The star-studded Milky Way above a US coastline, pink and purple clouds overlooking Argentina and a reflection of the Northern Lights in the still waters of a lake in Canada are some of the moments captured by shortlisted entrants to the 2022 Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest.
More than 3,000 amateur and professional photographers from 67 countries entered the 14th edition of the competition, which is organized by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London.
Some entrants explored the impact of pollution on astrophotography.
Skyscapes category nominee Sean Goebel could only photograph the alignment of the moon over the Los Angeles skyline after a winter storm diffused pollution fog and made the scene more visible, organizers said in a press release.
Meanwhile, Young Astronomy Photographer of the Year nominee Zezhen Zhou snapped an image of Pickering’s Triangle, which is part of the Veil Nebula in the Cygnus constellation, despite the light pollution in the city of Shaoxing, China.
“It was really satisfying to see how many entrants challenged themselves to capture unusual, rarely-imaged or transient events: there are some things you won’t have seen before, and even some things that won’t be seen again,” Ed Bloomer, astronomer at the Royal Observatory and judge for the competition, told CNN in a statement.
The winning images will be announced on September 15 at an online award ceremony and displayed at London’s National Maritime Museum.
There were 36 photos shortlisted in 11 categories, with a selection of images featured in the gallery above.
In 2009, a Manchester City fan emailed Professional Footballers Association (PFA) chief executive Gordon Taylor, demanding to know how Ryan Giggs could possibly have ended up on their shortlist of candidates for the Player of the Year award.
A back-and-forth followed, in which the City supporter pointed out how few matches Giggs had started and Taylor responded by explaining this was an entirely democratic process, based on the number of votes players had received from their fellow professionals.
“I can tell you the situation as it is,” Taylor answered. “If you’re not happy and consider yourself such an expert on ballots, perhaps you had better go to Zimbabwe or Russia the next time they have elections and tell everybody how they should vote as they put their votes in the ballot box.”
But let’s not go there. Let’s talk about the PFA’s latest Player of the Year shortlist, which is certain to arouse plenty of debate — not least among… Manchester City supporters.
The shortlist is as follows: Kevin De Bruyne (City), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur), Sadio Mane (Liverpool), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United).
Immediate thoughts on seeing it?
Where on earth is Son Heung-min?
Where are Bernardo Silva and Rodri?
And if those players don’t make the cut, then surely Joao Cancelo, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Declan Rice are more worthy candidates than Ronaldo and Kane?
Those are just personal opinions and they are offered in the certain knowledge that others are entitled to shoot them down and call me clueless. (You’re welcome.)
After all, Kane ended up scoring 27 goals in all competitions for Spurs this season and Ronaldo was only three short of that total in a dreadful United team, scoring 18 Premier League goals to Kane’s 17. There is clearly a case to be made for both players.
But the overwhelming impression, looking at that shortlist, is that the power of a player’s profile and status seems to weigh more heavily in these considerations than it should. And that professional footballers, when asked to vote for their Player of the Year, are more likely to go for a legend of the game such as Ronaldo than to vote en masse for someone like Rodri or Bernardo, whose week-in-week-out excellence in a title-winning team might have passed them by as they concentrated on their own team’s affairs.
That doesn’t just apply to the men’s Player of the Year award.
A more stark illustration is to be found in the PFA Women’s Young Player of the Year shortlist.
Chelsea’s Lauren James made the six-strong shortlist after a WSL campaign in which, due to injury, she was restricted to six substitute appearances and no starts, playing a total of 113 minutes.
And it seems to come back to something that was said in an article last year about how players vote on these awards.
“To be honest, if it wasn’t for stats or what you read on social media, I don’t think myself or many others would have a clue how anyone has been this season in the Championship, other than when you play against them,” one player said.
The same Championship player added last year that, when it came to picking a team of the season for his division, he “wouldn’t have a clue” about defenders. He proposed Will Hughes, then of Watford, in midfield “but again, that’s just because I think he’s a good player”. Above all, he said, “it will be names that you just remember from previous years”.
And maybe that candid explanation, reflecting a subconscious bias in favour of established, big-name players — and apparent indifference to those in less glamorous roles — offers some kind of explanation for why the likes of Rodri, Bernardo and Cancelo have not make the cut.
Salah beat De Bruyne to the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) Footballer of the Year award, announced last month, but Rice of West Ham was third. Thirty-one different players received votes, including nine from Liverpool and six from Manchester City. Like the PFA, the FWA asks its respondents to vote for one player only.
When The Athletic held its own awards ballot last week, it was a different voting system, with each journalist and editor naming their top six in order. It was won by De Bruyne ahead of Salah — and it might be a reasonable bet that the PFA award goes the same way when it is announced on June 9.
The interesting thing in our vote is that Son came third and Cancelo fourth, with the next four places pretty much level-pegging between Mane, Rodri, Bernardo and Alexander-Arnold. That was a clear top eight, followed by another cluster that included Van Dijk, Phil Foden, Thiago, Alisson, Rice and Jarrod Bowen.
