Oscars 2018: Stars voice support for immigrants
Stars voiced their support for immigrants at the Oscars on Sunday. Kumail Nanjiani and Lupita Nyong'o pointed out that they are both immigrants -- Nanjiani is from Pakistan, and Nyong'o is from Mexico and Kenya -- as they presented the award for best production design.
The two specifically said they stand in solidarity with "Dreamers."
"Like everyone in this room and everyone watching at home, we are dreamers. We grew up dreaming of one day working in the movies. Dreams are the foundation of Hollywood, and dreams are the foundation of America," said Nyong'o.
Nanjiani, star of "The Big Sick," said, "Dreamers, we stand with you." Later in the night, during a short film about inclusion, Nanjiani said he grew up watching many films starring white men and had no problem relating to them, and he thinks white men can also do the reverse.
Later, Andra Day and Common performed "Stand Up for Something" from "Marshall" onstage, surrounded by activists like Tarana Burke, Janet Mock and Bana Alabed. Common said during the performance, "We stand up for the Dreamers. We stand up for the immigrants."
Director Guillermo del Toro talked about his experience as an immigrant as well when "The Shape of Water" won best picture, saying, "Growing up in Mexico, I thought this could never happen. It happens. I want to tell you -- everyone that is dreaming of using fantasy to tell the stories about things that are real -- in the world today, you can do it."
Earlier in the night, when del Toro won best director and became the third Mexican artist to win the prize in five years (Alejandro Inarritu won the award twice), he said, "I am an immigrant like ... many, many of you and in the last 25 years, I've been living in a country all of our own ... I think the greatest thing the industry does is erase the line in the sand. We should continue doing that, when the world tells us to make it deeper."
