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Air Dates: March 6-12, 2023

In the midst of a year that saw pandemic disease, social unrest, and bare-knuckled politics, Hollywood churned out a tremendous body of work—even while theaters closed, and films created for the big screen streamed directly to our homes. Pete Hammond says this year’s Academy Awards reflect the issues facing Americans.  

Hammond, chief film critic for Deadline Hollywood, is widely considered to be one of the most distinguished awards analysts for both film and television. In addition to being chief film critic at Deadline, he has also been Awards Editor and Columnist for the past eight years. In his past he has reviewed films for MovieLine, Boxoffice magazine, Backstage, Hollywood.com and Maxim, as well as frequently contributing to Variety. Outside of writing, Pete is also in his seventeenth year as host of the year-round KCET Cinema Series in Los Angeles, where he screens a selection of films prior to their theatrical release and interviews filmmakers. He is also host of UCLA extension’s Sneak Preview for the past ten years, and has hosted panels at AFI Fest, the Santa Barbara Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, CineVegas, San Francisco Film Festival, and Cannes Film Festival. He has interviewed prestigious filmmakers and stars from groups such as SAG, DGA, BAFTA, and WGA. He previously held producing positions at Entertainment Tonight, Extra, Access Hollywood, The Arsenio Hall Show, The Martin Short Show and AMC Network. He is the winner of both the 1996 and 2013 Publicists Guild of America’s Press Award, making him only the second journalist in the 50-year history of the organization to receive the award twice. He served on the Board of Governors for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for six years and is the recipient of five Emmy nominations for writing.

On this episode of “Story in the Public Square,” Hammond discusses the “remarkable” films nominated for best picture in the upcoming Academy Awards and speaks optimistically about the return of theatrical movie going in the digital age.

“Story in the Public Square” broadcasts each week on public television stations across the United States. In Rhode Island and southeastern New England, the show is broadcast on Rhode Island PBS on Sundays at 11 a.m. and is rebroadcast Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. An audio version of the program airs Saturdays at 8:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m. ET, and Sundays at 2:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. ET on SiriusXM’s popular P.O.T.U.S. (Politics of the United States), channel 124. “Story in the Public Square” is a partnership between the Pell Center and The Providence Journal. The initiative aims to study, celebrate and tell stories that matter.