A Banner Weekend for Precious

Sapphire Lisa Cortes

Saratoga Springs, NY (March 8, 2010) - It was a glorious weekend for Precious: Based on the Novel  Push by Sapphire — a film based on a book by Yaddo writer Sapphire — as it dominated the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Friday and picked up two Oscars on Sunday.

Precious took the best picture prize at the Spirit Awards. In addition, it earned trophies for its stars, Gabourey Sidibe, who won as best actress for her screen debut as an illiterate teen fighting a life of neglect and abuse, and Mo'Nique, who received the supporting actress prize for playing the girl's troubled mother. Lee Daniels was honored for his directorial work on Precious and Geoffrey Fletcher won the award for best screenplay by a first-time writer for his adaptation of Sapphire's novel. Lisa Cortes, a Member of The Corporation of Yaddo, was executive producer for Precious.

Mo'Nique and Fletcher also took home statuettes at Sunday's 82nd Annual Academy Awards, where Precious was nominated in six categories, including best motion picture of the year. Mo'Nique won in the best supporting actress category and Fletcher for the best adapted screenplay.

Two other films with a Yaddo connection were on the list of nominees at this year's Academy Awards: Up in the Air, based on a novel by Yaddo author Walter Kirn, received six Oscar nods in five categories; and the stop motion animated film Fantastic Mr. Fox, with a screenplay co-written by Yaddo filmmaker Noah Baumbach and director Wes Anderson, was up for best animated feature film and best original musical score.