The Indian short film Anuja secured nomination in the Best Short Film (Live Action) category at the 97th Academy Awards. The film will compete against Alien, I’m Not a Robot, The Last Ranger, and A Man Who Would Not Remain Silent. The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards were announced on Thursday by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott.
The Netflix movie musical Emilia Perez led the nominations, giving the streaming service another shot at its first Best Picture trophy. It was followed by the historical drama The Brutalist and the box-office smash Wicked.
Emilia Perez, a Spanish-language story about a Mexican drug lord who transitions to a woman and starts a new life, earned 13 nominations. The Brutalist, a 3 1/2-hour tale about a Holocaust survivor and architect chasing the American dream, and The Wizard of Oz prequel Wicked each picked up 10 nods.
All three films will compete for the coveted Best Picture prize at the Oscars ceremony in Hollywood on March 2. A Complete Unknown, starring Timothée Chalamet as a young Bob Dylan, the dark romantic comedy Anora, and the papal selection drama Conclave also landed in the Best Picture race. Other nominated films include the science-fiction blockbuster Dune Part 2, the Brazilian political docudrama I’m Still Here, the racial drama Nickel Boys, and the horror movie The Substance.
Nominations for the film industry’s highest honors were announced on Thursday in Beverly Hills, as the Los Angeles area — considered the heart of the movie business — grappled with ongoing wildfires that have devastated parts of the city. A new blaze erupted on Wednesday. Netflix has never won Best Picture, despite previous nominations for films such as Roma and The Irishman. The streaming service releases its movies in theaters for only a limited time, just enough to qualify them for awards consideration.
Awards pundits suggested there is no clear frontrunner for the top movie honor. Marc Malkin, senior culture and events editor at Variety, predicted a tight race between Wicked, Conclave, and The Brutalist. Wicked and Conclave were released by Comcast’s Universal film division, while The Brutalist was distributed by the independent studio A24.
“Everyone loved Wicked,” Malkin said, adding that Conclave has gained momentum thanks to strong word-of-mouth buzz from audiences. Regarding The Brutalist, he remarked, “When you look at Adrien Brody’s acting in that movie, and you look at the movie as a whole, it’s pretty incredible.”
In the Best Actress category, Emilia Perez star Karla Sofía Gascón made history as the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an acting Oscar.
Demi Moore, who spoke at the Golden Globes about being underestimated over her four-decade career, was nominated for her role as a fading celebrity in The Substance. “I am deeply humbled,” Moore said in a statement on Thursday while acknowledging the destructive wildfires. “My heart is with my friends, family, neighbors, and community here in LA,” the actress added.
Best Actor nominees included Chalamet, Brody, and Sebastian Stan, who portrayed Donald Trump in his formative years as a New York real estate developer in The Apprentice. Co-star Jeremy Strong, who played Trump’s ruthless attorney Roy Cohn, earned a nomination for Supporting Actor.
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo was nominated for Best Actress, while co-star Ariana Grande earned a Supporting Actress nod for playing students of magic who become the witches in The Wizard of Oz. “Picking my head up in between sobs to say thank you,” Grande wrote on Instagram. “I cannot stop crying.”
Notable omissions from this year’s nominations include Angelina Jolie, who portrayed opera singer Maria Callas in Maria, and Nicole Kidman for Babygirl.
This year’s Oscar nominations were postponed twice because of the wildfires, which have overshadowed Hollywood’s awards season. Several red-carpet events have been delayed or canceled. The Oscars ceremony will proceed as a celebration of movies and resilience, organizers said.
“We will honor the talented filmmakers nominated today, pay tribute to our brave first responders, and celebrate the enduring spirit of Los Angeles and the film industry,” Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said just before the nominations were unveiled.
Winners of the iconic gold Oscar statuettes will be selected by the roughly 11,000 actors, producers, directors, and film craftspeople who make up the Academy. Walt Disney’s ABC will broadcast the awards, with comedian Conan O’Brien hosting.
Los Angeles and Hollywood want to show the world that “they’re still in business,” Malkin noted. “I think the last thing people in the industry want is to seem defeated by these fires,” he said.
(With input from Reuters)