LOS ANGELES – The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted recently to present an Oscar statuette to director Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s virtual reality installation, Carne y Arena (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible) in recognition of a visionary and powerful experience in storytelling.
“The Governors of the Academy are proud to present a special Oscar to Carne y Arena, in which Alejandro Iñárritu and his cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki have opened for us new doors of cinematic perception,” says Academy president John Bailey. “Carne y Arena, Iñárritu’s multimedia art and cinema experience, is a deeply emotional and physically immersive venture into the world of migrants crossing the desert of the American southwest in early dawn light. More than even a creative breakthrough in the still emerging form of virtual reality, it viscerally connects us to the hot-button political and social realities of the US-Mexico border.”
Carne y Arena is currently on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Fondazione Prada in Milan, and Tlatelolco Cultural Center in Mexico City. It’s a collaboration between Iñárritu, Lubezki, producer Mary Parent, Legendary Entertainment, Fondazione Prada, ILMxLAB, and Emerson Collective. Katie Calhoon executive produced the project.
In recognition of this achievement, an Oscar will be presented to Carne y Arena at the Academy’s 9th Annual Governors Awards on Saturday, November 11th, at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland Center.