As Memory’s Peter Sarsgaard stepped up to the podium after winning of the Best Actor award at the 80th Venice Film Festival, he made sure to cover all of his bases by bringing the audience to tears and encouraging human connection. He began his six-minute-long speech by remembering his time as an altar boy, and while he might not have found a connection in the church, he did find it in the arts. Sarsgaard moved on to discussing the ongoing writers and actors strike that has practically shut down Hollywood all summer long and calling out the “eight billionaires†that own the A.I. machines that are threatening jobs in Hollywood. “If we lose that battle in the strike, our industry will be the first of many to fall, including the way we treat medical patients to the way we fight in wars,†he explained. “The disconnection paves the way for atrocities… I appeal to the humanity of the members of the AMPTP to make the future for their own children hum with the hive of humanity.â€
As he closed out his speech, Sarsgaard revealed his own personal connection to the film, as his uncle “Bubba†suffered with dementia and died during the pandemic. “He was a bee keeper… this was for Bubba,†he concluded with tears in his eyes.