Photo by Mary Grahn ’28
By Mary Grahn ’28
Staff Writer
On the evening of Mar. 2, celebrities and seat fillers alike filled Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater to watch the Oscars, an event far away from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Yet, despite the thousands of miles that separate Mount Holyoke students from the biggest night in film, the awards occupied the minds of many. This was particularly true among the students who gathered in Gamble Auditorium for the Film Society’s Oscars viewing party.
The event in Gamble started at 6:45 p.m., as students began arriving and picking up their Oscars bingo cards, which promised a plastic award to the winners. Around 7 p.m., after some brief technical difficulties, the students organizing the event were able to start the stream of the Oscars midway through Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo’s performance of a “Wicked” medley.
Soon, laughs and gasps spread across the auditorium as the host of the Oscars, Conan O’Brien emerged from a cavity in Demi Moore's back. This bizarre image, a parody of a scene in Coralie Fargeat’s Oscar-nominated film “The Substance,” amused and shocked many students in the auditorium.
Throughout the awards, students chatted about the actors and actresses who appeared and what films they wanted to win. Although students rooted for the films that would benefit their bingo cards, they also had their personal opinions on the films they think should have won, which may have differed from the films they predicted would win.
For Film Society co-president Victoria Faulkner ’25, the question of what film she thought should win best picture was difficult. “I was torn between ‘Anora’ and ‘Conclave,’” Faulkner shared in an email interview with Mount Holyoke News.
“Anora” was one of Faulkner’s favorite films. She was particularly struck by its “gut-wrenching sadness” and its “commentary on how finding yourself as someone in-between cultures is hard.” The film’s many wins, including Best Picture, was a delight to see and well-deserved, according to Faulkner. “The Academy has historically snubbed both Sean Baker and movies about sex workers, and I was really scared Anora would be subject to the same treatment,” she added.
As for Conclave, which the Film Society hosted a screening of earlier this week, Faulkner “[could] not find a flaw in [it],” and believes Ralph Fiennes should have won Best Actor for his portrayal of Cardinal Lawrence. “His role as Cardinal Lawrence is, in my opinion, the best of his career. He brings a fear, piety and fervor to the screen that is both so personal and tender but detached,” she said.
Other films nominated for Best Picture included “Emilia Pérez,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Nickel Boys,” “I’m Still Here,” “The Substance,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Wicked” and “The Brutalist.” Regarding the controversial “Emilia Pérez” nomination, Faulkner said, “The Academy frankly ought to be more ashamed that ‘Emilia Pérez’ was ever even considered — much less a recipient of — 13 nominations. As for the [two] wins, I don’t have much opinion beyond the prevailing concern that we’re awarding a movie or performances from a movie so steeped in anti-Mexican racism, so intentional in [its] linking of transgender and broadly LGBTQ+ people to predatory or criminal behavior, and frankly, so objectively poorly written.”
Despite the few controversies that surrounded the Oscars ceremony, the Film Society’s Oscars viewing party brought the College’s film-loving community together for a night of joy and celebration, and some lucky bingo players even got a plastic trophy out of it.
Quill Nishi-Leonard ’27 contributed fact-checking.