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OSCARS 2019

The Favourite leads the Oscar nominations alongside Roma

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- Thanks to Yorgos Lanthimos’ film, Europe is in pole position in the race, while more good news for the Continent comes from Pawel Pawlikowski, Never Look Away and Border

The Favourite leads the Oscar nominations alongside Roma
The Favourite by Yorgos Lanthimos

Earlier today, the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the final nominees for the 91st Academy Awards, which will be handed out on 24 February. After months of speculation, two of the most successful films of the awards season have finally been announced as the leaders in the race for the coveted statuettes – and neither of them is helmed by a US filmmaker. Roma by Mexico’s Alfonso Cuarón has racked up ten nominations, the same number as The Favourite [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
by Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos.

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The second-biggest winner at the latest Venice Film Festival, where, coincidentally, Roma was top dog, Lanthimos’ Irish-UK-US co-production has received nods in many of the main categories, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay (Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara), Best Actress (Volpi Cup winner Olivia Colman), Best Supporting Actress (both Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone) and Best Cinematography (Robbie Ryan), among others.

Another major European achievement is the relatively strong presence of the latest works by Oscar-winning European directors Pawel Pawlikowski and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. The Polish-UK-French co-production Cold War [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
film profile
]
, by the former, is a nominee in the Best Foreign-language Film category, but it is also in the running for Best Cinematography (Lukasz Zal) and, more importantly, Best Director, making this one of the very few times that a foreign-language film director has been nominated. The German-Italian co-production Never Look Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
film profile
]
, by the latter, is also vying for the Best Foreign-language Film Award, as well as Best Cinematography (Caleb Deschanel).

The Best Foreign-language Film category is rounded off by Nadine Labaki’s Cannes Jury Prize winner Capernaum [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, a French co-production submitted by Lebanon, Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters and Roma

The Best Documentary category also sees a European co-production battling it out, as Talal Derki’s Sundance winner Of Fathers and Sons [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(Germany/Syria/Lebanon) has made it into the final five selected films.

The remarkable make-up work by Sweden’s Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer in Ali Abbasi’s Cannes Un Certain Regard winner Border [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Abbasi
film profile
]
has not been overlooked by Hollywood, and thus the film is competing in the Best Make-up and Hairstyling category. 

Other European co-productions shot in English that have been tipped for awards are Bryan Singer’s Bohemian Rhapsody [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
(UK/USA), fresh off its triumph at the Golden Globes (see the news), with five nominations; Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(USA/Germany) and Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(UK/USA), with two each; and Julian Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julian Schnabel
film profile
]
(USA/France/UK) and Björn Runge’s The Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Björn Runge
film profile
]
(UK/Denmark/Sweden/Switzerland/USA), with one nod each.

Lastly, there is more good news for Europe to be found in the short-film categories, as Spanish filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s Mother is a nominee for Best Short Film - Live Action (after he won the Goya Award and has now begun working on its feature-film adaptation - see the news), alongside Irish director Vincent Lambe’s Detainment. Ireland’s Late Afternoon by Louise Bagnall is nominated for Best Short Film – Animated, proving once again how successful the country is in the animation categories, while the UK’s Black Sheep by Ed Perkins is vying for Best Documentary (Short Subject).

Here is the full list of nominees:

Best Picture
Black Panther – Ryan Coogler
BlacKkKlansman – Spike Lee
Bohemian Rhapsody [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
– Bryan Singer (UK/USA)
The Favourite [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Yorgos Lanthimos (Ireland/UK/USA)
Green Book – Peter Farrelly
Roma – Alfonso Cuarón (Mexico/USA)
A Star Is Born – Bradley Cooper
Vice – Adam McKay

Best Director
Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman
Pawel Pawlikowski – Cold War [+see also:
film review
trailer
Q&A: Pawel Pawlikowski
film profile
]
(Poland/UK/France)
Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite
Alfonso Cuaron – Roma
Adam McKay – Vice

Best Actor
Christian Bale – Vice
Rami Malek – Bohemian Rhapsody
Bradley Cooper – A Star Is Born
Willem Defoe – At Eternity’s Gate [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Julian Schnabel
film profile
]
(USA/France/UK)
Viggo Mortensen – Green Book

Best Actress
Yalitza Aparicio – Roma
Glenn Close – The Wife [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Björn Runge
film profile
]
(UK/Denmark/Sweden/Switzerland/USA)
Olivia Colman – The Favourite
Lady Gaga – A Star Is Born
Melissa McCarthy – Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali – Green Book
Richard E Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Elliott – A Star Is Born
Sam Rockwell – Vice
Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman

Best Supporting Actress
Regina King - If Beale Street Could Talk
Amy Adams – Vice
Marina De Tavira – Roma
Rachel Weisz – The Favourite
Emma Stone – The Favourite

Best Adapted Screenplay
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, Spike Lee - BlacKkKlansman
Nicole Holofcener, Jeff Whitty - Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Barry Jenkins - If Beale Street Could Talk
Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, Will Fetters - A Star Is Born

Best Original Screenplay
Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara - The Favourite
Paul Schrader - First Reformed
Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga - Green Book
Alfonso Cuarón - Roma
Adam McKay - Vice

Best Animated Feature
Incredibles 2 – Brad Bird
Isle of Dogs – Wes Anderson (USA/Germany)
Mirai - Mamoru Hosoda (Japan)
Ralph Breaks the Internet - Rich Moore, Phil Johnston
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse - Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman

Best Foreign Language Film
Capernaum [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
– Nadine Labaki (Lebanon/France)
Cold War – Pawel Pawlikowski
Never Look Away [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Florian Henckel von Donners…
film profile
]
- Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (Germany/Italy)
Roma – Alfonso Cuarón
Shoplifters – Hirokazu Kore-eda (Japan)

Best Documentary
Free Solo - Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Hale County This Morning This Evening - RaMell Ross
Minding the Gap - Bing Liu
Of Fathers and Sons [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
- Talal Derki (Germany/Syria/Lebanon)
RBG - Julie Cohen, Betsy West

Best Cinematography
Cold War
The Favourite
Never Look Away
Roma
A Star Is Born

Best Costume Design
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
Mary Poppins Returns
The Favourite
Mary Queen of Scots [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
(UK/USA)

Best Film Editing
BlacKkklansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Vice

Best Make-up and Hairstyling
Border [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ali Abbasi
film profile
]
(Sweden/Denmark)
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice

Best Original Score
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns

Best Original Song
“All the Stars” (Black Panther)
“I’ll Fight” (RBG)
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” (Mary Poppins Returns)
“Shallow” (A Star Is Born)
“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)

Best Production Design
Black Panther
The Favourite
First Man
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma

Best Sound Editing
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma

Best Sound Mixing
Black Panther
A Star Is Born
Bohemian Rhapsody
Roma
First Man

Best Visual Effects
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
First Man
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story

Best Documentary (Short Subject)
Black Sheep – Ed Perkins (UK)
End Game - Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Lifeboat - Skye Fitzgerald
A Night at the Garden - Marshall Curry
Period. End of Sentence. - Rayka Zehtabchi

Best Short Film (Animated)
Animal Behaviour - Alison Snowden, David Fine (Canada)
Bao - Domee Shi
Late Afternoon - Louise Bagnall (Ireland)
One Small Step - Bobby Pontillas, Andrew Chesworth (USA/China)
Weekends - Trevor Jimenez

Best Short Film (Live Action)
Detainment – Vincent Lambe (Ireland)
Skin – Guy Nattiv
Marguerite - Marianne Farley (Canada)
Fauve - Jérémy Comte (Canada)
Mother – Rodrigo Sorogoyen (Spain)

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