‘Coda’ is the best film of the year by the Hollywood Producers Association

The Hollywood Producers Association (PGA) distinguished the independent feature film on Saturday CODA as the Best Film of the Year, bolstering their chances in the Oscar competition.

The prizes awarded by Producers Guild of America (PGA), society made up of some 8,000 professionals and with wide influence in the world of Hollywood, they are considered a relatively reliable barometer for the Oscars, which will be awarded this year on March 27.

“I have always been attracted to stories full of humanity”said the French producer Philippe Rousselett, co-producer of CODA, upon receiving the award. In his opinion, they are “a sign that there is still hope” in the world.

This new version adapting the script of the French film The Belier Familyfrom the director Eric Lartigu (2014), tells the story of a deaf family in trouble. Deaf actors play the lead roles. your title CODA is an acronym for “Son of a deaf adult” which literally means Hearing child of deaf parents.

The plot follows Ruby, a hearing high school student, who juggles her musical ambitions with her family’s reliance on her to communicate with the “hearing” world.

“In music, a coda means the end of a movement”, observed after the award ceremony the deaf actress Marlee Matlin, who plays Ruby’s mother in CODAand added satisfied by the distinction: “It’s wonderful to see such welcoming audiences with our film and it’s wonderful to make history.”

Premiered on Apple TV+, CODA had won the top prize at the SAG Awards in late February – another heavyweight award, since actors are the largest society (about 10,000) within the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Now the film is well positioned to compete with the big favorite for the Oscars, the film The Power of the Dogby Jane Campion and produced by Netflix.

Animations, music and tribute

Among other winners also of the PGA event, Charm won best producer of an animated film, bolstering his own Oscar chances before voting closes on Tuesday.

Summer of Soulthe first film of the hip hop musician and director Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson about the festival Black Woodstockwhich took place in the New York neighborhood of Harlem in 1969, won a new award for best documentary.

On the television side, Successionfrom the HBO network, won the award for Best Dramatic Television Series.

During the evening, steven spielberg paid tribute to “my brother” george lucas by giving the creator of the iconic series of starwars a PGA award for lifetime achievement. Lucas shared this Milestone award with Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, now owned by Disney.

Lucas, for his part, told the audience that he was very proud that his work marked the beginning of “digital cinema,” which has largely replaced traditional celluloid reels and accelerated the development of 3D and computer effects. that dominate many superhero blockbusters today.

But Lucas recognized that some of his peers, including Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan, have yet to fully embrace the digital revolution and believe that traditional cinema still offers a richer aesthetic. According to him, they think: ‘Oh no, digital, that’s not movies, that’s something else!’”. (I)