8. He Won An Oscar But Almost Didn't Make It To The Ceremony
In 1995, Peter Capaldi's short film, Franz Kafka's It's A Wonderful Life, was nominated for an Oscar. He both wrote and directed the film that starred Richard E. Grant (who, coincidentally, has done his own time with Doctor Who in the animated Scream of the Shalka and as the personified Great Intelligence) and Capaldi's wife, Elaine Collins. The film is an absurd mash-up of both Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life and Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, wherein Kafka is trying to find inspiration to write something new but he keeps getting distracted. In 1994, the film also won a BAFTA and the Academy Award itself was one of those rare instances of a tie - the short film Trevor also won that year. During the aforementioned interview with Richard Strange, Capaldi said that he almost didn't make it to the ceremony, due to lack of cash. I got some money from the Scottish Film Fund - they'd put it in for the Oscars - I didn't know anything about it, he said. But we had no money. We then had to start begging and borrowing and asking people, trying to get sponsorship, and eventually we put enough money together to go to the Oscars.
Sara Habein
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Sara Habein is the author of INFINITE DISPOSABLE. She is a staff writer for Persephone Magazine, and the editor of the Word Riot blog. Her Doctor is number Eight, but the Twelfth is right behind.
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