Viola Davis receives Rome Film Festival’s lifetime achievement award, says art is ‘God’s playground’
Article By Toni Reed // EEW Magazine // Entertainment
Viola Davis, a fantastic actress who is electric onscreen, was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Rome Film Festival Saturday evening at a special closeout event, and deservedly so.
Antonio Monda, Pierfrancesco Favino and Viola Davis attends the Lifetime Achievement Award Ceremony during the 14th Rome Film Festival on October 26, 2019 in Rome, Italy (Source: Getty)
The 54-year-old actress chatted with festival head Antonio Monda during the Close Encounter talk, discussing a broad range of topics, including how art is divine.
“Art lives in that world of imagination. It’s a playground there. It’s God’s playground,” she said. “It’s not up to anyone to say what deserves to be there and what doesn’t deserve to be there. It’s anything that you want to be in that place can live there. And that is why we have some of the greatest painters, some of the greatest actors, some of the greatest writers, and that’s why we live.”
From her role as Annalise Keating on “How to Get Away With Murder” to her Oscar-winning performance in the film adaptation of August Wilson’s Fences opposite Denzel Washington, there is no denying that Davis has earned her placed on God’s playground.
Thankfully she did, and she believes God’s gift of art and the use of her own imagination have together empowered her to rise above life’s challenges and become someone great.
“Albert Einstein said that imagination is more valuable than knowledge. If I did not have my imagination, I would still be poor Viola living in Central Falls, Rhode Island,” she said. “My imagination defined me. I could escape into a world that’s infinite, a world that I could create on my own, a world where I could redefine myself. That’s where art lives."
Even though the L’Oréal Paris ambassador has achieved far more than she ever could have imagined, there are still industry roadblocks and challenges that women continue to fight against—particularly women of color.
When Monda asked Davis if she thought the Film Academy was doing sufficient work to represent women and diversity by diversifying its body, she said, “It’s a reduction to answer the #MeToo or diversity inclusion issue by relegating it to just the Academy.”
Davis explained, “Everything is white, except for the NBA and the NFL”—a statement that drew audience applause. “Everything is white: studio heads, executives, films. How many films do we have this year with people of color being a part of the conversation?” she asked, making a salient point in question form.
“As many television shows as we have on the air, once me, Taraji P. Henson and Kerry Washington, once we leave TV, how many black women do we have even leading television shows?” she queried and added, “Critics are white, usually male. If you’re just looking at the Academy, you’re not looking far enough.”
Viola Davis attends the red carpet during the 14th Rome Film Festival on October 26, 2019 in Rome, Italy and signs autographs for excited fans. (Credit: Source: Ernst_/Getty Europe)
Clearly, the decorated actress isn’t impressed by symbolism if no real change is happening.
“Even if 93 percent of Academy members are people of color, but only one film has been made that year with people of color, then what good is it? We want to work and we want to do great films that reflect who we are. We want to have an expansiveness of storytelling,” she said.
Here’s to hoping that opportunities on God’s playground for Davis and other outstanding women of color continue to grow.
