In celebration of its 75th anniversary, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present an 18-month long screening series titled “Facets of the Diamond: 75 Years of Best Picture Winners.” The series will begin on Monday, May 13, and will include the presentation of all the films to win Best Picture. With just a couple of exceptions, the screenings will be held in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater on Monday evenings at 7:30 p.m.
The series will present the Best Picture winners in chronological order starting with Best Picture Number Two, “The Broadway Melody.” “Wings,” the first film to win a Best Picture Oscar statuette, will be saved for a special screening event to take place later during the Academy’s anniversary celebration. In addition to each year’s Best Picture, most screenings will include other film material from the same year, such as short subjects, trailers and behind-the-scenes footage. The program for each screening will include an image of that evening’s Best Picture poster.
“This is going to be a fantastic opportunity for people to see high-quality prints of extraordinary films in the finest conditions possible,” said Bruce Davis, the Academy’s Executive Director. “We’ll try to make each Monday evening in our theater an enjoyable trip back to the year of that night’s film.”
The Academy’s 300-person organizational banquet took place at the Biltmore Hotel on May 11, 1927, and the first Academy Awards were presented on May 16, 1929. During the course of this screening series, the Academy will be celebrating the diamond anniversary of its founding with numerous other special events for its members and the public.
A series pass that will admit film buffs to all 75 screenings will be available for $75. Tickets for each screening in the series may be purchased on an individual basis for $5. Screening passes for the complete series and tickets for the first six films in the series – “The Broadway Melody,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Cimarron,” “Grand Hotel,” Cavalcade” and “It Happened One Night” – go on sale April 1. They may be purchased in person at the Academy during regular business hours or by mail.
The Academy is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For more information, call 310-247-3600.
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