Barbra Streisand accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 SAG Awards on February 24, 2024.  She accepted the honour with a wonderful, thoughtful and gracious speech about film-making and a more inclusive society.  It’s 24 hours later and I am still thinking about it!

At 4:16 in the video of her speech (at the end of this post), Ms. Streisand talks about her first film, Funny Girl (1968) and how receptive Director William Wyler and Cinematographer Harry Stradling were to her ideas. It says a lot about those two men at any time but especially then. 

At 5:28, she talks about how people go to the movies to escape their troubles and how “the people who built this industry, ironically, were also escaping their own troubles.  Men like Szmuel Gelbfisz who changed his name to Samuel Goldwyn. Lazar Meir who became Louis B Meyer, and the four Wonsal brothers who became Warner Brothers. They were all fleeing the prejudice they faced in Eastern Europe simply because of their religion. And they were dreamers too like all of us here tonight. And now I dream of a world where such prejudice is a thing of the past.”

At 6:56, She mentions a French film, Une Belle Course (2022), which is the story of an older woman who hires a driver to take her around Paris before she moves into a retirement home.  I did not enjoy this film as much as Ms. Streisand and her husband did.  It is beautifully acted by 92-year old Line Renaud and Dany Boon and it’s interesting to watch their connection evolve but … I found the flashback scenes of domestic abuse and sexual violence upsetting to watch.

If you watch Une Belle Course (2022), read this review afterwards: Joe Friar’s Review.  The critic, Mr. Friar, reveals a cinematography technique used in the film. To read his review before you see the film may spoil your viewing experience.

Unfortunately, someone else hard-coded the subtitles in this video of Ms. Streisand’s speech which means I am unable to correct the typos.

Click on the icon   in lower right hand corner to expand the video to Full Screen. Click ESC or to return to this page.