Happy Global Movie Day! The annual holiday, established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2020, takes place on the second Saturday of February every year. This year, stars and filmmakers like Halle Berry, Cher, Jon M. Chu and more are celebrating with their favorite movie moments.
Set in the heart of Oscars season, Global Movie Day 2022 focused on paying tribute to the silver screen through the memories made at the movie theater, getting people back into theaters and ultimately affirming that the future of movies and the way we watch them are here to stay. Leading up to the holiday, the Academy identified global movie lovers, entertainment partners, artists and filmmakers to capture & create content that showcased their love and memory of movies.
In December 2021, the Academy launched a global promotion inviting movie lovers of all ages to enter for a chance to be featured in a video to be released on our social channels on Global Movie Day, asking "What is your favorite movie and why?" All of the content created by and featuring movie lovers, entertainment partners, artists and filmmakers was released on Saturday, February 12, 2022 across not only the Academy's digital and social channels but thousands of channels worldwide, which resulted in over 472M+ potential impressions.
From sharing vivid memories of their first time watching a blockbuster on the big screen to recalling how a film inspired something within themselves, these actors, producers, directors and musicians share the impact of cinema on their lives.
See stars share how movies have influenced their lives below, and celebrate how movies have inspired you! Share your thoughts with us on social media using #GlobalMovieDay.
Movies mean a lot to Oscar winner Halle Berry, who ties the power of film back to her childhood. "When I was growing up, I was raised by a single mother, and so that meant I was home alone a lot. And movies became my escape," she tells the Academy. "I got to learn about the world and about subjects that could be brought right into my living room.”
Eiza Gonzalez feels a similarly deep connection, sharing that she feels she owes movies “my life.” “It really helped me escape from bad moments to feel better,” she shares. “It was comforting but also inspired me to be confident enough that I could achieve my dream.”
"One of the most intimate relationships I have in my life is with film," Aldis Hodge reveals. "A lot of what I learned and my experience through life is through film.”
For Cher, seeing Disney’s Cinderella (1950) on the big screen will always be her favorite movie theater memory, as it influenced the course of her career. "On the way home, I sang all the songs,” she remembers in an interview with the Academy. “And that's when I knew this is what I'm going to do. I was 5 years old."
"I was 11,” Marlee Matlin says of when her favorite movie memory took place. “For my birthday party, the movie was The Sound of Music. Singing, children, everything, the entire package – it was the best birthday party ever."
Michelle Rodriguez’s favorite experience in a movie theater came later, when the technology of moviemaking had started to produce visual effects matching how she had envisioned scenes in her mind.
"I had an aha moment when I saw Spider-Man,” she explains. “The special effects match now what we imagined the comic books to look like when it would come to life."
Once we find something that speaks to us, we’ll seek it out over and over. That’s what happened with Jon M. Chu and movie musicals. “I love musicals!” he tells the Academy. “I love the language of music and movement. That will always have a very close place in my heart."
"My favorite movie genre, I would have to say, is a great psychological thriller,” Diane Warren shares.
Danny Glover, meanwhile, finds himself drawn to dramas. "I like the films that engage in the emotional trauma most. [Watching] people as they translate their lives and overcome those traumas, I'm moved by those films more,” he describes. “And ironically, I'm famous for that type of film."
And seeing how cinema has changed throughout its history can have a powerful impact. "It is really difficult for me to pick my favorite decade of cinema,” Amandla Stenberg tells the Academy. “The era that has been most influential to me is probably French New Wave… getting experimental, trying something new, understanding the power of film to make meta critiques of the world.”
Oscar-nominated actress Ariana DeBose, meanwhile, can’t help but love the movies of the ‘90s. "I'm a '90s baby. So, First Wives Club, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Primary Colors [are my favorites],” she explains.
And, while writer, producer and director Patricia Cardoso’s 2002 film Real Women Have Curves had a huge impact on the industry at the time, her favorite decade of movies is the one we’re in. “The answer is the present time, because of the increasing number of films about and by women and people of color,” she shares, “things that have never been seen before."
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