Not only Matteo Garrone, who with his Io Capitano represents Italy at the night of the stars.
There is another Italian who will enter the Dolby Theater tomorrow afternoon, with the hope of going on stage to collect a statuette: Massimiliano Narciso, candidate for the animated short film War is Over.
Born in 1975, born in Milan and moved to Los Angeles eight years ago to follow his dream of working in Hollywood, in the 11-minute work written by Dave Mullis and co-written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono's son, Sean Lennon, Narciso he did his job, "the character designer, the designer who researches the anatomy of the characters, imagines how they move, how they are dressed, their expressions", he explains to ANSA.
Three years ago, Sean Ono Lennon was asked to develop a music video for the fiftieth anniversary of Happy Xmas (War Is Over), the anti-war protest song his parents created in 1971 that has become an anthem of global pacifism.
But Lennon, 48, wasn't interested in making a simple video.
“It seemed unnecessary for such a famous song,” he told the New York Times.
What intrigued him most was the possibility of expanding the song's message through a narrative film.
After about two years of work, that project became "War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko".
"We worked hard with director Dave Mullins, because we are a small group of collaborators. We closed the documentary a couple of days before submitting it to the Academy of Motion Pictures. It was all like a dream," says the Italian animator, on the phone on his way to the last pre-Oscar event, having chosen a tuxedo to wear tomorrow.
The short leaves you breathless.
The simplicity of the characters and the story make it intense and direct, "especially if we look at what is happening in the world", says Narciso.
On a front reminiscent of the First World War, two soldiers from opposing armies compete in a secret game of chess, communicating their moves to the enemy front via a carrier pigeon that flies while dodging the bombs.
At one point both armies are ordered to launch a melee attack, while the first verse of John and Yoko's song rings out: "So this is Christmas / And what have we done?".
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed in the hope that the best will happen," says Narciso, who hopes that this touching appeal for peace will resonate around the world from the Dolby stage.
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