Canadian Oscar nominees celebrate with L.A. lunch
Director Deepa Mehta and animator Torill Kove were among the Canuck film luminaries who had lunch with the consul general of Canada on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Academy Awards.
Two major Canadian nominees ó Ryan Gosling and Paul Haggis ó were no-shows.
Gosling, originally from London, Ont., is nominated in the best actor category for his dark portrayal of a drug-addicted teacher in Half Nelson.
Fellow Londoner Haggis ó the toast of the Oscars last year after his film Crash won best picture ó is up for a screenwriting award on Sunday for the Clint Eastwood war saga Letters From Iwo Jima.
Mehta’s Water is competing in the best foreign-language film category. She is from Toronto.
“That’s what’s so great about being Canadian, I have often said ó Water is a Canadian film,” said Mehta.
“I feel very proud ó India, the country of my birth, gives me its inspiration for its stories but Canada gives me the freedom to tell those stories,” she said.
Kove, from Montreal, is nominated for her animated short The Danish Poet.
Others invited to the lunch hosted by Consul General Alain Dudoit included Paul Massey, who is up for a sound mixing award for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Massey was born in England but lived in Toronto for 13 years.
The Oscar broadcast begins Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.
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