by Daria Blaire
Finally we’ve learnt who made the Oscar nomination list, and, as with every year, it’s not without its controversy.
While Oppenheimer unsurprisingly came out on top, with a total of 13 nods, frustrating audiences on the side of Barbie in the Barbenheimer debate, there were some exciting announcements. With Killer of the Flower Moon expected to receive a Best Picture nomination, the best surprise was its star, Lily Gladstone, becoming the first Native American nominated for best actress.
As for snubs, while the loudest debate at hand is the lack of nominations for Margot Robbie as Best Actress and Greta Gerwig for Best Director, we want more recognition for Past Lives, Saltburn, May December, and The Color Purple.
Same as Barbie, Past Lives did manage to earn a Best Picture nomination, but neither managed to have their female directors or stars credited.
Past Lives, the debut film for the screenwriter and director, Celine Song, follows the life of Nora (Greta Lee) and her relationship with a childhood friend, Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), as she navigates through adulthood, confronting love, fate, and decision making. The movie, shot by the cinematographer Shabier Kirchner, garnered an abundance of praise for its depiction of love and received two nominations for Best Picture and Best Screenplay, leaving Greta Lee out of the Best Actress category and Celine Song robbed of Best Director.
In fact, only one woman gained a nomination in the directors category: Justine Triet for Anatomy of a Fall.
Triet becomes only the eighth woman to ever be nominated for Best Director and, if victorious, would be the fourth woman to take that award home.
Coming back to Barbie, Robbie did also get credit Best Producer and Gerwig for Best Screenplay nominations and, while it is certainly disappointing to them be recognized only for these roles, the blockbuster has come away with eight nominations. One of which went to America Ferrera for Best Supporting Actress, making this her first Oscar nomination and, if she wins, making her the third Latina woman to ever win in that category. Ferrara absolutely deserves her flowers, and we hope this discourse around Barbie’s snubs doesn’t overshadow her success.
The overwhelming viral, trending online for months, and Saltburn, wasn’t even mentioned. Written and directed by Emerald Fennell, who also played Midge in Barbie, while it had a very unconventional and certainly controversial approach to modern cinema, it gained lots of conversation and analysis. This made waves in bringing people back to the cinema, not to mention the captivating performances from both Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi. In fact, Saltburn’s cinematographer, Linus Sandgren, deserved to be recognized for his visual storytelling too.
With only one nomination for Samy Burch’s original screenplay, May December went completely unnoticed at the recent nominations. This leaves Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton all snubbed for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor.
The Color Purple movie-musical also got only one nomination for Danielle Brooks as the Best Supporting Actress, leaving the leads shut out of their categories.
Despite these unfortunate snubs at the 2024 Academy Awards’, there were certainly a few turning points for the industry on top of Lily Gladstone and America Ferrera creating Indigenous and Latino representation.
A key silver lining is that Barbie, Past Lives, and Anatomy of a Fall’s Best Pictures nominations marks the first time three female directed film have been simultaneously considered in the category, an Oscar milestone in its 96-year history.
The controversies of this year’s Oscar nominations have caused many debates and discussions, now its time to wait and find who the winners are.
Edited by Emily Duff