After the absolute dumpster fire of a year that was 2020 (looking at you, Rona!), awards season is back and I couldn’t be more excited!
It’s one of my favourite times of the year – I have been known to take the day off from uni/work (whatever the case has been) to watch the Oscars because I am low-key #obsessed with the glitz and the glam.
This is why the recent release of the nominations for the 93rd Oscars – which have been delayed this year and will now be held on 25 April 2021 rather than in February as per other years – has got me all excited!
I’m also excited (so much excitement going on!) because some cool things have happened this time around with the nominations, namely the fact that 70 women received a total of 76 nominations this year, which is a record for a given year! And that two women have been nominated for one of the ultimate gongs – best director.
It’s the first time in Oscars history that more than one woman has been nominated in the best director category.
And that, my friends, is already a win.
To date, only five other women have been nominated for this award (read below) – an award that has been dominated by male counterparts for years!
The nominations for the 93rd Oscars were announced on 15 March 2021, by actor-producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas and singer, songwriter and actor Nick Jonas.
They made the announcements live from London, via a global stream on Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the Academy’s digital platforms, an international satellite feed and broadcast media.
According to a statement released by the Academy, there are a few key standouts as far as the nominations go this year and these include the following:
- Chloé Zhao is the first woman to receive four nominations in a single year. She has been nominated for achievement in directing, achievement in film editing, best motion picture of the year and adapted screenplay.
- Emerald Fennell becomes the third woman with three nominations in a single year, joining Sofia Coppola and Fran Walsh, who both accomplished that feat in 2003. She has been nominated for achievement in directing, best motion picture of the year and original screenplay.
- Emerald Fennell and Chloé Zhao become the sixth and seventh women to be nominated in the directing category – it is the first time more than one woman has been nominated for directing in the same year. Ms Fennell is the first woman to be nominated for her feature film directing debut. Ms Zhao is the first woman of colour to be nominated for directing. Previous women nominated for directing are Lina Wertmüller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Kathryn Bigelow, the only winner, and Greta Gerwig.
- Frances McDormand becomes the third woman (after Barbra Streisand and Oprah Winfrey) and the 20th person to have both an acting and a Best Picture nomination, not necessarily for the same film.
- Chadwick Boseman, who passed away on 28 August 2020, is the seventh performer to receive a posthumous nomination. The others were James Dean (Actor, East of Eden, 1955, and Actor, Giant, 1956); Spencer Tracy (Actor, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, 1967); Peter Finch, the first posthumous acting winner (Actor in a Leading Role, Network, 1976); Ralph Richardson (Actor in a Supporting Role, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, 1984); Massimo Troisi (Actor in a Leading Role, The Postman (Il Postino), 1995) and Heath Ledger, who was also a winner (Actor in a Supporting Role, The Dark Knight, 2008).
And the nominees are …
Some of the highlights include the following:
Performance by an actor in a leading role
- Riz Ahmed in “Sound of Metal”
- Chadwick Boseman in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
- Anthony Hopkins in “The Father”
- Gary Oldman in “Mank”
- Steven Yeun in “Minari”
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
- Sacha Baron Cohen in “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
- Daniel Kaluuya in “Judas and the Black Messiah”
- Leslie Odom, Jr. in “One Night in Miami…”
- Paul Raci in “Sound of Metal”
- Lakeith Stanfield in “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Performance by an actress in a leading role
- Viola Davis in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
- Andra Day in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
- Vanessa Kirby in “Pieces of a Woman”
- Frances McDormand in “Nomadland”
- Carey Mulligan in “Promising Young Woman”
- Maria Bakalova in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
- Glenn Close in “Hillbilly Elegy”
- Olivia Colman in “The Father”
- Amanda Seyfried in “Mank”
- Yuh-Jung Youn in “Minari”
Achievement in directing
- “Another Round” Thomas Vinterberg
- “Mank” David Fincher
- “Minari” Lee Isaac Chung
- “Nomadland” Chloé Zhao
- “Promising Young Woman” Emerald Fennell
Best motion picture of the year
- “The Father” David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers
- “Judas and the Black Messiah” Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers
- “Mank” Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
- “Minari” Christina Oh, Producer
- “Nomadland” Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers
- “Promising Young Woman” Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers
- “Sound of Metal” Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers
- “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers
For the full list of nominations, visit: oscars.org/news/93rd-oscarsr-nominations-announced.
While I’m yet to see Promising Young Woman, I’ve heard nothing but good things, so I cannot wait for that viewing pleasure. And, of course, I cannot wait for 25 April 2021.
x G.
oh my gosia 