March 2009
British actors and movies were unusually successful at this year's Oscars. Click below to listen to the story:
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The cast and crew of British movies will no longer be hailed as the underdogs at awards ceremonies. At the recent 81st Oscars ceremony, British actors and movies won no less than 11 awards.
The list of Oscar winners is usually dominated by American films and actors but 2009 has seen a more international flavour to the ceremony. British actors and actresses have long awaited such global recognition. Kate Winslet was nominated six times for an Oscar before she eventually won the Best Actress award at this year's ceremony.
Slumdog Millionaire lived up to its status as a global success and movie phenomenon. The low-budget movie swept the board winning eight Oscars, including Best Director and Best Picture. The movie, which documents the life of a young Indian boy after he wins a TV game show, has definitely helped to raise the profile of the British film industry.
Summarising the national feeling, British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, issued a statement saying "Britain is showing it has the talent to lead the world".
A spokesman for the UK Film Council agreed with Mr Brown's comments but added that many of this year's movie winners have benefited from national funding. "With our lottery funding for Man on Wire and The Duchess, and Film4's support for Slumdog Millionaire, last night proved that government support for film can deliver success on a global scale", he said.
Addressing the growing fervour for British film, Slumdog director Danny Boyle has urged people to remain calm and to be realistic after his remarkable Oscar success. "You've got to be careful of claiming that this marks the renaissance of the British film industry. It is one film", he said.
Glossary:
- cast and crew
- actors and people who have been involved in the filming
- hailed as
- called
- underdogs
- here, someone who is not expected to win a contest
- dominated
- here, it means that it's American films and actors who usually win most of the Oscars
- international flavour
- if an event has an international flavour, it means people from many countries take part in it
- global recognition
- becoming popular/well-known around the world
- lived up to
- hasn't failed, proved
- swept the board
- had a lot of success (by winning in several categories)
- raise the profile
- improve the reputation; make (the British film industry) known more widely
- benefited from
- took advantage of, enjoyed
- lottery funding
- money raised by selling National Lottery tickets to the British public and spent on various causes (here, on financing film production)
- on a global scale
- around the world
- fervour
- extreme passion, great enthusiasm
- urged
- strongly advised, encouraged
- to be realistic
- to take, or accept things as they are, rather than have unlikely hopes for the future
- renaissance
- a revival/rebirth, a new interest in something
