There were no South African acceptance speeches at this year’s Oscars, despite the six nominations for District 9 and Invictus. This made little difference to the 30-odd film industry fanatics who attended Film & Event Publishing’s live screening bash.

Held at The Mount Nelson, the black tie pajama function ran from 2:30am on Sunday morning, 8 March 2010, through to a bounteous breakfast as the rest of the industry were arriving at work on Monday morning.

Sponsored by The Mount Nelson, Pongracz and Superior Vision, the night was a spectacular success and has already been scheduled into the Mount Nelson’s diary for 2011.

Film producer Anant Singh was unable to attend the South African live screening as he was in Los Angeles attending the actual awards. He said afterwards that there was a positive buzz about South Africa from the local film industry at the awards ceremony, where District 9 was up for Best Picture, Adapted Screenplay and Achievement in both Editing and Visual Effects and Invictus was up for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

On the night, Anant chatted to Christoph Waltz, who won Best Supporting Actor for his role in Inglorious Basterds.  Christoph has shot a number of films in South Africa and specifically mentioned his fondness for Cape Town.

Anant also met Ben Stiller, who was very excited about having just returned from scouting South Africa for his next film.

Anant is a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and this year marks the tenth Academy Award ceremony that he attended. 

After the ceremony, he was a guest of Elton John at his annual Oscar bash, and also attended the coveted Vanity Fair Party. Those in South Africa voted with their wallets, with everyone chipping in for some informal gambling to see who could predict the most winners.

No one was too surprised when publicist Joy Sapieka, who came up with the idea for the night, took home the gambling spoils after guessing most of the winners, including The Hurt Locker and The Cove.

Some of the feedback we received:

“I was very pleased to see so many serious film people in a combination of black tie and pajamas, and I think watching Oscars live and drinking champagne with like-minded folks at the crazy early hours of Monday morning is definitely a good idea. Well done Kathryn Bigelow.  See you live at the Oscars 2011.”
Rachel Young, Razor Sharp and Ten10 Films

“Thanks so much for a really awesome event. I  really enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. I’m definitely there for next year and if you add me to your mailing list I might even come to some of the wrap parties you run.”
Glenn Gillis

“Thank you for a wonderful event that was truly a glittering occasion. I want to particularly thank you for the opportunity to see Lance (Gibbons) in heels and a tiara. It just proves that Film & Event Publishing will always go the extra mile to make others happy… Looking forward to next year’s Oscars event!”
Liezel Vermuelen, Clockwork Zoo

Thanks to sponsors The Mount Nelson, Pongracz and Superior Vision for making the night possible.

Zoopy were at the Nelly to film the night, so you can watch the highlights here or check out our pictures by friending Callsheet Newspaper on Facebook.