L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2021 www.italoamericano.org 12 L'Italo-Americano M o t i o n P i c t u r e A r t s a n d Sciences; Dawn Hudson, C E O a t t h e A c a d e m y o f M o t i o n P i c t u r e A r t s a n d Sciences, Miky Lee, vice- chair of the Academy Board o f T r u s t e e s ; J a c q u e l i n e Stewart, chief artistic and programming officer at the A c a d e m y M u s e u m o f Motion Pictures, and two times Oscar winner Tom Hanks. "We were enthralled by Renzo Piano's eloquence a n d h i s v i s i o n . I a m s o proud of all that we achie- ved," Dawn Hudson said. " T o p a r a p h r a s e t h e words of Han Solo as he approached the Death Star, I have a good feeling about this," Tom Hanks said. The C a s t A w a y a c t o r , a f e w years ago, along with Bob I g e r , M i c k e y L e e , a n d Annette Benning led the fundraising for this cam- paign. "It matters for Los Angeles to have this film museum; films are made everywhere in the world, they are wonderful films and there are other cities w i t h f i l m m u s e u m s , b u t with all due respect to a place like Los Angeles, this museum has really got to be the Parthenon of such places." D u r i n g h i s s p e e c h o n s t a g e , H a n k s h a s a l s o underlined the importance to celebrate everything that the city of Los Angeles has b r o u g h t t o t h e w o r l d . "Movies continue to be the magical art that speaks to e v e r y b o d y , e v e r y w h e r e . And does that art deserve to be honored and explored and enjoyed in a museum? I h o p e t h e q u e s t i o n answers itself. That's what this building looks like to me, as I drive by and take in the view of it. It's a soap bubble. Yes, it's a star, but it looks to me like it is the world's largest magic lan- tern, and it will transport us to amazing places, sim- ply by getting together with a b u n c h o f s t r a n g e r s , walking into a dark room, and sharing the experien- ce." The museum was built by AMPAS and is billed as the largest in the United S t a t e s d e d i c a t e d t o t h e history, arts, sciences, and cultural impact of the film industry. In the Academy Awards History gallery, the written t i m e l i n e b e g i n s w i t h t h e first award show in 1929 a n d e n d s i n 2 0 2 1 , w h e n C h l o é Z h a o b e c a m e t h e f i r s t A s i a n w o m a n a n d second woman ever to win the award for best director. The Academy Museum also holds a collection of more than 13 million arti- f a c t s f r o m f i l m h i s t o r y dating back to 1927, inclu- ding Dorothy's ruby slip- pers from The Wizard of O z , t h e t y p e w r i t e r t h a t Alfred Hitchcock used to write the script for Psycho, one of Bela Lugosi's capes from 1931's Dracula, and more. Hanks is joined on i t s b o a r d o f t r u s t e e s b y L a u r a D e r n , W h o o p i Goldberg, Ryan Murphy, Ted Sarandos, Diane von Fürstenberg, and others. In the past month, the Academy Museum hosted s e v e r a l v i r t u a l e v e n t s , including a conversation with the director Spike Lee and virtual film screenings. T h e S e p t e m b e r o p e n i n g included an exhibition and s c r e e n i n g s d e d i c a t e d t o Japanese animator Hayao M i y a z a k i a n d S p a n i s h director Pedro Almodovar. Visitors of the museum will also be able to have a real Oscars Experience: an i m m e r s i v e e n v i r o n m e n t t h a t s i m u l a t e s t h e e x p e - r i e n c e o f a c c e p t i n g a n Oscar on stage at the Dolby Theatre. NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS The new Academy Museum, viewed from the street (Photo courtesy of AMPAS) Continued from page 10 The Sphere developed by Renzo Piano (Photo courtesy of AMPAS)

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