Progressive politics front and centre in Oscar nominations

LOS ANGELES – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences showered little-seen movies rooted in progressive politics with nominations for the 97th Oscars on Jan 23.

Emilia Perez, a musical exploration of transgender identity, and The Brutalist, a 3½-hour study of immigrant trauma and antisemitism, emerged as films to beat by securing nominations in most of the major categories, including best picture and best director. Emilia Perez, a Netflix entry, received 13 nominations in total, the most of any film.

The Brutalist, a low-budget movie from indie entertainment company A24 set to open in Singapore on Feb 20, received 10 nominations. One blockbuster, the musical Wicked, with its messages about the dangers of authoritarianism and the power of resistance, also did well with voters. It garnered 10 nominations, but failed to crack the important directing and screenplay categories.

While the acting races have taken clearer shape over the course of January, the best picture contest remains unusually wide open. Unlike 2024, when Oppenheimer cemented its front-runner status almost immediately and never looked back, multiple films remain in the hunt for Hollywood’s top prize this time around.

The nominees for best picture included Conclave, a Vatican thriller that explores identity politics; The Substance, a feminist manifesto in the form of a body horror flick; Nickel Boys, a historical drama set in a racist reform school in 1960s Florida; Anora, a Cinderella story about a sex worker who impulsively marries the hard-partying son of a Russian oligarch; I’m Still Here, a Brazilian drama about family life and political oppression; and the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.

The big-budget studio movies Wicked and science-fiction epic Dune: Part Two filled out the category. The academy expanded the best picture field to 10 in 2022. It previously had a sliding number with as few as five slots. The academy positioned the changes as part of an expanded focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.

Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Timothee Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) and Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) were nominated for best actor, as expected. Sebastian Stan drew the wild-card spot for his performance as an unsavoury, early-career United States president Donald Trump in The Apprentice – an independent film that nearly did not make it to theatres. (The big studios baulked, in part because Trump threatened to sue. He has called the film “garbage.”)

Demi Moore (The Substance) has been the favourite to win best actress since she delivered a poignant acceptance speech about Hollywood pigeonholing at the Golden Globes earlier in January. Academy voters waved her through to the nomination stage while also giving best actress nods to Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Mikey Madison (Anora), Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here) and Karla Sofia Gascon (Emilia Perez). Gascon became the first openly transgender actress to receive an Oscar nomination.

Left out were Angelina Jolie (Maria) and Nicole Kidman (Babygirl), both of whom were active on the Oscar campaign circuit.

Kieran Culkin, fresh off winning a Golden Globe for his performance in the dramedy A Real Pain, received a nomination for best supporting actor. Filling out the category were Yura Borisov (Anora), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown) and Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice).

For supporting actress, Oscar voters handed nominations to the favourites Zoe Saldana (Emilia Perez) and Ariana Grande (Wicked), both of whom played lead roles but decided to run as secondary candidates. Joining them were Isabella Rossellini (Conclave), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown) and Felicity Jones (The Brutalist).

A majority of the acting nominees – 13 out of 20 – are first-time academy honourees, perhaps underscoring the organisation’s effort over the past decade to make its voting ranks less dominated by older white men. The academy now has roughly 10,000 voting members, up from about 6,700 in 2017.

In the director category, the academy nominated favourites Sean Baker (Anora), Brady Corbet (The Brutalist) and Jacques Audiard (Emilia Perez). Rounding out the category were James Mangold (A Complete Unknown) and French film-maker Coralie Fargeat (The Substance). Prominent omissions included Edward Berger (Conclave) and Jon M. Chu (Wicked).

Fargeat becomes the 10th woman to be nominated in the best director category in the academy’s 97-year history. Only three have won: Jane Campion for western film The Power Of The Dog in 2022, Chloe Zhao for drama Nomadland in 2021 and Kathryn Bigelow for war movie The Hurt Locker in 2009.

The nominees for original screenplay included the favourites Anora, The Brutalist and A Real Pain. The remaining two slots went to The Substance and historical drama September 5.

Adapted screenplay nods went to Conclave, Emilia Perez, A Complete Unknown, Nickel Boys and prison drama film Sing Sing.

The nominations were announced at the academy’s Beverly Hills, California, headquarters in an early-morning ceremony hosted by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott. The ceremony will be held on March 2.

In their quest to find a host who will generate buzz but not blow up in their faces, Academy Awards organisers traded a current late-night comedian (Jimmy Kimmel) for a former one: Conan O’Brien. Since he has never hosted the Oscars before, O’Brien will presumably bring a freshness to the show, which can come off as old-fashioned at best and out-of-touch at worst. At the same time, he is a safe choice – a seasoned pro whose comedic style has been honed over decades and who has successfully hosted other award shows, including the Emmys. NYTIMES