Green Book has won the Best Film Oscar at the 91st Academy Awards.
It faced off competition from fellow nominees BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite, Roma, A Star Is Born and Vice to win the coveted Best Picture Oscar.
Nominated for four other Academy Awards, Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor, while Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly took home Best Original Screenplay.
Check out the trailer here:
Inspired by a true story, Green Book follows Viggo Mortensen’s Tony Vallelonga and Ali’s Don Shirley as they become unlikely friends, while on a musical tour of America’s Deep South.
Although the film received critical acclaim upon release, it has also caused controversy.
Shirley’s relatives condemned the film, claiming that it misrepresented the jazz pianist’s relationship with his family.
In a letter written to Black Enterprise, Don’s only living brother, Maurice Shirley, wrote:
This movie, Green Book is NOT about MY brother, but about money, white privilege, assumption, and Tony Lip!
My brother never considered Tony to be his ‘friend’; he was an employee, his chauffeur (who resented wearing a uniform and cap). This is why context and nuance are so important. The fact that a successful, well-to-do Black artist would employ domestics that did NOT look like him, should not be lost in translation.
The movie, supposedly asserts that he said he had a brother, Maurice, but he ‘…didn’t know where he was…’
He attended most, if not all, of the important events in our children’s lives. We saw each other often and talked, by phone, on a regular basis!!
Maurice also called on people to boycott the film, adding the Shirley family were not contacted until after the film was made.
Controversy aside, congratulations to Green Book!
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