Lupita Nyong’o Tribute (2020): USA

Reviewed by Ryo Nishimura. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020.

On January 20, 2020, Lupita Nyong’o came to the Santa Barbara International Film Festival to receive the Montecito Award. On this night I was not working at the festival so I was able to sit down with a box of popcorn and enjoy the show (which I am extremely glad I did).

Lupita came with a great attitude and was ready to keep the audience engaged. Alongside Lupita at the interview was one of my favorite moderators at the film festival this year. I believe that he is able to have a “real” human conversation with the talents which I really enjoyed. The other moderators at the festival this year, I felt we’re lacking human conversation traits and spoke like everything was scripted.

In Lupita Nyong’o’s interview, she discussed her whole entire life from the start to where she is now. She vividly remembers the day when she decided that acting was her passion and that it was what she wanted to pursue as her career. I thought it was interesting how she described this moment. She said that when she was in school, her friend asked her how she will look back on her life when she is old and if there will be any regrets if she does not pursue acting. This question that was asked by her friend kept Lupita thinking and she realized that acting was truly what gave meaning to her life. Having this realization that acting was her meaning to life, Lupita decided to pursue it as a career. After graduating from Yale, the very first project that she participated in was 12 Years of Slave, which is an extraordinary start.

Lupita Nyong’o was recognized at the 2020 film festival for her role in Us, directed by Jordan Peele. I thought that this movie was a master piece and I was very excited to hear what Lupita had to say about the film. It is always interesting to hear the backstories from several talents about their projects because we get to hear about the things that are never told during the film. For example, the voice that she does in Us and how she freaked all her crew mates out with the eerie tone. Also she went into detail about the way she received the script from Jordan Peele and the day that they met to discuss the potential of the movie.

Later, when Jordan Peele came out to present the Montecito Award to Lupita Nyong’o, Jordan gave his side to the same story that Lupita had told earlier which I thought was really funny. Jordan said that when he wrote the script, he pictured Lupita playing that certain role.  He also said that when he met Lupita to discuss the script, he was extremely nervous. It is always interesting to see the human sides of famous people, as they are usually show as great masterminds.

Lupita’s great way of sharing her story and Jordan Peele’s comedic personality brought a lot of laughs and smiles into the Arlington that night.