Ruth E. Carter is the first black woman to win two Oscars

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ruth E. Carter made history on Sunday: the “Black Panther” film costume designer became the first black woman to win two Oscars.

Carter won Best Costume Design for the Marvel movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” She won the Oscar in 2018 for the first film in the series, “Black Panther” (“Black Panther”), becoming the first African-American to win in this category.

In his acceptance speech, Carter thanked the film’s director, Ryan Coogler, and asked late ‘Black Panther’ star Chadwick Boseman to care for his mother, Mabel Carter, who he says is deceased. “last week”. Boseman died in 2020 of cancer, aged 43.

“It’s for my mother. I was 101,” Carter said. He added that “this film prepared me for this moment. Chadwick, please take care of my mother.”

Carter also paid tribute to her mother behind the scenes.

“I had a great relationship with her in her later years. The same relationship I always had with her. I was her adventure partner…I was her sidekick,” he said. “I know you’re proud of me. I know she wanted this for me as much as I wanted for her. myself.”

For their part, the cast and production team of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” had to face the duel of losing Boseman, its protagonist.

Throughout her career, Carter has collaborated with major Hollywood filmmakers. She was nominated for an Oscar for her work in Spike Lee’s ‘Malcolm X’ and Steven Spielberg’s ‘Friendship’, as well as for her period re-enactments in projects like Lee Daniels’ ‘The Butler’ and ‘Selma’. ‘Ava DuVernay. like a new version of “ROOTS”. He created costumes for Oprah Winfrey, Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy and even Jerry Seinfeld for the “Seinfeld” pilot.

Carter played an influential role as lead costume designer in making “Black Panther” a cultural phenomenon by injecting African Diaspora pride into the film’s stylish and colorful clothing to help bring the fictional nation of Wakanda to life. . He wanted to transform the presence of Queen Ramonda, played by Oscar-nominated Angela Bassett, from queen in the first film to sovereign in the sequel.

“Angela has always wanted to play a queen, so to amp it up we added vibranium…we gave her the purple color of royalty and adorned her in gold while wearing the crown at the UN,” Carter said. “When she sits on the throne, she wears a gray one-shoulder dress. The exposed shoulder shows her strength: Angela, she had those guns, didn’t she?

Carter said he managed to pick up the win against a “tough formation”. He clashed with the designers of “Elvis”, “Mrs. Harris goes to Paris”, “Everything everywhere at once” and “Babylon”.

He began his career in 1988 with Lee’s “School Daze”, the director’s second film. Since then, they have collaborated on more than 10 films, including “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever”. He also worked with Robert Townsend on “The Five Heartbeats” and with Keenen Ivory Wayans on “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka”.

“I got up on my own,” Carter said. “I started in a single parent family. I wanted to be a costume designer. I studied, I searched, I fought against adversity in an industry that sometimes was not like me. And I endured it.”

Thanks to “Malcolm X”, which was nominated for an Oscar, he reached new heights. This film, starring Denzel Washington, propelled her into the “Hollywood trellis”, giving her more opportunities to work with directors who had different viewpoints and storylines.

Carter’s wish is that her historic win on Sunday would provide more opportunities for women of color.

“I hope this opens the door for others to win an Oscar as well,” Carter said.