Oscar Winers 2009 – Writing (Original Screenplay) – MILK
MILK
milk-poster
Written by Dustin Lance Black
ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Oh my God. This was, um, this was not an easy film to make. First off, I have to thank Cleve Jones & Anne Kronenberg and all the real-life people who shared their stories with me. And, um, Gus Van Sant, Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco & our entire cast, my producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, everyone at Groundswell & Focus for taking on the challenge of telling this life-saving story. When I was 13 years old, my beautiful mother and my father moved me from a conservative Mormon home in San Antonio, Texas to California, & I heard the story of Harvey Milk. And it gave me hope. It gave me the hope to live my life. It gave me the hope one day I could live my life openly as who I am & then maybe even I could even fall in love and one day get married.
I wanna& I wanna thank my mom, who has always loved me for who I am even when there was pressure not to. But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay & lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you & that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk. (http://oscar.com/oscarnight/winners)
ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY
This is the first Academy Award nomination for Dustin Lance Black.
Video Desc: We caught up with a couple of Penn's costars James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Alison Pill for an intimate look at the making of this emotionally charged biopic.
Info: Academy Award nominee Gus Van Sant directs Academy Award winner Sean Penn as gay rights icon Harvey Milk. Mr. Milk (1930-1978) was an activist and politician, and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in America; in 1977, he was voted to the city supervisors' board of San Francisco. The following year, both he and the city's mayor George Moscone were shot to death by another city supervisor, Dan White.
Info: Milk Would You Go Get Us Some Cake?
Info: We caught up with a couple of Penn's costars James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Alison Pill for an intimate look at the making of this emotionally charged biopic.
