Reasons why Egyptians watch Oscars

CAIRO – 6 March 2018: There are many reasons why Egyptians are eager to watch the Oscars every year; for them it is exactly like an important annual meeting that they are keen not to miss. The reasons differ based on each person's interests, background and perspective; some watch the Oscars to see the actresses’ dresses, while others are eager to watch their favorite celebrities away from the movie set to see their hidden human sides. Egypt Today talked with some Egyptians to know why they follow the Oscars every year.

“I am not a big fan of international movies, but I watch the Oscars ceremony each year to see famous actresses' dresses and take a look at the latest trends,” Laila Mahmoud, a 27-year-old business analyst, recounted, adding that for her it is more of a fashion festival than a film festival.



90th Academy Awards - Oscars Show - Hollywood, California, U.S., 04/03/2018 - Guillermo del Toro (L) accepts the Oscar for Best Picture for "The Shape of Water." REUTERS/Lucas Jackson.



Ahmed Magdy, 30, is a bank accountant and a cinema lover. "Every year, I watch all the Oscar nominated movies with three of my friends and each of us makes his own winning list. After the ceremony, we invite the one who had the largest number of right guesses for pizza."

Amal Osman, 48, is an English teacher who has more than one reason to watch the Oscars every year. Some reasons are constant, while the others change from one year to the other. “My fixed reasons to watch the Oscars ceremony are to see my favorite actors and actresses, get closer to them and know how they talk and behave when they are not acting, and of course to enjoy the extremely well-organized and luxurious opening ceremony.”

Osman explained that every year she enjoys every detail of the ceremony. "This year I have more reasons to watch the Oscars, like watching the host, Jimmy Kimmel; seeing if the Lebanese film that represents the Arab cinema, 'The Insult', will win; and, most importantly, knowing why my husband is so fond of Scarlet Johansson, although I am far prettier than her," Osman joked.


90th Academy Awards - Oscars Show - Hollywood, California, U.S., 04/03/2018 - Guillermo del Toro accepts the Oscar for Best Director for "The Shape of Water" from presenter Emma Stone (R). REUTERS/Lucas Jackson



Sally Saeed, 23, said that she is not interested in watching the Oscars, but this year is the first time for her to watch the ceremony, only to see how Hollywood is going to support the "Time's Up" and "#MeToo" movements.

Ahmed Rafaat, 19, said that he is not interested in watching the Oscars at all. "The last Oscar ceremony I watched was in 2016 because my favorite actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, was nominated to the Oscars for his role in ‘The Revenant’,” he said.

Esraa Atef, 20, said that she doesn’t usually watch the Oscars, but does only if there is a nominated movie, an actor or an actress she likes. "I wish to see an Egyptian actress, actor or movie nominated for the Oscars even if I don't like them.”


90th Academy Awards - Oscars Show - Hollywood, California, U.S., 04/03/2018 - Gary Oldman accepts the Oscar for Best Actor for "Darkest Hour." REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

The 90th Academy Awards ceremony was held on Sunday at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood. The host was Jimmy Kimmel, who started by talking about the sexual harassment scandals that have rocked Hollywood recently.

The 2018 Academy Awards was characterized by its diversity; the winners included a surreal love story, a Chilean drama and a violent cop drama, among others.

The diversity extended to the ceremony that ranged between seriousness and light-heartedness. The ceremony acknowledged the #MeToo movement and managed to culminate in an obvious invitation of support, inclusion and diversity in the international cinema scene.

As expected, “The Shape of Water” had the lion's share of the awards and nominations this year. “The Shape of Water” gathered four awards, which were the Best Director award for renowned director Guillermo del Toro, the Best Picture award, the Best Production Design award and the Best Original Score award. “The Shape of Water” is a fantasy romantic movie that highlights a love relationship between a mute janitor and a strange amphibious creature. This love story takes place during the backdrop of the Cold War.


Frances McDormand wins the Best Actress Oscar for "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." REUTERS/Lucas Jackson


Meanwhile, Gary Oldman won the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role in “Darkest Hour”, while Frances McDormand received the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for her part in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”.

Jordan Peele won the Best Original Screenplay award for “Get Out”. Sam Rockwell won the Best Supporting Actor award for his performance as a police officer in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”. Kobe Bryant won the Best Animated Short Film award. Pixar’s “Coco” was named Best Animated Feature. The “Coco” song “Remember Me” also received the Best Song award.

The romantic movie “Phantom Thread” received the Best Costume Design award, while Best Hairstyling and Makeup went to the World War II drama “Darkest Hour”.

The war epic “Dunkirk”, directed by Christopher Nolan, gathered Oscars for sound mixing, sound editing and film editing. “Blade Runner 2049” proved victorious in the visual effects category.

“A Fantastic Woman” was named the Best Foreign Film. The Best Documentary award unexpectedly went to “Icarus”, a Netflix film about systematic Russian doping in the Olympics. This award is the first for Netflix for a feature film. Netflix received last year’s prize for Best Documentary Short Film for “White Helmets”.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tried as much as it could to keep ratings from falling, at the same time highlighting movies that have not been widely watched.

It also tried to strike a balance between the acknowledgment of sexual harassment scandals that Hollywood has suffered from recently and providing an extensive look at the history of moviemaking to mark the Oscars’ 90th birthday.