Yesterday, Netflix picked up four Academy Award wins — Three for Roma (Cinematography, Foreign Language Film, and Director) and one for Period. End of Sentence (Documentary Short). The former which is Written, Directed, and Produced by Alfonso Cuarón earned 10 nominations including Best Picture, but the film fell short with Green Book taking home the Best Picture award.
The film is a vivid, emotional portrait of a domestic worker’s journey set against domestic and political turmoil in 1970’s Mexico. Had Roma won the Best Picture award, it would have become the first film by a streaming service to win the awards show highest honor.
There had been some controversy with some theaters refusing to carry the movie for their annual Best Picture Showcase because Netflix would not give them a 90-day theatrical exclusivity window. While the film was released on Netflix on December 14, it expanded to 147 theaters (a fraction of most films) to gross an estimated $2.8 million at the box office in its first 6 weeks.
Netflix’s other win for Period. End of Sentence is a short documentary based in rural India, where the stigma of menstruation persists, women make low-cost sanitary pads on a new machine and stride toward financial independence.