During a night filled with political speeches, Bertolazzi ended his own acceptance speech by touching on the issue of immigration.
"I am Italian, I work all around the world,” he said.
“This Oscar is for all the immigrants.”
Meanwhile, Italy's other big hope of the night, Gianfranco Rosi's ‘Fuocoammare’, failed to prevail in the Best Documentary category.
Rosi’s film, exposing the Mediterranean asylum-seeker crisis, was defeated by ‘O.J.: Made in America’.
The awards ceremony was hit by a remarkable mix-up over who had taken the Best Picture award, which went to ‘Moonlight’ after it had been mistakenly announced that ‘La La Land’ had won.
With ANSA
