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March 4, 2005/Adar I 23 5765, Volume 57, No. 27
Oscar's Jewish flavor is subtle
TOM TUGEND
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jewish talent didn't make headlines at the Academy Awards on Feb. 28, but there was some consolation in the less-glamorous categories.
Tom Rosenberg briefly shared the spotlight with Clint Eastwood as one of the three producers of best picture "Million Dollar Baby," which also collected Oscars in the best director, actress and supporting actor categories.
Charlie Kaufman, the favorite, won the best original screenplay Oscar for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." After what he calls a "normal Jewish upbringing" on Long Island, Kaufman has become one of Hollywood's hottest writers, turning out scripts that tend to blur the line between fantasy and reality.
In the documentary feature category, often dominated by Holocaust-themed entries, the winner was "Born Into Brothels," a story about the children of Calcutta prostitutes. Sharing the award were director Zana Briski, whose Iraqi Jewish mother now lives in Israel, according to Jewhoo.com, and her Jewish co-producer, Ross Kauffman.
Jorge Drexler, whose parents immigrated to Uruguay from Europe, earned the best original song Oscar for "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" from "The Motorcycle Diaries."
Three Jewish veterans of the movie industry were also honored.
Octogenarian Sidney Lumet, the director of such memorable films as "Twelve Angry Men," "Network" and the Jewish-themed "The Pawnbroker" and "Bye Bye Braverman," accepted a lifetime achievement award.
Veteran film and television executive Roger Mayer received the Jean Hershholt Humanitarian Award for his work on behalf of film preservation and the motion picture retirement home.
British film veteran David Samuelson appeared via video to accept a technical award for his invention, a revolutionary camera-mounting device.
Jewish hopes for an acting statuette rode on the best supporting actress category. Among the five finalists were Natalie Portman for "Closer" and Sophie Okonedo for "Hotel Rwanda."
Portman, born in Jerusalem, is now before the cameras in the Israeli film "Free Zone" by Amos Gitai.
Okonedo, a well-known British actress, is the daughter of a Jewish mother and a Nigerian father.
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