Just 2 weeks after winning 3 statuettes at the Golden Globes, “Green Book” won recognition on Saturday for the best film in the Producers’ Union Awards (PGA), which triggers their chances for the gala of the Oscars of the next month.
The comedy-drama about civil rights, starring Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen, beat “Rome”, “Star Is Born”, “The Favorite”, “Black Panther”, “BlacKkKlansman “, “Crazy Rich Asians”, “A Quiet Place”, “Vice”, and “Bohemian Rhapsody”, winner of the main prize in the Golden Globes.
“Green Book” tells the unlikely friendship between Don Shirley, a piano virtuoso, and his driver, Tony Lip, during a concert tour through the southern United States in the 1960s, years of strong racial segregation.
“I do not need awards”, said producer and director Peter Farrelly, according to Variety magazine. “This is like Warren Buffett winning the lottery. I am very grateful”.
The victory came despite the recent controversy surrounding the film, including an anti-Muslim tweet written by screenwriter Nick Vallelonga (the late Tony Lip’s son) in 2015, which he apologized for it last week. The same Farrelly was under the spotlight earlier this month, due to information from various media that related his habit of showing his genitals as a joke during 1998.
Among other outstanding categories, the best-animated film was “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”, “The Americans” won the best television drama, and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” won the comedy series award.
The PGA does not have the importance of the Golden Globes, but they are a more precise reference to know where the Oscars will go, whose ceremony is scheduled for February 24th.
In 29 years, 20 times coincided the winners in the main categories of the 2 contests, as was the case of the film “The Shape of Water” last year, but not in 2017, when the best film of the PGA was for “La La Land”, while “Moonlight” won the Oscar.
