Wes Anderson’s work has long received critical acclaim but he hasn’t received an Oscar until now – and he wasn’t even present to accept it.
Known for his eccentric storytelling and unique visual techniques, Anderson’s cinematic works have inspired many filmmakers, professional and amateur alike.
So it was a thrill for many when the esteemed auteur finally received an Oscar for best live-action short film The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.
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Unfortunately, despite his excitement, Anderson was unable to attend the 96th Academy Awards ceremony to accept the award.
While he was unable to give his acceptance speech at the ceremony, Netflix shared his statement on his behalf.
“If I could have been there, I (along with Steven Rales) would have said ‘Thank you’ to: the family of Roald Dahl, the team at Netflix, Benedict and Ralph and Ben Kingsley and Dev and Richard and Bob and Adam and Jeremy and John and Jim and Rich and Jim and Polly and more,” the filmmaker wrote.
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Continuing in his statement he credited his win to meeting his good friend and actor Owen Wilson with whom he collaborated on a number of his projects.
“And also: If I had not met Owen Wilson in a corridor at the University of Texas between classes when I was 18 years old, I would certainly not be receiving this award tonight,” the statement continued.
“But unfortunately Steven and I are in Germany and we start shooting our new movie early tomorrow morning, so I did not actually receive the award [in person] or get a chance to say any of that.”
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The movie he referred to is reported to be his new film The Phoenician Scheme, starring Benicio Del Toro, Michael Cera and Bill Murray. Anderson received 1.5 million euros from Germany to make the film and Roman Coppola is credited as a co-writer on the project.
Having co-written with Coppola on The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom, this new film is expected to be set in the same time of those films. The story is said to be of the “espionage” genre following a father-daughter relationship.