Women set to make Oscar history in two major races

You might remember that Chloe Chow made history twice at the Oscars in April, becoming the first woman of color to win a director’s award and the second woman to win that prestigious Oscar. Zhao won the award for directing “Nomadland” and he teamed up with Kathryn Bigelow, who won the 2008 war drama “The Hurt Locker”.

They’re two women at 93, a track record that seems… well, that sounds terrible, but compared to Film Academy’s history of knowing female filmmakers, it’s downright progressive. There was only one female director of photography appointed Oscar – Rachel Morrison for Dee Rees’ 2017 sprawling drama “Mudbound”. (Morrison also deserves a study the following year for Black Panther.)

So it’s worth noting that we might be looking at another piece of history this year, with a director and cinematographer nominated for the same film – director Jane Campion and cinematographer Ari Wegner of “The Power of the. Dog ”. I noticed after the Telluride Film Festival that I could see Campion winning her second Oscar (she won the Original Screenplay Award for The Piano in 1993), an idea that has solidified now that the remaining films have been screened. Could Wegner join her? Let’s take a look at both races.

Director

Jane Campion, “The Power of the Dog”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”
Denis Villeneuve, “Dune”
Kenneth Brana, “Belfast”
Steven Spielberg, “West Side Story”

Following: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, “Drive my car”; Joel Coen, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”; Rinaldo Marcus Green, “King Richard”; Guillermo del Toro, “The alley of nightmares”

In the mixture: Sian Heder, “Coda”; Adam McKay, “Do Not Search”; Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Lost Girl”; Pedro Almodovar, “Parallel mothers”

This year, there will again be a consistent number of Top 10 Picture nominees, which means there will be at least five different ways to shoot “Did this film come true?” »Deplore after the announcement of the nominations.

Why at most five? While voters in the directorial branch have shown a willingness to be more adventurous in their choices than their Academy peers, they nominated Danish director Thomas Venterberg to the recent Academy Award for black animated comedy “Another Round.” And Polish filmmaker Paewicz Pawlikowski in 2019 to get an echo. Love story from the Cold War. These two films were nominated for an international film but failed to get the best cut.

That storyline could be recreated this year with Hamaguchi and the acclaimed and gripping drama Drive My Car. I have no doubts that if enough Academy members watch this film, it will be nominated for Best Picture. It’s a masterpiece. But it also lasts a minute of less than three hours, which makes me doubt that enough voters will see it and, just as importantly, watch it uninterrupted until the movie casts its charm.

I hope I am wrong.

Who will hit Hamaguchi? Not a campion, of course. Villeneuve will be loved and respected for making a successful film that is not beholden to brands and marketing research. Anderson is expected to get enough votes from the dominant Los Angeles Academy troupe, which will turn into a quiet story set in the ancient San Fernando Valley with plenty of nods to the film industry. . (You will crown the “licorice pizza”) John Peters Poll?)

So… maybe Spielberg will shut down? It didn’t receive any nominations for Bridge of Spies or The Post for Best Picture. Branagh has made a few dozen films – good, bad, and somewhere in between – over the past 30 years. He got a nomination for his first effort, the 1989 adaptation of Henry V’s Shakespeare. I think he would be among the craziest potential nominees, but Film Twitter needs something surprising about the nominations for the movie. morning and maybe the nomination for Branagh is just that.

cinematography

Greg Fraser, “Dion”
Bruno Delponnell, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
Ari Wegner, “The Power of a Dog”
Janusz Kaminski, “West Side Story”
Dan Lausten, “The Alley of Nightmares”

Following: Guardian of Zambarlucos, “Belfast”; Claire Mathon, “Spencer”

In the mixture: Edward Grau, “Passant”, Robbie Ryan, “Come on”; Michael Bowman and Paul Thomas Anderson, “Licorice Pizza”; Robert Yeoman, “The French Dispatch”; Andrew Drews Palermo, “The Green Knight”; Linus Sandgren, “No time to die”

Three of my candidates will likely be matched with their managers. And it wouldn’t be a stretch to think Oscar-winning directors Quinn or Del Toro could win nominations themselves. Reviews of “Nightmare Alley” weren’t particularly pleasant, but even its fiercest critics praise its brilliant and brilliant visual design.

As for the five-time nominee Delbonnel and his austere and astonishing work which creates all these shadows in “Macbeth”, I take the risk that he can finally win… but the competition is too strong to be declared yet.

Wegner is, of course, among the earliest contenders for his meticulous collaboration with Campion in creating the massive, dusty, sun-shaded “Dog’s” world. I also shot the daring Zola, so it’s been a good year. Wegner, 37, is a rising star.

Given the Academy’s history in this category, it would be radical to propose that two women receive nominations. But Mathon, after his brilliant work on 2019’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” (which was honored by the Los Angeles and New York film critics groups, as well as the National Society of Film Critics), also deserves a square. The film “Spencer” brings viewers closer to Diana’s vision of a stifling fairytale world upside down. For Mathon, this is another iconic image of a woman, this image is trapped, but she is not inclined to give up.