Denis Villeneuve has the brightest spotlight of Canadians nominated for the 94th Academy Awards. The Dune director has a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture but somehow got snubbed for Best Director.
Dune, not a Canadian film, did receive 10 nominations. The film was also nominated for Best Cinematography (Greig Fraser); Best Costume Design; Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer); Best Sound; Best Film Editing; Best Makeup and Hairstyling; Best Production Design; and Best Visual Effects.
Toronto costume designer Luis Sequeira received an Oscar nomination for best costume design on Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley. The film's nominees include producer J. Miles Dale for best picture as well as Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau for best production design.
Roger Frappier is one of the producers of The Power of the Dog, up for 12 nominations including Best Picture.
Not that this was the worst of Villeneuve's morning but Leslie Jordan butchered Villeneuve's name twice in 2 tries during the Oscar nominations announcement. They could have been given over to Jordan's co-host Tracie Ellis Ross or Jordan could have practiced say Villeneuve's name.
The Best Director nominees are solid with Kenneth Branagh (Belfast); Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Drive My Car); Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza); Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog); and Steven Spielberg (West Side Story). That said, you could make the call of putting in Villeneuve instead of Spielberg this time around.
There was not a breakdown of Canadians nominated for Dune other than Villeneuve. We will update this story when we can get that information.
Simu Liu did not get nominated for Best Actor for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, though the film did get a nomination for Best Visual Effects.
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Villeneuve was nominated for Best Director for Arrival (2016). Villeneuve is the last Canadian director to receive a nomination. James Cameron won for Titanic (1997), beating out fellow Canadian Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter).
Canadian directors with multiple nominations include Mark Robson [Peyton Place (1957), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958)]; Norman Jewison [In the Heat of the Night (1967), Fiddler on the Roof (1971), and Moonstruck (1987)]; James Cameron [Titanic (1997), Avatar (2009)]; and Jason Reitman [Juno (2007), Up in the Air (2009)].
Villeneuve's Quebec work has been in the mix for Oscars consideration in what was then the Best Foreign Language Film category: Cosmos (1997), of which Villeneuve was one of several directors; August 32nd on Earth | Un 32 août sur terre (1998); Maelström (2000); and Incendies (2010). Only Incendies made the shortlist or the Top 5 cut.
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Affairs of the Art by Joanna Quinn and Les Mills made the Top 5 cut for the Best Animated Short Film category. The film is a National Film Board of Canada co-production.
This film will compete with Bestia, Boxballet, Robin Robin, and The Windshield Wiper.
Canada had 3 other films in the shortlist in this category. The latter 2 films are National Film Board of Canada co-productions.
Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman's Apprentice from Zacharias Kunuk
Bad Seeds by Claude Cloutier
Flowing Home by Sandra Desmazieres
The Queen of Basketball from Ben Proudfoot was nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject. Proudfoot received an Oscar nomination in the same category last year for co-directing A Concerto Is a Conversation.
The other nominees in this category are Audible, Lead Me Home, Three Songs for Benazir, and When We Were Bullies.
Les Grandes Claques | Like The Ones I Used To Know from Annie St-Pierre made the shortlist for Best Live Action Short Film but not the final cut.
Les Oiseaux Ivres misses the Oscars shortlist cut for Best International Feature Film
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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences narrowed down the shortlist for Best International Feature Film. Here are the 5 nominees:
Bhutan Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Denmark Flee
Italy The Hand of God
Japan Drive My Car
Norway The Worst Person in the World
These 5 nominees beat out 10 other films that made the shortlist.
Austria Great Freedom
Belgium Playground
Finland Compartment No. 6
Germany I'm Your Man
Iceland Lamb
Iran A Hero
Kosovo Hive
Mexico Prayers for the Stolen
Panama Plaza Catedral
Spain The Good Boss
Drive My Car was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. Worst Person in the World got a nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Flee is also nominated for Best Animated Film and Best Documentary Feature. The Danish film marks 3 years in a row where a Best International Feature Film nominee is also up for Best Documentary Feature. The streak is significant because this never happened before the streak started.
Penelope Cruz was nominated for Best Actress for Parallel Mothers. This is the 4th Oscar nomination for Cruz. She won Best Supporting Actress for Vicky Cristina Barcelona, should have won Best Actress for Volver, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Nine.
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Drive My Car (Japan) won the Golden Globes award for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language (formerly foreign language). The film beat out Compartment No. 6 (Finland); The Hand of God (Italy); A Hero (Iran); and Parallel Mothers (Spain).
The 2022 Independent Spirit Awards is set for March 6. Hopefully, they will be back inside the tent on the beach in Santa Monica, CA. The Best International Film nominees:
Compartment No. 6 (Finland)
Drive My Car (Japan)
Parallel Mothers (Spain)
Pebbles (India)
Petite Maman (France)
Prayers for the Stolen (Mexico)
The Critics Choice Awards will scheduled for January 9 but the awards were postponed to March 13. They have a U.S. TV home (CW and TBS). These are their nominees for best foreign language film:
A Hero (Iran)
Drive My Car (Japan)
Flee (Denmark)
The Hand of God (Italy)
The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
Your humble narrator loved The Worst Person in the World and Petite Maman and enjoyed The Hand of God.
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The 94th Academy Awards will be held on March 27 on ABC and CTV.
photo credit: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
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