for us.”
Ciaran Hinds was nominated for best actor in a supporting role for Belfast but that award went to Troy Kotsur for Coda.
Kotsur dedicated his Oscar to “the deaf community, the Coda community and the disabled community”, adding: “This is our moment”, as he made history with his best supporting actor win. The actor is the first deaf male performer to win an Oscar as he won the statue for his role as the father of Coda (child of deaf adults) in the film of the same name.
Up for best song was Down To Joy from Belfast by Van Morrison. The Oscar went to Billie Eilish And Finneas O'Connell for No Time To Die from the latest film in the James Bond franchise.
- Additional reporting by PA
