Did they forget him? Did they not? – Andy Vajna and the 2019 Oscars fiasco

The 91st Academy Awards took place just last weekend. As every year, notable figures of the film industry who passed away since the last Oscars gala were commemorated. However, there was someone missing from the list, and it caused outrage among Hungarians and Hollywood superstars alike.

Andy Vajna, who passed away this January, was certainly an important figure for the Hungarian film industry, but he was well-known and loved in Hollywood as well. Unfortunately, this was not reflected at the Oscar ceremony, as he was left out of the video commemorating the great figures we lost in the past year – reports NlCafe. The video shown paid tribute to Stan Lee, Margot Kidder, Burt Reynolds, Bernardo Bertolucci, Penny Marshall and Elizabeth Sung, among others.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npp6Zbi8i6I&list=WL&index=2&t=0s

Her late husband’s absence from the video upset Tímea Vajna, who shared her pain on social media and claimed she had agreed on everything with the Academy about the inclusion of Vajna.

“It’s outrageous and sad that the Academy failed to include as great a person in the in memoriam as Andy Vajna was. We sent all the papers and talked to them on several occasions. But we won’t let this go.”

One possible explanation is that the video mostly showcases previous Oscar- nominees or -winners. Another contributing factor could be that the death of the Hungarian media mogul is quite recent.

However, it was not only Tímea Vajna who took this oversight to heart. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a good friend of Vajna’s, also spoke out about the negligence – reports Szeretlekmagyarorszag. He called leaving Vajna and a handful of other people out of the In Memoriam video the only slip-up in the otherwise practically seamless award show.

Last night was one of the best @TheAcademy Awards shows I’ve seen. Fantastic performances, smooth flow, and almost a perfect show. The only failure was leaving film icons like Andy Vajna, Carol Channing, R. Lee Emery, Dick Miller and others out of the In Memoriam tribute.

— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) February 25, 2019

Either the Academy noticed their mistake as well, or Schwarzenegger’s tweet helped draw attention to it – in any case, it seems like the mistake has now been corrected, as Vajna is on the Oscars website, in third place no less. You can see their post below:

Andy Vajna, In Memoriam Oscars 2019
Photo: facebook.com/universemangement

According to Index, Vajna is not the only Hungarian who got a mention on the website in the end. Ferenc Kósa director is in 55th place, while sound engineer Nicholas Korda, the son of Zoltán Korda, is featured in the 115th place.

Featured image: facebook.com/hessteg

https://dailynewshungary.com/oscar-2019-winner-elizabeth-chai-vasarhelyi-is-hungarian-on-his-fathers-side/

Source: nlcafe.hu, szeretlekmagyarorszag.hu, index.hu