Michael Sheen

Oscars 2011: A Personal Chronicle of the Oscar Season and Parties

This insider diary chronicles the 2011 Oscar season from Cannes to the ceremony, tracing how nine films—led by The Artist, The Help, and The Descendants—built campaigns, buzz, and cross-country premieres while a glamorous whirl of parties, press rooms, and red carpets shaped the race for Best Picture, Director, Actor, and Actress. It threads through the social machinery of Hollywood, spotlighting the rivalries and alliances among stars, producers, and power brokers at exclusive gatherings, where fashion, sentiment, and whispered predictions mattered as much as films themselves; it features Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, and the larger-than-life push around Meryl Streep vs. Viola Davis, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, and a canine superstar, Uggie, who became a cultural moment. The narrative crescendos with The Artist’s historic sweep—the first silent Best Picture winner since 1927—with Harvey Weinstein’s orchestration, Michel Hazanavicius’s triumph, and Uggie’s star turn, before closing on the glow and the reminder that the magic of Oscar night is unforgettable, even as life returns to reality.

Source: House Oversight Committee