|
 "Mank," about "Citizen Kane"
screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, got 10 nods,
including best picture, director David Fincher
and for actors Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried.
But most of its nominations were in craft fields
like sound design and make-up.
Six nods each were earned by the other best
picture contenders "The Father," Black Panther
story "Judas and the Black Messiah,"
Korean-language drama "Minari, "Nomadland," #MeToo
revenge tale "Promising Young Woman," Amazon
Studio deaf drama "Sound of Metal," and 1960s
Vietnam War courtroom drama "The Trial of the
Chicago 7."
Nine of the 20 acting nods went to non-white
performers, including firsts for a Muslim actor
(Riz Ahmed) and a South Korean (Yuh-Jung Youn of
"Minari"), in what Variety described as the most
diverse acting Oscars slate ever.
“Never in my dreams did I ever think a Korean
actress would be nominated for an Oscar, and I
can’t believe it’s me!" Youn, who plays a
mischievous granny, said in a statement.
Fellow cast member Steven Yeun and director Lee
Isaac Chung, both Korean-Americans, also got
nominations for the moving story of an immigrant
Korean family trying to start a farm in the
United States in the 1980s.
A record 76 nominations went to women, the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
said. For the first time in the 93-year history
of the Oscars, two women will compete in the
five-person best director race that has long
been a male stronghold.
They are Chinese-born director Chloe Zhao for
Searchlight Pictures' "Nomadland" about modern
van dwellers in the United States, and British
director Emerald Fennell for "Promising Young
Woman." Kathryn Bigelow is the only woman to
have won a best director Oscar.
"Sobbing," Fennell wrote on Twitter.
Vanessa Kirby, nominated for a playing a
grieving mother in "Pieces of a Woman" said she
was honored to be part of the female lineup.
"I do feel like now more than ever it is our
responsibility to find and tell stories about
the female experience that haven't been
represented on the screen," she told Reuters.
OSCAR SHOW TO BE HELD IN L.A. TRAIN STATION
As expected, Netflix Inc led all outlets with 35
nods after a year in which the coronavirus
pandemic saw movie studios delay scores of new
releases or send them to streaming platforms.
[to top of second column]
|
 The Oscars will be handed out
on April 25 in a ceremony that will take place
at both the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, and, for
the first time, at Union Station in Downtown Los
Angeles. Neither the form of the ceremony nor a
host has been announced.
"In our industry there is
nothing more traditional than the Academy
Awards, which hopefully sends a sign of hope
that we will get out of this," Oldman said in a
statement.
The late Chadwick Boseman got a first Oscar nod
for his final film, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,"
while previous winners Frances McDormand and
Viola Davis and Britons Carey Mulligan, Olivia
Colman and Anthony Hopkins were also nominated.
One notable omission from the top fields was
director Spike Lee's Vietnam war drama "Da 5
Bloods," which received only one, for original
score.
Yet several other movies featuring Black stories
were recognized including "Ma Rainey's Black
Bottom" and animated movie "Soul."
"When you look at stories concerning Black life
in America, there were a handful of films that
got added to that canon this year. ... ‘One
Night in Miami’ was a part of that, so it's very
meaningful to me,” Leslie Odom Jr., who was
nominated for playing singer Sam Cooke, told
Reuters.
The lineup reflects a drive to recruit more
women and people of color as Academy members
after the #OscarsSoWhite uproars of 2015 and
2016.
Eleven actors were first-time nominees,
including Bulgarian newcomer Maria Bakalova for
"Borat Subsequent Moviefilm," Andra Day for her
lead performance in "The United State vs. Billie
Holiday" and Lakeith Stanfield for "Judas and
the Black Messiah."
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant and Lisa Richwine;
editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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