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Updated 2 hours ago
“Fences,” the movie version of Pittsburgh native August Wilson's Pulitzer and Tony-winning 1987 play, took home at least one Oscar at Sunday night's award show, when Viola Davis won for best supporting actress.
The Pittsburgh-shot and set movie was nominated for best picture, best actor for star and director Denzel Washington, and best adapted screenplay for Wilson, who completed the movie script long before his death in 2005. The drama tells the story of a once-promising Negro League baseball player struggling to raise his sons in the 1950s.
This was Washington's fifth nomination for best actor; he won in 2002 for “Training Day.” He's also been nominated twice for supporting actor and won for 1989's “Glory.” Washington was the driving force behind getting Wilson's work to the screen. He and Davis, and several other members of the movie's cast, also starred in a Broadway revival of the play in 2010.
Davis was heavily favored to get the Oscar after winning at several contests leading up to the Academy Awards. This was Davis' third Oscar nomination, including best actress for 2012's “The Help” and best supporting actress for 2009's “Doubt.”
The movie is set in Pittsburgh's Hill District, where many of Wilson's 10-play American Century stories take place. It was filmed in 2016 in the Hill. Washington has said that “Fences” is a Pittsburgh story and needed to be filmed in Pittsburgh.
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