On August 7th, 1974 a French high wire artist by the name of Philippe Petit set up a tightrope between the World Trade Center Towers in New York City. He then spent an hour walking, dancing and performing tricks in the sky. To Reach the Clouds: My High Wire Walk Between the Twin Towers was a book Petit wrote in 2002 about his experience. That book inspired a children's book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein. It was awarded a Caldecott Medal in 2004. Almost 25 years after his infamous walk, a documentary about his daring feat, Man on Wire was released. At last Sunday's Academy Awards it was won for Best Documentary Feature. Philippe Petit joined the film's director and producer onstage and had this to say:
The shortest speech in Oscar history: "Yes!" But I always the break the rule, I
break my own rules very quickly and of course this film would have not been made
without my Kathy. And also, Werner, I always carry the coin you gave me. And you
were right. We won. So now it's time to thank the Academy for believing in
magic.
