Speaker A
thank you, thank you so much. Thank you.
Angelina Jolie accepts the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2013 Governors Awards, honoring her mother and her humanitarian work with refugees.
Key Takeaways
- Humanitarian commitment grows from recognizing one's own privilege and listening to people affected by conflict.
- Jolie credits her mother's encouragement and values as the foundation of her career and sense of purpose.
- Opportunity is largely a matter of luck, which creates a responsibility to help others.
- Refugee women often have the same talents as those with privilege but lack the platform to be heard.
What the video covers
- Angelina Jolie thanks the Academy for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the 2013 Governors Awards.
- She acknowledges friends, the cast of Blood and Honey, and her family, especially her children.
- Jolie describes her mother's love of art and film and her support for her children's artistic ambitions.
- Her mother drove her to auditions and celebrated every job and rejection with the same warmth.
- Jolie recounts that her mother valued living a life of service to others above all.
- Early in her career Jolie was preoccupied with her own pain and experiences.
- Traveling beyond her home and meeting survivors of war, famine, and rape changed her sense of responsibility to others.
- She realized how sheltered and fortunate her own life had been, and resolved never to take that for granted.
- Jolie reflects on the arbitrary luck that gave her opportunities many women around the world never have.
- She closes by describing a refugee mother with equal talent who has no voice and worries about her children's safety and future.
Chapters
- 00:00Opening and gratitude
- 01:09Thanks to the Academy, friends, and cast
- 01:43Tribute to family and children
- 02:18Remembering her mother's influence on art
- 02:53Her mother's encouragement and lessons on service
- 03:33Learning responsibility through travel and survivors' stories
- 04:17Reflection on luck and the plight of refugee women
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
airini cast of Blood and Honey and most of all to my family my love your support and your guidance make everything that I do possible mad I'm not going to cry I promise I won't embarrass you you and your brothers and sisters
Speaker A
Um, it's quite overwhelming. Thank you to the members of the Academy for this honor. My dear friends who are here tonight, Jenna and George, for your kind words. To my hero, Louis Irini, cast of Blood and Honey, and most of all to my family. My love, your support and your guidance make everything that I do possible.
Speaker A
but whenever it had meaning she made a point of telling me that is what film is for and she never had a career as an artist she never had the opportunity to express herself Beyond her theater class but she wanted more than for herself she
Speaker A
Mad, I'm not going to cry. I promise I won't embarrass you. You and your brothers and sisters are my happiness, and there is no greater honor in this world than being your mom.
Speaker A
all the times I didn't get the job and when I did we would jump up and down and scream and yell like little girls she wasn't really the best critic since she never had anything unkind to say but she did give me love and
Speaker A
I'm very humbled to be here tonight among so many extraordinary artists. My mother loved art. She loved film. She supported any crazy thing I did, but whenever it had meaning, she made a point of telling me that is what film is for. She never had a career as an artist. She never had the opportunity to express herself beyond her theater class, but she wanted more than that for herself. She wanted for Jamie and me to know what it is to have a life as artists, and she gave us that chance. She drove me to every audition, and she would wait in the car for hours. She always made me feel really good all the times I didn't get the job, and when I did, we would jump up and down and scream and yell like little girls.
Speaker A
experiences my own pain and it was only when I began to travel and look and live beyond my home that I understand my responsibility to others and when I met survivors of war and famine and rape I learned what life
Speaker A
She wasn't really the best critic, since she never had anything unkind to say, but she did give me love and confidence. And above all, she was very clear that nothing would mean anything if I didn't live a life of use to others.
Speaker A
how sheltered I had been and I was determined never to be that way again we are all everyone in this room so fortunate I have never understood why some people are lucky enough to be born with the chance that I had to have this path
Speaker A
I didn't know what that meant for a long time. I came into this business young and worried about my own experiences, my own pain. It was only when I began to travel and look and live beyond my home that I understood my responsibility to others. When I met survivors of war and famine and rape, I learned what life is like for most people in this world, and how fortunate I was to have food to eat, a roof over my head, a safe place to live, and the joy of having my family safe and healthy. I realized how sheltered I had been, and I was determined never to be that way again.
Speaker A
camp and she has no voice she worked wores about what her children will eat how to keep them safe and if they'll ever be allowed to return home I don't know why this is my life and that's hers I I don't understand that but I
Speaker A
We are all, everyone in this room, so fortunate. I have never understood why some people are lucky enough to be born with the chance that I had to have this path in life, and why, across the world, there's a woman just like me with the same abilities and the same desires, same work ethic and love for her family, who would most likely make better films and better speeches. Only she sits in a refugee camp and has no voice. She worries about what her children will eat, how to keep them safe, and if they'll ever be allowed to return home.
Speaker A
proud so thank you for that
Topics:Angelina JolieJean Hersholt Humanitarian AwardGovernors AwardsAcademy Awardshumanitarianrefugeesacceptance speechOscars 2013philanthropyUNHCR
