OSCAR LOVE: Films with local connections score big at Academy Awards

The Miami Valley was going to score a win either way in the confusing and convoluted ending to last night's Academy Awards presentation that saw "La La Land" initially (and mistakenly) announced as "Best Picture," only to see the Oscar snatched away and awarded to "Moonlight."

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The snafu may have been disappointing for Springfield’s favorite son John Legend, who played a supporting role in “La La Land” and served as one of its four executive producers. But it came as welcome news to Hanna Beachler, Centerville graduate and product of Wright State University’s film and production design program, who served as production designer on “Moonlight.”

PHOTOS: 2017 Oscars

Variety magazine called Beachler “Hollywood’s production designer of the moment” in its Nov. 29, 2016 edition. And she also was the production designer on Beyoncé’s critically acclaimed HBO special “Lemonade” and for the 2016 Academy Award-nominated film “Creed.”

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“Moonlight” — a coming-of-age story of a young, gay, black man — also won Oscars for best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor.

Legend and the rest of the “La La Land” cast and team had plenty to soothe their disappointment at the “Best Picture” debacle. Collectively, they won six statuettes, including “Best Director” for Damien Chazelle and “Best Actress” for Emma Stone’s performance. The film tied for the record number of nominations with 14.

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Another film with a Dayton connection — “Hidden Figures,” about three African American mathematicians whose work helped NASA send John Glenn into space — also scored nominations in multiple categories, including Best picture and Best Supporting Actress for Octavia Spencer. It left last night’s awards presenation empty-handed, but can take consolation in its strong box-office numbers.

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Spencer played Dorothy Vaughan — a 1929 graduate of Wilberforce University, the nation’s oldest private, historically black university, located east of Xenia in Greene County — in the film.

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And the film “Jackie,” nominated for three awards, also had a Dayton-area connection of sorts. A fictional version of the BOEING VC-137C SAM 26000 on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is the setting for a key scene in the movie that stars Natalie Portman.

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Built in 1962, the plane known as “SAM 26000” flew John F. Kennedy to Berlin in 1963. Months later, it flew the assassinated president’s body from Dallas to Washington. Johnson was sworn in as president during that tragic flight.

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