With the Oscar nominations announced this morning in the wake of the Golden Globes, Critics Choice, and BAFTA announcements, we had our eyes on the director category for the hope of 3+ nominations for women. Two women, Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell, were nominated this morning, and we couldn’t help but notice the obvious snub, Regina King for “One Night in Miami”. Today we celebrate the nominees, but that snub should be noted, as the film is a tour de force of acting (nominated for Best Supporting Actor Leslie Odom Jr. as Sam Cooke, Best Original Song, Best Original Screenplay), but Regina King’s direction should have been nominated.
Now for the celebration, “Nomadland”! Nominated for Best Director, Best Actress (Frances McDormand), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing (also Chloé Zhao), Best Cinematography, and Best Picture!
Also, we want to celebrate “Promising Young Woman”, nominated for Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actress (Carey Mulligan), Best Editing, and Best Picture. An original and twisted story that left people talking about the subject of sexual assault should be elevated and acknowledged as a triumph.
As we were not able to see all of the short films, we’d like to celebrate Elvira Lind’s “The Letter Room”, nominated for Best Live Action Short. The film is an empathetic tale of a corrections officer (Oscar Isaac) who is tasked with reading and relaying personal letters to the inmates. He falls for Rosita (Alia Shawkat), who writes love letters to one of the inmates on death row. When fantasy borders on reality for him, he must confront his own desires and loneliness. You can watch this short avaiable now on the Topic streaming platform.
And finally, a shout-out to Garrett Bradley for “Time”. A film that tells a personal story of a woman and her family fighting to get her husband out of jail for a period of two decades, for a crime that should have had a minimal sentence. The film is shot in gorgeous black and white and is lyrical in its poetic tone. A beautiful film that fits in the landscape of of our current times.
Also, Jasmila Žbanić’s film “Quo Vadis, Aida?” has been nominated for Best International Feature. Žbanić, a Bosnian filmmaker, is nominated for Best Director for this year’s BAFTAs. This is one to see.
