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Three days before the 2003 ceremony, the U. S. invaded Iraq. Despite calls to delay the awards, the academy held a politically charged evening.
By Sara Bahr
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On March 23, 2003, as the rest of the world watched television photographs of captives and corpses known as U. S. soldiers, limousines with high-fashion celebrities pulled up in front of what was then known as the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.
The U. S. had invaded Iraq three days earlier and until this morning it was still imaginable that the Oscar rite would not take place.
While celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Halle Berry and Steve Martin (the host) were parked in front of steel detectors in the middle of a gigantic police presence, a few blocks away, police officers with batons clashed with protesters to approach the theater (none did).
This year, another war is making headlines as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts new Oscars. So far, almost no one has spoken at the Pioneer Awards ceremonies, but the scenario in 2003 is very different.
“It was strange to dress up and go on to this when our fellow Americans were about to get involved in something very dangerous,” director Chris Sanders recalled in a recent interview. Sanders was nominated that year for Best Animated Feature for directing and writing “Lilo”
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