That sounds pretty reasonable to me.
In the interests of full disclosure, I went 1) De Bruyne, 2) Salah, 3) Bernardo, 4) Rodri, 5) Van Dijk, 6) Son.
In the interests of even greater disclosure, my team of the season was: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Van Dijk, Cancelo; De Bruyne, Rodri, Thiago; Salah, Son, Bernardo.
And for maximum disclosure, with hindsight I wish I had gone with Mane rather than Thiago, dropping Bernardo back into midfield.
Again, we are talking about personal choices based on our own subjective evaluations, but those preferences seem to reflect not just that City and Liverpool have been in a class of their own in the 2021-22 Premier League but that, even position by position, their players have been almost unrivalled.
If I was doing a second XI, it would include Kyle Walker, Andy Robertson and Foden alongside the likes of Jose Sa, Antonio Rudiger, Rice and Bowen.
City and Liverpool really have been on another level, far above and beyond everyone else, and they have not just done that by relying on one or two outstanding players. That is why that star-studded Player of the Year shortlist — De Bruyne, Van Dijk, Kane, Mane, Salah, Ronaldo — seems a little… disappointing.
The inclusion of a player who scores 17 or 18 Premier League goals can never be seen as controversial, but it is certainly questionable when performers of the standard of Rodri, Bernardo and Cancelo are overlooked, not to mention co-Golden Boot winner Son.
Maybe it just comes back to what that unnamed Championship player told The Athletic last year: that many professional footballers are so focused on their own job they don’t really spend too much time assessing the performances of players in other teams, so they default to voting for the ones whose reputations go before them.
Kane is more than a good player; he is closing in on England’s all-time goalscoring record and will go down as one of the greats of the Premier League era. Ronaldo is one of the greatest to have ever played the game. But it is not easy to argue that either of them was among the top six performers in this last Premier League campaign; at Tottenham’s end-of-season awards, it was Son who swept the board.
Even while bemoaning others’ choices, though, I keep reflecting on my own.
In the end, it felt like a toss-up between Salah, who performed to such a mesmerising standard in the first half of the season, and De Bruyne, who did likewise in the second. Had you held a poll even among City fans at the halfway stage of the campaign, it is doubtful De Bruyne would have been in their top four.
The feeling nags that Salah’s best period of the season came not when Liverpool were performing so relentlessly in the final months but in that autumn period when they were dropping the points that would ultimately leave them agonisingly short of City’s 93 points.
De Bruyne’s best period of the season came not when City were winning 12 Premier League games in a row between early November and mid-January but in the final months, when some of his team-mates were toiling and he, time and again, was the one who — through personality and sublime skill — dragged them through.
It seems like a contradiction, but maybe it says something about the way we perceive individual performance in a team sport.
Liverpool were at their best when Salah was not. City were at the best when De Bruyne was not. It was when both teams were spluttering — and with these two sides, it’s very much relatively speaking — that the star performers really came to the fore.
With De Bruyne, with Salah and Mane, with Ronaldo and Kane, there was no shortage of “clutch” moments — players summoning the inspiration to save their team in the moments when the stakes were highest and the pressure most intense. Never underestimate the depth of admiration for a player who performs “in the clutch”, particularly when it comes to someone like Ronaldo, who has done it with such incredible frequency throughout his long career.
Ronaldo could be said to have carried United at times this season. They only managed sixth with him. Many have asked where on earth they would have finished without him. It is certainly easy to understand why he, and indeed Kane, would have picked up votes from their fellow professionals.
But more than Son? More than Rodri? More than Bernardo? More than Cancelo, Alexander-Arnold and Rice? It is curious — and objections are inevitable — but it is democracy in action. And if that means voting through a hazy recollection of something you once believed in, so be it.
Within minutes of the PFA’s announcement on Wednesday evening, the dismay surrounding Son’s omission was almost matched by the protests on behalf of Rodri.
But even City’s own player of the season award process found no space for the Spaniard on the final three-man shortlist.
And if neither his own club nor his fellow professionals will give him the recognition his performances merit, you wonder who will.
LONDON — Olga Tokarczuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Polish novelist, is among five female writers shortlisted for this year’s International Booker Prize, arguably the world’s most important award for fiction translated into English.
Tokarczuk is nominated for “The Books of Jacob,” along with the translator Jennifer Croft, just four years after the pair won the same prize for “Flights.”
Other high-profile nominees on the six-strong shortlist, which was unveiled at the London Book Fair on Thursday, include Mieko Kawakami, the star Japanese author best known for “Breasts and Eggs,” and Claudia Piñeiro, the Argentine crime writer.
Tokarczuk’s “The Books of Jacob” tells the story of Jacob Frank, a self-proclaimed messiah who wanders around 18th-century Europe, acolytes in tow. When the Swedish Academy awarded Tokarczuk the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2019, they called “The Books of Jacob” her “magnum opus.”
Originally published in Poland in 2014, the almost 1,000-page-long novel has received rave reviews in the United States since the English translation was published this year. Dwight Garner, in a review for The New York Times, called it “Chaucerian in its brio.” The book is “an unruly, overwhelming, vastly eccentric novel” that is “sophisticated and ribald and brimming with folk wit,” he added.
