New Delhi: The 94th edition of Oscar nominations presented a diverse collection of nominees, with many barrier-breaking nods among them.
Starting with the Indian documentary, Writing With Fire, which was nominated in the Best Documentary Feature category, chronicles the rise of Khabar Lahariya, India’s only newspaper run by women from marginalised communities.
Other nominees in the category are: Ascension, Attica, Flee, and Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).
The nominations were announced by Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan on Tuesday evening via the Twitter page of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The filmmakers of Writing With Fire, Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh, both debutantes, jumped around joyfully, hugging each other and whooping with excitement when the announcement was made last evening.
“We are beyond delighted. This is a massive moment for us and for Indian cinema… This film is about fearless Dalit women journalists who are redefining what being powerful means, quintessentially the story of the modern Indian woman,” co-director Ghosh told PTI.
Later, Thomas took to Twitter to share her excitement about the film earning a nod at the 2022 Oscars.
“Oh My God!!!! Writing With Fire just got nominated for @TheAcademy Award. Oh My God!!!!!!!! #OscarNoms #WritingWithFire,” she captioned the video of her celebrating with Ghosh and their family as the nominations in the category were announced.
Oh My God!!!! Writing With Fire just got nominated for @TheAcademy Award. Oh My God!!!!!!!! #OscarNoms #WritingWithFire pic.twitter.com/X9TlcCF2Xd
— Rintu Thomas (@RintuThomas11) February 8, 2022
Breaking barriers
Troy Kotsur, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in CODA, becomes the first deaf man to earn an acting nomination and second deaf acting nominee after co-star Marlee Matlin. Matlin became the first deaf nominee and winner in 1986 for Children of a Lesser God.
Ari Wegner has become the second female cinematographer to be nominated for an Oscar. She received a nomination for Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. “Nothing compares to hearing your name read out like this,” Wegner told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a wild experience.” Campion herself became the first woman to be nominated twice in the best director category. Her first nomination came almost 30 years ago, in 1994 for The Piano.
Denzel Washington extended his own record for most nominations by a Black actor. His tenth nomination came in the best actor category for his performance in The Tragedy of Macbeth.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was nominated for the song ‘Dos Oruguitas’ from Disney’s Encanto, brings him one step closer to potentially becoming a member of the elite “EGOT” group – stars who have won Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards.
The nominations were announced in 23 categories. The 94th edition of the award ceremony will take place on March 27.
Below is the full list of nominations.
Best picture
The Power of the Dog
Dune
Don’t Look Up
Licorice Pizza
West Side Story
King Richard
CODA
Belfast
Drive My Car
Nightmare Alley
Direction
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
Ryusuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car)
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Jane Campion (Power of the Dog)
Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)
Adapted Screenplay
CODA
Drive My Car
Dune
The Lost Daughter
The Power of the Dog
Original Screenplay
Licorice Pizza
Belfast
Don’t Look UP
King Richard
The Worst Person in the World
Actor in a supporting role
Ciaran Hinds (Belfast)
Troy Kotsur (CODA)
Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
J K Simmons (Being the Ricardos)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)
Actress in a supporting role
Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
Judy Dench (Belfast)
Kristen Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)
Actress in a leading role
Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)
Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)
Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)
Nicole Kidman (Being The Ricardos)
Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
Actor in a leading role
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)
Will Smith (King Richard)
Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick… Boom)
Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)
Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)
International feature film
Drive My Car (Japan)
Flee (Denmark)
The Hand of the God (Italy)
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)
The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
Production design
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Cinematography
Dune
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
The Tragedy of Macbeth
West Side Story
Visual effects
Dune
Free Guy
No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings
Spider Man: No Way Home
Documentary feature
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could not Be Televised)
Writing With Fire
Documentary short
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
Animated feature
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells Vs the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
Original song
‘Be Alive’ (King Richard)
‘Does Orguitas’ (Encanto)
‘Down to Joy’ (Belfast)
‘No Time to Die’ (No Time to Die)
‘Somehow You Do’ (Four Good Days)
Original score
Don’t Look Up
Dune
Encanto
Parallel Mothers
The Power of the Dog
Make up and hairstyling
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
Film editing
Don’t Look Up
Dune
King Richard
The Power of the Dog
tick, Tick… Boom
Live action short
Ala Kachuu-Take And Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold
Animated short
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper
Sound
Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
Costume design
Cruella
Cyrano
Dune
Nightmare Alley
West Side Story
(With inputs from PTI)