This year, for the first time, two women were nominated for best director, Chloe Zhao, as the first director of Asian descent, and Emerald Fennel, as the first director of British descent, reminding both the Academy and everyone that in the 90-year history of the Oscars only five women were nominated for directing, and only one, Kathryn Bigelow, won the award
This year's 93rd Academy Award nominations brought a lot of surprises (and not just because of the Covid-19 pandemic), so somehow that is expected of the awards as well. This year is overfull of precedents, but at least for now it seems that it is due to the quality and the provocativeness, or more precisely, the relevance of the topics. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has always tried to respond to the prejudices and accusations of its choices, as it did last year when the complete triumph of the Korean "Parasite" came as a surprise to everyone (not that it wasn’t good, but certainly didn’t deserve that triumph), it is so this year, although we must admit that despite Covid-19 many interesting achievements have been nominated.
However, it is surprising from the very beginning that David Fincher's film "Mаnk", dedicated to screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, and written by Fincher's father, led the race with 10 nominations. If the black-and-white silent film "Artist" in 2012 brought refreshment and a very interesting return to old Hollywood, which resulted with a deserved triumph, this year with "Mank" that is definitely not the case. Indeed, the story is great, especially when it comes to the cult movie “Citizen Kane” and the 1940s wunderkind Orson Welles, who along with screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz won the Oscar in 1942 for his original screenplay for “Citizen Kane", but" Mank" despite the great director David Fincher, does not live up to expectations. However, Hollywood proves to be an inexhaustible topic, and the Academy can’t skip such film returns, regardless of the strength of the competition.
This year, it must be acknowledged, many of the films that entered the race for the best film could triumph in their own way, if not because of the quality, then certainly because of their engagement and current social issues that they are obviously dealing with in a very intriguing way. Let's start with "Judas and the Black Messiah" directed by Shaka King, a biographical drama / thriller about racism and the legendary Black Panthers, especially today when the movement "Black Lives Matter" is very relevant. But it is also a very well made film, impressive, strong, critical, with great roles. The political drama "The Trial of the Chicago 7" directed and written by Aaron Sorkin, inspired by a real event, also addresses many burning social issues.
"Nomadland", last year's winner of the Golden Lion, may not be a true story or a documentary, but it speaks incredibly accurately about real life in America today. The film of the young Chinese-American director, Chloe Zhao, won both the audience and the critics around the world, and received numerous awards, so with its incredible 350 nominations and awards it is certainly at the top, i.e. we would say that it is this year's real favorite although it received "only" six nominations. While, the role of a woman who in her 60s is forced to live a nomadic life, brought all possible praise to Frances McDormand.
Also, “Promising Young Woman”, a film by Emerald Fennel about women’s abuse, in its own way directly inspired by the “Me Too” movement, contributed for the first time this year to two women being nominated for Best Director. Chloe Zhao as the first director of Asian descent, and Emerald Fennel as the first director of British descent, reminding the Academy and everyone that in the 90-year history of the Oscars only five women were nominated for directing, and only one, Kathryn Bigelow, won the award for the film "The Hurt Locker".
But, in the race for best film are also the semi-autobiographical drama "Minari" by Lee Isaac Chung, an American of Korean descent, who tells his family story in rural America, this time telling the life of immigrants seen through their eyes, showing how immigrants experience the world around them, not the other way around. Also, there is another family drama with brilliant actors, "Father" by Florian Zeller starring Oscar winners Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman. Let’s not forget that this year, in this race there was a low-budget, independent but brilliant film, "The Sound of Metal", which tells the story of a hearing-impaired drummer, making a fierce and amazing film with the fascinating performance of Riz Ahmed, one that everyone agrees is masterful, who is also the first Muslim (British of Pakistani descent) to receive an Oscar nomination for best actor.
