LOS ANGELES, March 20, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - Hollywood's producers named "CODA,"
a heartwarming indie drama about a deaf family, the year's best film at their
annual gala Saturday, throwing the race for next weekend's Oscars wide open.

  "CODA," which cast deaf actors in several lead roles, follows teenage Ruby
-- who can hear -- as she juggles pursuing her musical ambitions with her
family's dependence on her to communicate.

  The movie, released by Apple TV+, is now best-placed to vie with Netflix's
Western "The Power of the Dog," the presumed Academy Award frontrunner.

  "I have always been drawn to stories that are filled with humanity," said
producer Philippe Rousselet, accepting the award.

  "And in a world where we see the lack of it every day, I'll take this
tonight -- this award -- as a sign that there's still hope."

  The Producers Guild Awards, taking place with Oscars voting now under way,
have correctly predicted 11 of the past 14 winners of the best picture
Academy Award.

  "Encanto" won the PGA's best animated film, strengthening its own Oscars
bid before voting ends Tuesday.

  "Summer of Soul" -- musician Questlove's first movie, about the huge "Black
Woodstock" festival that took place in 1969 Harlem -- racked up another best
documentary win.

  The Academy Awards take place in Hollywood on March 27.

  "In music, coda means the end of a movement. But our film is the beginning
of one," said "CODA" actress Marlee Matlin.

  "It's a wonderful thing that audiences have embraced our movie and it's
wonderful to be making history," she said, before it took the night's top
prize.

  - Spielberg honors Lucas -

  Earlier in the night, Steven Spielberg praised "my brother" George Lucas as
he presented the "Star Wars" creator with the PGA's career achievement award.

  "George and I met as two of the most nerdy film junkies in California...
Across all the years we competed against each other, we propped each other
up, we cheered each other on. We made each other better," said Spielberg.

  Lucas told the audience he was most proud of his work to usher in "digital
cinema," which has largely replaced traditional celluloid reels, and has
accelerated 3D and computer effects which dominate many superhero
blockbusters today.

  But Lucas recognized that some of his peers including Spielberg, Martin
Scorsese and Christopher Nolan have still not fully joined the digital
revolution and believe that traditional film still offers a richer aesthetic.

  "There's a whole group of them -- everybody around is like 'Oh, digital,
that's not movies, that's something else!'" he said, as Spielberg laughed
off-stage.

  Lucas shared the Milestone Award with Kathleen Kennedy, his heir at
Lucasfilm, which is now owned by Disney.

  Disney was this week hit by employee protests over its initially hesitant
reaction to Florida's so-called "Don't say gay" bill.

  Kennedy said "women, artists of color, LGBTQ and differently labelled
artists and producers" had given Hollywood a "more inclusive, diverse,
richer, more sophisticated and nuanced sense of our responsibilities for
social, racial and economic justice."

  The proposed law, which would prohibit discussing LGBT topics in
classrooms, has been condemned as discriminatory by critics.

  - TV prizes -

  Saturday's PGAs, voted on by 8,000-odd producers, honored film as well as
television, with HBO's "Succession" winning the top drama prize.

  "Ted Lasso" continued its comedy awards sweep, "Mare of Easttown" took
limited series, and Peter Jackson's "The Beatles: Get Back" won the non-
fiction prize.