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Year: 1999 (72nd) Academy Awards

Category: Honorary Award

Winner: To Andrzej Wajda in recognition of five decades of extraordinary film direction.

Presenter: Jane Fonda

Date & Venue: March 26, 2000; Shrine Auditorium & Expo Center

ANDRZEJ WAJDA:
Ladies and gentlemen, I will speak in Polish because I want to say what I think and feel, and I have always thought and felt in Polish. I accept this great honor not as a personal tribute, but as a tribute to all of Polish cinema. The subject of many of our films was the war, the atrocities of Nazism and the tragedies brought by communism. This is why today I thank the American friends of Poland and my compatriots for helping my country rejoin the family of democratic nations, rejoin the Western civilizations, its institutions and security structures. My fervent hope is that the only flames people will encounter will be the great passions of the heart -- love, gratitude and solidarity.

[Ed. note: Mr. Wajda made his acceptance speech in Polish. The above translation was displayed on screen as subtitles.]

© Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
[Note: All winners are present except where noted; NOT all winners may have spoken.]

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