Actors Lupita Nyong'o and Kumail Nanjiani declared their support for DREAMers across the USA at the 90th Academy Awards. Before presenting the award for Best Production Design, Nyong'o and Nanjiani, who are both immigrants, gave a shout-out to young, undocumented immigrants who are awaiting a pathway to permanent US citizenship.
Nyong’o asserted, “Like everyone in this room and everyone watching at home, we are dreamers. We grew up dreaming of one day working in the movies. Dreams are the foundation of Hollywood, and dreams are the foundation of America,” while Nanjiani proclaimed, “To all the dreamers out there, we stand with you.”
Common also stated, “We stand up for the DREAMers. We stand up for the immigrants.”
The Shape of Water director Guillermo del Toro also referenced fellow immigrant in Hollywood and said, “I am an immigrant, like Alfonso (Cuarón), Alejandro (Iñárritu), my compadres. Like Gael (García Bernal), like Salma (Hayek), and like many many of you. And in the last 25 years, I've been living in a country all of our own. The greatest thing our art does and our industry does is to erase the lines in the sand. We should continue to do that as the world tries to make them deeper.” He added, “I was a kid enamoured with movies. Growing up in Mexico, I thought this could never happen. It happens. I want to tell you everyone (who) is dreaming of a parable of using the genre of fantasy to tell the stories about the things that are real in the world today. You can do it. This is the door. Kick it open and come in.”
