Professor Spike Lee Gives Electric Acceptance Speech, And Professor Donna Gigliotti Triumphs Behind the Scenes at 2019 Oscars

The 91st Academy Awards were a major accomplishment for Grad Film faculty members Spike Lee and Donna Gigliotti.

Professor Spike Lee took home the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for BlacKkKlansman, giving an electric and meaningful acceptance speech that included a shoutout to NYU Grad Film.  BlacKkKlansman, which won the Grand Prix award at Cannes last year and recently picked up the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay, was also nominated in five other Oscar categories, including two directly for Professor Lee for Best Director and Best Picture. 

Lee received an Honorary Oscar in 2016 for his brilliant body of work.  

Professor Donna Gigliotti served as the executive producer for this year's ceremony - a huge feat that she accomplished with grace under pressure and a fantastic sense of humor. You can read more about her efforts that went into the big night in this New York Times piece, and this interview in The Hollywood Reporter. Athough Gigliotti was behind the scenes this year, she is no stranger to the stage, having received an Oscar in 1999 for Shakespeare In Love, which won Best Picture that year. She has also received three other nominations for The Reader, Silver Linings Playbook and Hidden Figures.