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In the history of the Oscars, there have only been three times when winners refused to accept their awards. The Academy Awards are arguably the most prestigious awards in the movie industry, with the first ceremony taking place in 1929. Dozens of performers, directors, producers, and composers have been honored by the Academy for their work and many recognized movies have gone down in history as some of the best movies of all time.

While the Oscars are widely celebrated, the ceremony is not without its controversies. Some of the biggest Oscar controversies include movies being snubbed for awards and the wrong name being announced as the winner, most infamously at the 89th ceremony when La La Land was mistakenly announced as the Best Picture Award winner. In the 96-year history of the Academy Awards, there have only been three occasions where people have won the prestigious award but ultimately refused to accept the honor.

Sophie Heldman will direct the real-life Lgbtqi+ drama.

Charlie Murphy and Flora Nicholson will lead the cast of Miss Pirie And Miss Woods, a true story Lgbtqi+ drama from director Sophie Heldman and Winners producer Paul Welsh.

Based on historian Lilian Faderman’s book Scotch Verdict, it tells the 1810 story of a scandal when a Scottish student accused two of her teachers of having an affair. The producers expect to close finance this week in Cannes, ahead of a shoot in Scotland and Germany in autumn 2023.

Having co-written the film with Nicholson, it will be a second feature for German director Heldman,...

Projects include ‘Orange World’, the latest from ’Sunlight’ filmmaker Claire Dix.

Katie Holly’s Irish production company Blinder Films, the outfit behind Extra Ordinary, Mr Malcolm’s List, Love And Friendship and Dublin premiere Sunlight, has re-launched as Keeper Pictures, with an expanded team and a bustling slate of development projects.

Long-standing Keeper Pictures producer Yvonne Donohoe has been promoted to a newly created role, head of creative. Evan Horan, who was associate producer on Mr Malcolm’s List, has been promoted to producer. Amy Carroll has joined as development executive, previously working at South of the River and Kudos,...

Oscar-nominated actor who brought sensitivity and warmth to her most famous role in Imitation of Life

From its earliest days, Hollywood, which has always lagged behind wider social advances, limited the roles of black actors to stock, wide-eyed cowards, simpletons or servants, often referred to as "uncles" and "mammies". Juanita Moore, who has died aged 99, suffered from this limitation by having to play maids throughout most of her long career. However, Moore could have echoed what Hattie McDaniel, the first African-American actor to win an Academy Award, once said: "Why should I complain about making $700 a week playing a maid? If I didn't, I'd be making $7 a week being one."

Where McDaniel as Mammy, Scarlett O'Hara's lovable, sassy servant in Gone With the Wind (1939) was the apotheosis of the black maid, Moore's Oscar-nominated portrayal of Annie Johnson, housekeeper to the glamorous Broadway star Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) in Douglas Sirk...

Liam O'Flaherty's novel The Informer, in which an Ira man rats on a comrade for the reward money and endures a night of agonizing guilt, punishment and redemption, has been filmed thrice, and all three versions are of interest. Jules Dassin's proto-blaxploitation version, Uptight! (1968), is the least impressive, but does boast fine performances by screenwriters Jason Bernard and Ruby Dee, who take lead roles, and the always imposing Raymond St. Jacques and Roscoe Lee Browne. The climax, scored to Booker T. and the M.G.'s "Time is Tight" (a.k.a. The Blues Brothers' theme) is pretty exciting, once you get over the shock.

John Ford's 1935 The Informer is the most faithful and famed, though its reputation is not as high as it once was. At times the Rko production, with its Max Steiner score and hulking performance from Victor McLaglan, recalls King Kong (McLaglan...

Brian McFadden has dismissed claims that his relationship with Delta Goodrem is in trouble. Earlier this week, a magazine reported that the pair had been spotted having a public row at a restaurant. The rumours followed the deaths of the couple's friend Liam O'Flaherty and one of McFadden's aunts, as well as reports that the singers had been targeted by a cyber stalker. However, writing on Twitter, McFadden insisted: "For the record, (more)...

Delta Goodrem and fiancé Brian McFadden have reportedly been spotted having a public argument in a Sydney restaurant just hours after attending the funeral of Goodrem's lifelong friend Liam O'Flaherty. The pair, who recently hit headlines after consulting security experts over a cyber-stalker, were filmed at Toko having what looked like a heated fight. An onlooker told Woman's Day: "Delta was really distraught and the word (more)...