The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures plunges visitors into the unique world of cinema, through original exhibitions, screenings, publications, educational programmes and exceptional collections. — Photos: Rolex
For more than half a century, Rolex has supported artistic excellence through partnerships with some of the world’s top talents as well as leading cultural institutions.
The Rolex Perpetual Arts Initiative is a broad portfolio of arts that extends through music, architecture, cinema and the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative.
These endeavours solidify the brand’s long-term commitment to celebrating excellence and contributing to perpetuating artistic heritage, creating a link between the past, present and future.
Rolex watches have graced many a wrist in the world of cinema – from cameos on legendary characters in multiple Oscar-winning masterpieces to a myriad off-screen red carpet and awards ceremony appearances.
The Oscars ceremony celebrates the production process, the technical expertise and all else that goes into the making of a film.
Today, through its support of artistic and technical excellence in filmmaking, Rolex itself has become an active participant in its own right.
In 2017, Rolex sealed its partnership with the film industry’s highest authority, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, becoming the exclusive watch of the Academy, Proud Sponsor of the Oscars and Exclusive Sponsor of the Governors Awards.
The Academy’s mission is to celebrate all aspects of the film industry, preserve its legacy for future generations, spark inspiration and connect global audiences through their passion for cinema.
Rolex encourages the preservation and transmission of the cinematic arts, promotes excellence and celebrates progress by accompanying living legends as well as young talents through its Testimonees (Martin Scorsese and James Cameron), its partnership with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the institution, the awards and the Academy Museum in Los Angeles), Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation and the Rolex Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative.
In the Oscars Greenroom, where Rolex develops an original decor each year, the use of materials – fibres, ceramic, glass – that are all sustainably sourced, gives pride of place to exceptional craftsmanship.
Cinema’s biggest night, and beyond
Telecast live in more than 200 territories worldwide, the Oscars ceremony is a unique celebration of the excellence, inspiration and technical genius from which masterpieces are made.
For the eighth consecutive year, since 2017, Rolex has been the Proud Sponsor of the Oscars ceremony, held at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
The Oscars ceremony represents infinitely more than recognition by one’s peers – it celebrates inspiration and emotion, as well as the production process, the technical expertise and all else that goes into the making of a film.
To borrow a favourite expression of Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf, it is an ode to “a work done handsomely”.
96th Oscars Greenroom
A convivial space where nominees and presenters gather before and after stepping onto the stage, the Greenroom is an immersive experience for which Rolex develops an original decor each year.
In 2024, the design of the Greenroom shines the spotlight on the vegetal world, providing a representation of a light and delicate vegetal environment, using the image of fans as inspiration.
Marking the beginning of the Oscars season, the Governors Awards honour the great names of cinema.
The concept integrates essential elements from nature – organic structures and chlorophyll – and aims to create harmony between them through a chromatic universe.
Shapes within this vegetal universe recall details such as the fluting on watch bezels and the brushed metal surfaces of watch dials, transmitting their luminous vibrations.
In this space, the use of materials – fibres, ceramic, glass – that are all sustainably sourced, gives pride of place to exceptional craftsmanship. This meticulous work, steeped in rich heritage, echoes the standards of Rolex’s watchmaking expertise.
On display in the Greenroom is the Oyster Perpetual Day-Date 40 in 18 ct Everose gold with a slate ombre dial.
The watch of great prestige has only ever been made from precious metals and is instantly recognisable, partially thanks to its emblematic President bracelet.
The Governors Awards
Rolex is also the exclusive sponsor of an event that marks the beginning of the Oscars season.
The Governors Awards honour the great names of cinema and are presented in recognition of a lifetime of remarkable achievements.
Rolex Testimonee James Cameron endlessly pushes the boundaries of human, technical and artistic achievement.
One of three Governors Awards, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, is presented to a personality within the film industry who has set an example through their support of a humanitarian cause.
This year, Michelle Satter was the recipient of this honour. The founding Senior Director of the Sundance Institute’s Artist Programs, which focuses on the cultural impact of supporting independent storytellers, joins the ranks of previous winners including Danny Glover, Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Paul Newman, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie and Geena Davis.
