“Pieces of a Woman” premiered at the Venice Film Festival last September, earning high praise from critics and, in particular, the film’s star Vanessa Kirby. Kirby was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actress in Venice and Oscar buzz for the actor has continued to spread since Netflix released the film to a wide audience on January 7. Watch highlights of Kirby’s performance in an exclusive new featurette from Netflix above.
“‘Pieces of a Woman’ is an odyssey of grief,” Kirby explains in the three-minute reel. “It’s a very powerful exploration of one woman’s journey, but one that I think is incredibly universal.” Executive producer Martin Scorsese, director Kornél Mundruczó, screenwriter Kata Wéber and actress Ellen Burstyn also discuss their journey with the Netflix original film and witnessing what they describe as Kirby’s “stunning” and “brilliant” performance. “I feel mother’s pride,” says Burstyn when asked about working alongside Kirby.
“It’s a performance piece,” Mundruczó says of Kirby in the film. “From a director perspective, you have to give the space for it. To work with someone with such a strong gift, she’s such a strong artist. You felt it.” In “Pieces of a Woman,” Kirby plays Martha, a woman who experiences a heartbreaking home birth which leaves her grappling with the profound emotional fallout and the devastating effects on her family. “The whole experience has totally changed me,” Kirby says in closing.
Kirby currently ranks third in our overall odds for Best Actress bids at the Oscars, Golden Globes and SAG Awards. As of this writing, the English actress has five experts in her corner predicting that she will reign supreme at this year’s Academy Awards: Thelma Adams (Gold Derby), Michael Musto (Queerty), Brian Truitt (USA Today), Jazz Tangcay (Variety) and Andrea Mandell (USA Today). Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”), Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”) and Andra Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”) round out the top five Oscar contenders to date.
Should Kirby prevail she would become the third Volpi Cup winner to continue her momentum through the Oscars in the last five years. Both Emma Stone (“La La Land”) and Olivia Colman (‘The Favourite”) kicked off very successful awards runs with wins at the Venice Film Festival. Will Kirby follow in their footsteps and win Best Actress for “Pieces of a Woman”?
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