Angela Bassett and Mel Brooks Were the Stars at the Governors Awards, but Michelle Satter Brought the Room to Tears

It was back to business as usual at the Ray Dolby Ballroom in Hollywood, as this year’s strike-postponed Governors Awards finally unfolded January 9. With preparations for the March 10 Oscars under way with a new set of producers (and an hour earlier start time), the Governors Awards honored Mel Brooks, Angela Bassett, editor Carol Littleton, and Sundance veteran Michelle Satter while giving Oscar contenders a chance to work a room packed with AMPAS voters.

These awards used to be presented at the Oscars ceremony, but they demanded 45 minutes of screen time. Now it makes do with a montage of the Governors Awards presentation.

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The Governors Awards usually take place in November and function as a black-tie starting gun to Oscar season. It also provides the Academy with a revenue-generating event as studios buy tables and pack them with that year’s Oscar-bound talent. The delay didn’t impact that energy. The tables were packed with Oscar frontrunners including Universal’s “Oppenheimer,” Searchlight’s “Poor Things,” AppleTV’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Netflix’s “Maestro,” and Warner Bros.’ “Barbie.”

A24 hosted “The Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer and “Iron Claw” director Sean Durkin and star Zac Efron. Sony Pictures Classics’ co-presidents Tom Bernard and Michael Barker hung with the German Oscar entry “Teacher’s Lounge” star Leonie Benesch and her director Ilker Çatak. Neon had “Ferrari” director Michael Mann and star Penelope Cruz, “Anatomy of a Fall” two-time Golden Globe winner Justine Triet, auteur Ava DuVernay and star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor from “Origin,” and Japanese Oscar entry “Perfect Days” director Wim Wenders and his star, Koji Yakusho.

The night got off to rousing start as poised emcee John Mulaney reminded the appreciative audience what a smart and funny opening routine was supposed to be. He got off some shots at “Maestro,” whose auteur Bradley Cooper was in the room (“Or as it was originally titled, ‘Bye Felicia!'”) as well as Oscar honoree Angela Bassett’s role in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” (“She got an Oscar nomination for a Marvel movie. That’s like getting a Pulitzer Prize for a Reddit comment.”)

The first honorary Oscar of the night went to Mel Brooks, with his “The Producers” costars Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick lauding him and singing a few songs accompanied by Marc Shaiman. Brooks kept his speech short: ”I never should have sold it, times were tough,” he said about his first Oscar. “I’ll keep this one.”

Angela Bassett delivered heartfelt remarks about the long road to the Oscars for Black actresses, going back to Hattie McDaniel. “And to everyone in this room I say, when it comes to what we do with the decisions we make, how we embrace one another, how we should support and lift up one another, always remember that the stakes are extremely high because history depends on us. Why? Because we are the lens through which future generations will see themselves. And my prayers that we leave this industry more enriched, forward thinking and inclusive.”

Glenn Close explained how editors like Carol Littleton make movies better, like “The Big Chill.” Littleton thanked the directors who allowed her to collaborate with her cinematographer husband John Bailey over 12 films, and expressed her loss as the former AMPAS president died on November 10.

The evening ended on a poignant note as Sundance Institute lab director Satter, who helped countless numbers of filmmakers find their voices through decades of work at the Sundance labs, talked about the tragic loss of her 33-year-old son Michael Latt. The Lead with Love founder was murdered November 27. She also thanked lab grads Ryan Coogler and Chloe Zhao.

“You’re a mother to me,” said Zhao. “And you’re a mother to Ryan. And you’re a mother to so many people sitting in this room. You’re a mother to all the artists that you’ve nurtured and supported. We’re so grateful to you. We wouldn’t be here without you. We know you’re hurting. We are sorry. And we know that there’s nothing we can say that can take away the pain. So we want to say and we hope we can say this to you: we are all your children. We love you. We love you so so much. And we will stand by you always.”

There was not a dry eye in the house.

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