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LOS ANGELES (JTA) \u2014 A Hungarian Holocaust drama, a documentary about a sultry Jewish rock star who died too young and a film about an investigation of church sex abuse led by a Jewish newspaper editor won Academy Awards.<\/p>\n
\u201cSon of Saul,\u201d the Hungarian Holocaust drama from first-time feature director Laszlo Nemes, won the Oscar on Sunday night for best foreign language film.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven in the darkest hours of mankind, there might be a voice within us that allows us to remain human. That\u2019s the hope of this film,\u201d Nemes said in accepting the award at the annual Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cSon of Saul,\u201d which was partly financed by the Claims Conference, is the second consecutive Holocaust film to win in the foreign film category. In 2015, \u201cIda,\u201d about a young soon-to-be nun who learns her parents were Jews killed during World War II, won for Poland.<\/p>\n
Set in Auschwitz in 1944, \u201cSon of Saul\u201d tells the story of Saul Auslander, a Jewish inmate forced to escort his fellow prisoners to the gas chambers and help to dispose of their remains. The title role is played by Geza Rohrig, a Hungarian poet and observant Jew who now lives in New York.<\/p>\n
Other Jewish-themed winners included the documentary feature \u201cAmy,\u201d a British film about singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, described by her brother as \u201ca little Jewish kid from North London with a big talent.\u201d Her meteoric career and tortured life were cut short at 27 through drug abuse and alcohol poisoning.<\/p>\n
Michael Sugar won the Oscar for best picture as co-producer of \u201cSpotlight,\u201d the story of the Boston Globe investigative team led by Jewish editor Marty Baron that exposed sex scandals in the Catholic Church. Baron\u2019s status as the \u201coutsider\u201d of the Globe\u2019s investigation, marked by everything from his quiet demeanor to his non-Christian background, is an underlying theme of the film.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis film gives a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies the voice which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican,\u201d Sugar said in accepting the prize. \u201cPope Francis, it\u2019s time to protect the children and restore the faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other Jewish winners included Josh Singer (with Tom McCarthy) for best original screenplay for \u201cSpotlight,\u201d and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki for \u201cThe Revenant.\u201d Lubezki won the prize for the third year in a row. American-Israeli Arnon Milchan was the film\u2019s co-producer.<\/p>\n
Veteran Academy Award observers noted the absence of the old-time Jewish jokes at the ceremony, as when emcee Bob Hope once lamented that in his house the Oscar award ceremony was known as \u201cPassover.\u201d It was left to brash comedienne Sarah Silverman, one of the award presenters, to uphold the tradition by squeezing the word \u201cmishegas\u201d into her few sentences and referring to James Bond’s supposed preference for women with \u201cheavy Jewish boobs.\u201d<\/p>\n