Jerry Seinfeld, Davis Guggenheim

& Al Gore

Oscar Award Presentation For Best Documentary Feature

delivered 25 February 2007, Hollywood, CA

[AUTHENTICITY CERTIFIED: Text version below transcribed directly from audio]

Seinfeld: Thank you. Thank you.

A few years ago, I was the subject of a documentary called Comedian, which won nothing and made even less. But, it was good. It was so good that, as a direct result, I have been asked to be here tonight to present the award for outstanding documentary feature. And I love documentaries. I find them to have a very real quality.

And I know all the nominees are excited, because when you are nominated, you are being told, "We think you might be the best. Might. We won't know definitely until we get you all dressed up in a room together with all the other people, and on TV. Because if by some chance it should turn out that you are not the best, we all want to see the look on your face when you get the news."

I am a huge fan of movies in general. I go all the time. I've noticed in theaters now they're running some announcement trying to get you to pick up the garbage from around your seat. Oh, okay. Let me bring my orange jumpsuit and a wooden stick with a nail in it, too. Maybe I'll work my way down the highway after the credits roll.

I'm not pickin' nothin' up! I'm the one that threw it down. How many different jobs do I have to do here? There is an agreed-upon deal between us and the movie theater people. It is understood by every single person in this room. The deal is: You rip us off on overpriced, oversized crap that we shouldn't be eating to begin with. In exchange for that, when I'm done with something I open my hand [opens hand, letting the cup fall]. I'm not stickin' my hand down into a dark hole and tryin' to pry out three Goobers that have been soda-welded there since The Shawshank Redemption -- which is not a nominee this evening, but these five incredibly depressing movies are:

"Deliver Us From Evil"" -- Amy Berg and Frank Donner

"An Inconvenient Truth" -- Davis Guggenheim

"Iraq In Fragments" - James Longley and John Sinno

"Jesus Camp" -- Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

"My Country, My Country" -- Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer

And the Oscar goes to: "An Inconvenient Truth" -- Davis Guggenheim.

Announcer Guy: Davis Guggenheim and the cast were scheduled to shoot in New Orleans the night before Hurricane Katrina hit, an event that brought home the threat and the impact of global warming.

Guggenheim: Wow. I made this movie for my children, and my father taught me to make great movies. My beautiful wife [points to her in audience]. All of us who made this film, Laurie, Lawrence, Scott and Lesley. We did so because we were moved to act by this man [gestures to Al Gore]. Jeff Skoll funded it. John Lesher released it so beautifully, but all of us were inspired by his fight for 30 years to tell this Truth to all of us. Thank you, Al. We are so inspired. We share this with you.

Al Gore: Thank you. I want to thank Tipper and my family, thank the Academy and everyone on this amazing team. My fellow Americans, people all over the world, we need to solve the climate crisis. It's not a political issue, it's a moral issue. We have everything we need to get started, with the possible exception of the will to act, that's a renewable resource. Let's renew it.

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