Film editor with Swiss ties wins Oscar

Pietro Scalia is the proud owner of another Oscar Keystone Archive

Pietro Scalia, who grew up in Switzerland, has collected the second Oscar of his career at the 74th Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

Scalia, who has retained Italian nationality, picked up the coveted prize for his editing of Ridley Scott’s film, “Black Hawk Down”, which is based on the true story of a failed United States mission to capture two Somalian warlords in 1993.

At a press conference after the award ceremony, Scalia said he was surprised by the judge’s choice, as he thought “Moulin Rouge and Memento” would scoop the prize.

Wrestling a grizzly

When asked about his work in “Black Hawk Down”, Scalia said it was the hardest film he had ever edited.

“We had a shorter schedule than usual,” he mused. “It was like wrestling a grizzly bear, fighting it, punching it but I wouldn’t give up. Sometimes it swipes back and you fall but I wouldn’t let it defeat me.”

Scalia is no stranger to the much-vaunted golden statuettes, having won one in 1991 for Oliver Stone’s epic “JFK”, about the life of the former US president John F. Kennedy. He was also nominated for “Gladiator” in 2000 and “Good Will Hunting” in 1997.

Scalia has lived in Los Angeles, the home of Hollywood, for more than 20 years, but he grew up in Aarau in northeastern Switzerland.

“Monster’s Ball”

It was also a successful night for Swiss director Marc Forster and his film “Monster’s Ball”. The award for best actress in a leading role went to Halle Berry for her performance in Forster’s film.

“Monster’s Ball” was also nominated for best Original Screenplay but was pipped to the post by Gosford Park.

There was, however, disappointment for Swiss director Christian Frei, who had been nominated for best Documentary feature for his film “War Photographer”. Instead the prize went to “Murder on a Sunday Morning” by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and Denis Poncet.

The Oscar for best Actor went to Denzel Washington for “Training Day” and the best picture prize went to “Beautiful Mind”, which traces the life of the Nobel Laureate John Nash, a long time sufferer of schizophrenia.

swissinfo with agencies