Los Angeles, Oct 4 (U.S.): The opening has been postponed several times, but now the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles has finally opened its doors. After the star-studded opening ceremony, visitors now tour Hollywood’s first film museum – the Palace of Excellence.
Lady Gaga showed up in an off-the-shoulder haute couture dress, Nicole Kidman in an airy floral dress, Sophia Loren in gold sequins.
The opening ceremony for the Academy of the Motion Picture at the end of September drew countless Oscar winners and stars, including Spike Lee, Tom Hanks, Cher, Warren Beatty, Halle Berry, and “Nomadland” director Chloe Chow.
dpa reported that the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles has now opened its doors, after many delays, to all visitors from September 30 onwards.
The building was an ambitious $480 million project by star Italian architect Renzo Piano. Spread over seven floors of a massive domed building, it celebrates the history, art and science of cinema.
This is a major event for this city, Oscar-winning board member Tom Hanks noted during a pre-opening press tour.
Great movies are made all over the world, but in a place like Los Angeles, this museum, created by the Oscar Academy, really should be the Parthenon of all film museums, and the actor likened this museum to one of the most famous architectural monuments in ancient Greece.
To his credit, this is Los Angeles’ first film museum – and also the largest of its kind in the United States.
At the heart of the spherical building – and what else – is a cinema of no less than 1,000 seats, above it a huge balcony, and the famous Hollywood sign can be seen in the distance.
Stars like Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, and George Lucas donated to the building, while film studios, foundations, and the wealthy also wrote checks.
Visitors are reminded of this by the Spielberg Gallery, Barbra Streisand Bridge, and Netflix Terrace.
Some columns are named after movie greats like Sophia Loren, Tony Curtis or Rita Moreno, with a donation of $1 million each. The massive entrance hall is named after legendary actor Sidney Poitier, who was the first black man to win an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 1964 for “Lilies of the Field.”
The museum covers nearly 30 thousand square meters. The 4,700-square-meter exhibition space displays parts of the Oscar Academy’s massive collection, including movie posters, scripts, props, and costumes.
The sled “Rosebud” from “Citizen Kane”, Dorothy’s red shoe from “The Wizard of Oz”, a mock shark “Jaws”, the original typewriter on which the text of Hitchcock’s thriller “Psycho” was written – the list of exhibits from classic films goes on.
In the exhibition named after Spielberg, scenes from more than 700 films from all over the world are shown on 10 screens. Many filmmakers also participate in many special exhibitions. Academy Award winner Spike Lee displays a collection of artifacts that have influenced his work. Mexican Guillermo del Toro presents his fantasy creatures.
The work of Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki is honored with a comprehensive retrospective of the legendary 80-year-old animation studio Ghibli in Tokyo, known for films like “Spirited Away.”
Of course, the Academy Awards are also part of the museum’s collection, and the history of the Academy Awards from 1929 onwards is part of the exhibition.
Controversial topics are also addressed, such as the 1940 Academy Awards, when Hattie McDaniel became the first African American to win an Academy Award with her supporting role in the southern epic “Gone with the Wind.”
But at the awards ceremony, as a black woman, she was not allowed to sit at the same table with the team, but was banished to the back of the room.
Museum visitors are given an unforgettable moment and can discover what it feels like to walk the Oscars stage at the Dolby Theater for a trophy as part of the “Oscar Experience”.
HF