Patel, who produced the film with director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein, also acknowledged fellow South Asian Riz Ahmed’s win in his backstage Q and A session with journalists
“Summer of Soul” producer Joseph Patel, an Indian-American, said he had become the 10th South Asian to ever win an Academy award after the film bagged the Oscar in the best documentary feature category.
Patel, who produced the film with director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein, also acknowledged fellow South Asian Riz Ahmed’s win in his backstage Q and A session with journalists.
Ahmed and director Aneil Karia won the live-action short Oscar for their film “The Long Goodbye”.
“I’m in a room full of journalists so I have to say this because I would be remiss not to. Riz Ahmed earlier tonight became the ninth South Asian to ever win an Academy Award. I became the 10th. Tonight, two South Asians won an Academy Award. Also this will please my mother I’m the first Patel ever to win an Oscar. So, I am very proud of that,” Patel said during the backstage interview post his win on Sunday night.
Roots frontman Thompson, best known by his stage name Questlove, arranged the never-seen-before archival footage of the Harlem Cultural Festival, celebrating African American music and culture, and promoting Black pride and unity, attended by 300,000 people in the summer of 1969.
“Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” was nominated alongside India’s “Writing with Fire”, “Ascension”, “Flee” and “Attica”.
Sadly, the documentary’s moment of glory was eclipsed. In a moment that shocked everyone, actor Will Smith slapped comedian Chris Rock for cracking a joke about wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
In his acceptance speech on the stage, Thompson said the win for the movie was about “the marginalised people in Harlem that needed to heal from pain”.
********************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com