This selection of achievements in this year's race for the best film is really interesting. Eight films, all very different from each other, but films that open strong themes and that uncompromisingly address the current moment, except for "Mank", which is the only one whose number of nominations is in double-digits. It is unusual that six movies received six nominations equally: "Minari", "Nomadland", "The Sound of Metal", "Judas and the Black Messiah", "The Trial of the Chicago 7" and "Father", while "Promising Young Woman" received five nominations. Still, we would say that this year the race is equal more even than ever...
As we already said, in the best director category for the first time there are two women, and together with them in this category are: David Fincher, Lee Isaac Chung and one of the most prominent Danish authors, Thomas Winterberg. His film "Another Tour" won four “European Oscars" in the main categories, as well as for Mads Mickelsen’s role. Winterberg's film also received a nomination in the foreign film category.
There has been a lot of talk this year about the race for Best Actor, not only because it featured for the first time a Muslim and an actor of Asian descent, Steven Yeun for "Minari," but also because of the nomination of recently deceased Chadwick Bozeman (1976-2020), for his role in “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom”, dedicated to the mother of the blues, Gertrude Rainey. Bozeman is known to the general public for his role in "The Black Panther." In his short career he has won forty awards, proving himself as an exceptional actor, who already posthumously won the Golden Globe for this role, and if the Oscar is given to him, it will be the second time in history, after Peter Finch was posthumously awarded for “The Network” in 1976. This category is rounded off with the always great Gary Oldman, for the role of Henry Mankiewicz and Anthony Hopkins, as the father who suffers from dementia, who at the age of 83 became the oldest Oscar nominee.
This year the race is very strong when it comes to female roles. Viola Davis became the first black actress to receive a fourth Oscar nomination, after winning in 2016 for her supporting role in the film "Fences". This time Viola Davis is nominated for a leading role as the famous blues singer, Gertrude Rainey. There is also Francis McDormand, a double Oscar winner, who received her sixth Academy Award nomination with "Nomadland." Equally outstanding is British actress Carey Mulligan, who has landed a number of prominent roles so far, while "Promising Young Girl" earns her a second Oscar nomination, following the great success with Danish director Lone Scherfig's independent film "Education".
In the nomination race for the leading female role is another British actress, Vanessa Kirby, with a great role in the new film of the Hungarian director Kornel Mundruczo, "Pieces of a Woman", which has already landed her the award in Venice. Andra Day, better known as a singer than an actress, enters the race as a favorite after winning a Golden Globe in this category for her role as the legendary Billy Holiday in Lee Daniels's "USA vs. Billy Holiday."
When it comes to international feature film nominations, this year Bosnia and Herzegovina achieved great success, with Jasmila Zbanic’s film about Srebrenica "Quo Vadis, Aida", winning the second Oscar nomination (the first was for Danis Tanovic’s "No Man's Land" that got the Oscar). It is interesting that Zbanic's film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where it did not win an award, which was widely criticized by film critics. They turned out to be right. "Quo Vadis, Aida" received two nominations for the BAFTAs, for best film and best director. "For us, this is more than a film - it is a reminder that the genocide, this one in Srebrenica, as well as any other that has happened in this area in the past - must not be denied or forgotten. This film is not made to divide or oppose people, on the contrary, it is made so that we can better understand each other," said Jasmila Zbanic on the occasion of the nomination.
The category International Feature Film also includes the Danish "Another Tour", the Romanian film on health corruption, "Collectiv", the Hong Kong film "Better Days" which addresses the topic of bullying and suicide among adolescents, and the Tunisian "The Man Who Sold His Skin." The Oscars 2021 ceremony has been moved to April 25, and according to the announcements, it will be held partly in front of a smaller audience, while streamed in several locations, including the "Dolby" theater. As many as 366 films took part in the selection race, and this year, in response to last year's criticism about the "white Oscars", nine of the 20 actor nominations are for black actors and actresses. Due to the Covid-19, this was the year of the streaming services, so "Netflix" triumphed with 35 nominations, "Disney" is second with 15, and "Amazon" received 12 nominations. In the end, the question remains, will there be a host of the Oscar ceremony this year and what will it look like in these conditions...
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