Toronto-raised director Domee Shi pumped up her fellow 鈥渘erdy鈥� artists on Sunday as she won her first-ever Oscar for the animated dumpling tale 鈥淏ao,鈥� which marks Pixar鈥檚 first short film directed by a woman.
鈥淭o all of the nerdy girls out there who hide behind their sketchbooks 鈥� don鈥檛 be afraid to tell your stories to the world,鈥� Shi said onstage in her acceptance speech at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to freak people out but you鈥檒l probably connect with them, too, and that鈥檚 an amazing feeling to have. Thank you to (executive producer) Pete Docter for believing in my weirdness and for giving me a voice at the studio.鈥�
Shi, who shares the Oscar with producer Becky Neiman-Cobb, also thanked her parents and her partner for his support and for being her 鈥渉uman stressball.鈥�
Shi wrote and directed the Pixar production, about a Chinese-Canadian woman with empty-nest syndrome who dotes on an adorable little dumpling that miraculously springs to life at the dinner table.
The eight-minute film is set in Toronto and features many of the city鈥檚 landmarks.
Shi was born in Chongqing, China and moved to Toronto with her family at age two. She used her upbringing and love of food as inspiration for 鈥淏ao,鈥� which played in theatres with 鈥滻ncredibles 2.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 an only child, so I鈥檝e always been that overprotected little dumpling for my whole life,鈥� she said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
鈥淚 just wanted to use this short to explore that relationship between an overprotective parent and a child, using this magical metaphor.鈥�
Since 鈥淏ao鈥溾�榮 release, two more women have directed animated shorts at Pixar: Rosana Sullivan with 鈥淜itbull鈥� and Kristen Lester with 鈥淧url.鈥�
鈥溾�楤ao鈥� blazed a trail, but 鈥� we are just happy to be one of many, many female directors to come,鈥� Shi told reporters backstage after her win.
Look who stopped by the Thank You Cam, presented by ! Best Animated Short winners for Bao.
鈥� The Academy (@TheAcademy)
A graduate of the animation program at Ontario鈥檚 Sheridan College, Shi beat out two other films by Canadians for the Oscar 鈥� 鈥淲eekends鈥� by Hamilton-born Trevor Jimenez and 鈥淎nimal Behaviour鈥� by Vancouver-based couple David Fine and Alison Snowden.
鈥淏ao鈥� was one of three short-film ideas she had presented to a panel of Pixar representatives as part of an open call for pitches at the studio in 2015.
Shi is now working on a feature film.
鈥淚 think one of the great things about being able to make 鈥楤ao鈥� is I got to do a lot more research and really dive into my heritage,鈥� she said backstage.
鈥淚 kind of took it for granted. Like, I took my mom making dumplings for granted when I was growing up. She would just pop them out so quickly.鈥�
Canadian sound engineer Paul Massey also won his first Oscar for his work on 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody.鈥� He won the trophy alongside Tim Cavagin and John Casali in the best sound mixing category.
Massey thanked his kids, as well as the film鈥檚 producers, sound crew and members of rock band Queen, who are the subject of the film.
鈥淎 massive shout-out to Brian May and Roger Taylor,鈥� Massey said. 鈥漈hank you so much for your music and for your collaboration and your support.鈥�
He later told reporters it was a 鈥減roject of a lifetime,鈥� noting May and Taylor allowed the team 鈥渋nto their family.鈥�
鈥淭hey told us stories about Freddie (Mercury),鈥� Massey said of the Queen frontman, who died in 1991. 鈥漈he engineers that they worked with gave us full access to their archives of music, all their live material, all their studio material.鈥�
The team 鈥渓earned so much about Freddie that鈥檚 not in the film as well and some of their personal stories,鈥� he added.
鈥淚t was just a joy to be part of that team. And actually, I think we all wished it hadn鈥檛 finished.鈥�
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It was the eighth Oscar nomination for Massey, who was born in England but early in his career lived in Toronto for 13 years before moving to Los Angeles.
His other nominations include the films 鈥淭he Martian鈥� by Ridley Scott, with whom he鈥檚 worked on several projects, 鈥�3:10 to Yuma,鈥� 鈥淲alk the Line鈥� and 鈥淟egends of the Fall.鈥�
Massey won in a category that also included Canadian sound mixer Craig Henighan for 鈥淩oma.鈥�
A few other Canadians were nominated but lost at the show, which didn鈥檛 have a host for the first time in 30 years.
Canadian set decorator Gordon Sim of St. Thomas, Ont., was nominated for 鈥淢ary Poppins Returns.鈥�
And the live action short film category had two finalists from Montreal 鈥� Jeremy Comte for 鈥淔auve鈥� and Marianne Farley for 鈥淢arguerite.鈥�
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The show also featured two Toronto-raised presenters 鈥� Mike Myers and Stephan James.
Myers, who plays a record executive in 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody,鈥� did a 鈥漌ayne鈥檚 World鈥� bit with Dana Carvey onstage as they presented the film as a best-picture nominee.
鈥淲ayne鈥檚 World鈥� features a famous scene in which the duo鈥檚 rock-worshipping characters sing 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody鈥� in their car.
鈥溾�楤ohemian Rhapsody鈥� played a large part in the success of 鈥榃ayne鈥檚 World,鈥欌�� said Myers, wearing his Order of Canada pin.
鈥淲e鈥檙e humbled to be associated with that brilliant song.鈥�
Victoria Ahearn, The Canadian Press
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