The academy presented Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton with Honorary Awards, which recognise a talent, an outstanding career, or an exceptional contribution to motion picture arts and sciences.
Illustrious predecessors include Charlie Chaplin, Spike Lee, Jean-Luc Godard, Lauren Bacall, Kirk Douglas, Sidney Poitier, Sophia Loren and Lalo Schifrin.
The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award has, since 1937, been periodically presented to “creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production.”
The Film Foundation is a non-profit organisation established in 1990 by Rolex Testimonee Martin Scorsese that is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of world cinema.
Previous winners include Walt Disney, Cecil B. DeMille, Alfred Hitchcock, Ingmar Bergman, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and Clint Eastwood. In 2019 Kathleen Kennedy became the first woman to receive the award, jointly with her husband, Frank Marshall.
Museum dedicated to filmmaking
Inaugurated in September 2021 in Los Angeles, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures celebrates its third anniversary this year.
The largest museum dedicated to filmmaking in the United States, it is a must-see institution for all passionate about film.
Located on Los Angeles’ Miracle Mile, the museum is immediately recognisable by its glass dome, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano who also fully renovated the 28,000 sq m building.
Inside are over 4,500 sq m of gallery space for temporary and permanent exhibitions, two film theatres, including the 1,000-seat David Geffen Theater, an educational studio along with areas for public events and ceremonies.
As a Founding Supporter of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Rolex reaffirms its commitment to spotlighting talent, fostering excellence, safeguarding legacy and ensuring that knowledge and skills are passed on to future generations.
The museum plunges visitors into the unique world of cinema, through original exhibitions, screenings, publications, educational programmes and exceptional collections. A vast selection of objects relating to film production and film technology are on display, presenting the diverse, international and complex stories of moviemakers and the works they create.
The modular exhibitions inside the Rolex Gallery are designed as singular journeys through different moments in film history.
On the museum’s third floor, the modular exhibitions inside the Rolex Gallery are designed as singular journeys through different moments in film history.
Installations in the Stories of cinema core exhibition reveal the many aspects of moviemaking, from animation techniques and special effects to the history and social impact of cinema.
The space also features an immersive multimedia installation specially created for the museum by legendary Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar.
In Inventing Worlds and Characters, visitors learn how artists and technicians develop elements that go into creating a film, from the initial idea to the final production.
Models, costumes and animation celluloids are among the many objects on display.
Presented and supported by Rolex, the Gala raises significant support for the Academy Museum’s exhibitions, screenings, and education and community programmes.
The third annual Academy Museum Gala in December 2023 honoured Meryl Streep, Michael B. Jordan, Oprah Winfrey and Sofia Coppola.
Preserving motion picture history
Rolex supports The Film Foundation, a non-profit organisation established in 1990 by Martin Scorsese dedicated to protecting and preserving motion picture history.
Aware of the need to preserve this fragile legacy, Scorsese was joined by seven prominent filmmakers: Woody Allen, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas, Sydney Pollack, Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg, while Robert Altman and Clint Eastwood also came on-board a few years later.
Working in partnership with archives institutions and studios, the foundation has helped to restore over 925 films which are made accessible to the public through programming at festivals, museums and educational institutions around the world.
Its World Cinema Project celebrates the rich diversity of world cinema and has restored 50 films from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Central America, South America and the Middle East.
In addition, The Film Foundation’s free educational curriculum, The Story of Movies, teaches young people about film language and history.
Knowledge for future generations
To ensure the perpetuity of crafts and expertise, Rolex established the Mentor and Protege Arts Initiative, a programme of artistic mentoring, in which promising young artists can benefit from the guidance and experience of great artists in their field.
Over the span of two years, with Rolex’s support, they develop a creative collaboration that often outlasts the duration of the programme.
Since 2002, nine of the 63 mentor and protege duos have been in film.
Each protege is a young talent whose work has been featured widely, including at festivals or from the Oscars’ shortlist.
The mentors are all filmmaking greats: Mira Nair, Stephen Frears, Martin Scorsese, Walter Murch, Zhang Yimou, Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro G. Inarritu, Spike Lee and Jia Zhang-Ke.
