This year's Oscars were held at the Hollywood & Highland Center.
Why not at the Kodak Theatre, you ask? After all, the Oscars had called it their exclusive venue since 2001.
The reason was simple: Kodak went bankrupt and could no longer afford the massive naming rights fee.
And it was a massive fee—$74 million over 20 years, with an additional $3.6 million paid annually. So for this year's ceremony, the Kodak name was dropped, and the venue was officially referred to as the Hollywood & Highland Center.
But not for long. In May 2012, the venue would welcome a new sponsor—Dolby Laboratories. The theater would be renamed the Dolby Theatre, and once again, a 20-year naming deal was signed. The Oscars, too, renewed their contract, ensuring that the awards ceremony would continue to be held there through 2033.
This year's host was Billy Crystal, stepping up for the ninth time. A multitalented actor, Crystal had also worked as a screenwriter, director, and producer, with great success. Thanks to his father's profession, he developed strong communication skills from a young age and appeared on numerous talk shows.
The ceremony opened with his signature musical medley, incorporating all ten Best Picture nominees into a single song. He also couldn't help but poke fun at Director Martin, joking that his latest film was completely unlike anything he'd done before. After all, Martin was best known for his dark gangster films, whereas Hugo was basically a fairy tale, wasn't it?
There were ten films on this year's Best Picture nominee list. Besides the obvious frontrunners like The Artist, The Descendants, War Horse, and Laila's Silence, there were several other titles Laila hadn't paid much attention to.
This was the first time the Oscars expanded the Best Picture category to include ten nominees. Reportedly, the goal was to showcase more quality films.
Getting an Oscar nomination instantly boosts a film's visibility and box office performance. Everyone knows that—otherwise, why would the Oscars still be considered such a monumental event in the film industry?
By the end of the night, these ten nominated films—and others that won in different categories—were guaranteed a surge in profits.
The first award of the night was Best Cinematography, and Silence was among the nominees. No surprise to see The Artist, Hugo, and War Horse listed alongside it, followed by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Tree of Life.
Honestly, seeing the same three names over and over again was visually exhausting.
As for The Artist, Laila found it only mediocre. Nostalgic black-and-white silent films simply weren't her thing—she preferred more advanced, progressive cinematography. Times were changing, and so was cinema. If filmmakers insisted on staying stuck in the past, how much of cinema's magic would be lost? What would there be left for audiences to look forward to?
Sure, The Artist had a somewhat interesting story. But Laila believed that using modern filmmaking techniques wouldn't have made it any less effective.
That said, if you stripped away the silent-film gimmick and the black-and-white aesthetic, would it still have the same impact?
Artistic value? Please.
At best, it was just riding the wave of nostalgia.
But hey, who's to say that's wrong? If people bought into it, it was a win. Clearly, it wasn't just the Oscars buying in—most Hollywood awards seemed to be eating it up too. That's how The Artist and Martin's Hugo ended up splitting the awards season spotlight.
"And the winner is… Hugo! Robert Richardson!"
Applause erupted as the camera panned to the veteran cinematographer. With his white hair and calm demeanor, this was already his seventh nomination—and his third win. Compared to the other nominees, he was the clear frontrunner.
Laila furrowed her brows as she thought about her own nominations.
Her two films had received twelve total nominations. But that didn't mean she could win twelve awards—some categories, like Best Director and Best Editing, overlapped.
Losing Best Cinematography left her with a sour taste, like something precious had been snatched away.
She had high hopes for Silence. Sure, six nominations might seem like a lot to outsiders, but to her, it felt like just barely enough. She believed the film deserved far more recognition. Take the cinematography, for instance—her go-to director of photography was already an Oscar winner and had delivered a stellar performance again this time. But once again, the award was taken by someone else.
Ever since Silence lost its two most important categories at the Golden Globes, she had appeared calm on the surface—but deep down, she had been simmering with frustration. She had pinned her hopes on the Oscars, expecting that a more professional and prestigious body would finally acknowledge her film. But with the very first award slipping away, her anxiety only grew.
And as if to confirm her worst fears, she then lost Best Sound Mixing, Best Production Design, and even the seemingly surefire Best Makeup & Hairstyling—which went to The Iron Lady instead.
"Don't worry, we still have a shot," Roy said softly.
He'd been watching her closely. From the moment the ceremony started, she had fallen silent, lips pressed into a tight line. He could tell she wasn't taking this well.
To him, the whole awards show felt… off. It was almost as if the Oscars were deliberately ignoring Silence, repeatedly calling out every film but hers.
"I know," Laila forced a smile.
She didn't want him to worry about her—but she couldn't muster a truly bright smile under the circumstances. Silence meant everything to her. She needed it to win. And yet… she hadn't taken home a single award so far.
"The Oscar for Best Original Screenplay goes to… Midnight in Paris!"
Laila's heart sank.
Why not Silence? How could Midnight in Paris compare? Her film had received more attention, more discussion—hadn't it?
But no one could answer that question.
As Laila sat in the audience, filled with growing anxiety, her fans were panicking in front of their TVs.
Why hadn't Laila won anything yet? Was the Oscars pulling a Golden Globes-style snub too?
Was it because she was young? Because she was a woman?
Or maybe they didn't want her sweeping too many awards and making the veteran filmmakers look bad—so they were deliberately suppressing her?
It was infuriating, wasn't it?!
And if this continued, her fans were absolutely going to find a way to protest this blatant Oscar injustice!