Kawakami is nominated for “Heaven,” a novel about a relentlessly bullied 14-year-old, translated from Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd. Nadja Spiegelman, in a review for The New York Times, said the book’s bullying scenes are “so lucid you can almost feel the pain yourself.”
Piñeiro’s shortlisted book is “Elena Knows,” about a grief-stricken mother who turns detective to investigate her daughter’s apparent suicide. Kathleen Rooney, in a review for The New York Times, said that the novel, translated from Spanish by Frances Riddle, may at first glance seem like “a tight and terse mystery.” But, she said, “it’s also a piercing commentary on mother-daughter relationships, the indignity of bureaucracy, the burdens of caregiving and the impositions of religious dogma on women.”
The International Booker Prize is separate from the Booker Prize, which is for novels originally published in English, but comes with the same prize money: £50,000, or about $65,000. For the International Booker Prize, the money is split equally between the author and translator.
The other shortlisted titles are:
“A New Name: Septology VI-VII,” by Jon Fosse, a Norwegian writer and playwright who is a star in his own country. Translated by Damion Searls, the novel is the last in a series and follows a highly religious artist in the moments before his death.
“Cursed Bunny,” a short story collection by the Korean writer Bora Chung. Translated by Anton Hur, it combines elements of horror and science fiction to critique capitalism. Frank Wynne, the chair of the judging panel for this year’s prize, said in an online news conference that the collection was “somewhere between David Lynch and the early body horror of David Cronenberg.”
Geetanjali Shree’s “Tomb of Sand,” translated from Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, which follows an 80-year-old Indian woman’s journey to Pakistan after her husband’s death. Wynne said the novel’s premise may sound depressing, but the book “was anything but.” It was filled with humor that must have made it very difficult to translate, he added.
The winner of this year’s prize will be announced on May 26 at a ceremony in London.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced the shortlists in 10 categories for the upcoming 94th Oscars ceremony.
The shortlist voting concluded on Dec. 15, and the remaining ones will move on to the official phase one voting. Nominations voting begins on Thursday, Jan. 27, and ends on Tuesday, Feb. 1. The official credits and nominees for all the films will be announced, with the rest of the Oscar nominations on Tuesday, Feb. 8.
Check out the list of the films and categories below:
Original Song
“So May We Start?” from “Annette” (Amazon Studios) Ron Mael, Russell Mael (Sparks)
“Down To Joy” from “Belfast” (Focus Features) Van Morrison
“Right Where I Belong” from “Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road” (Screen Media Films) Brian Wilson, Jim James
“Automatic Woman” from “Bruised” (Netflix) H.E.R. (other songwriters to be added)
“Dream Girl” from “Cinderella” (Amazon Studios) Idina Menzel, Laura Veltz
“Beyond The Shore” from “CODA” (Apple Original Films) Nicholai Baxter, Matt Dahan, Sian Heder, Marius de Vries
“The Anonymous Ones” from “Dear Evan Hansen” (Universal Pictures) Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Amandla Stenberg
“Just Look Up” from “Don’t Look Up” (Netflix) Nicholas Britell, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Tara Stinson
“Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto” (Walt Disney Pictures) Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days” (Vertical Entertainment) Diane Warren
“Guns Go Bang” from “The Harder They Fall” (Netflix) Jeymes Samuel, Scott Mescudi, Shawn Carter
“Be Alive” from “King Richard” (Warner Bros) Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Dixson
“No Time To Die” from “No Time to Die” (MGM/United Artists Releasing) Billie Eilish, Finneas O’Connell
“Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” from “Respect” (MGM/United Artists Releasing) Jamie Alexander Hartman, Jennifer Hudson, Carole King
“Your Song Saved My Life” from “Sing 2” (Illumination/Universal Pictures) Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Jr.
This race should bring the newly minted Academy Awards producer Will Packer and the leadership joy and promise for high ratings. However, there is something for everyone on the 15 songs that remain.
We’re one step closer to seeing history being made with husband and wife Jay-Z and Beyoncé both making it for their two numbers on “The Harder They Fall” and “King Richard.” If both are nominated, it will be the first time in Oscar history that a husband and wife competed against one another in the same category.
The biggest pop stars in the world are among the list, including Ariana Grande and Kid Cudi, who are co-writers on the song from “Don’t Look Up,” Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas on their already Grammy-winning number from “No Time to Die” and Jennifer Hudson, who is looking for a double Oscar nom in actress and original song with “Respect.”
Last year’s surprise winner H.E.R. is back with the track from Halle Berry’s directorial debut, “Bruised,” while Sparks and Van Morrison are eyeing the older demographic of the Academy with the songs from “Annette” and “Belfast.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda represents his historic year with his song “Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto,” which could make him an EGOT winner if it breaks his way.
We also have the obligatory mention for another Diane Warren song from the drama “Four Good Days.” With 12 nominations and still no win, could this be the year she finally captures the gold?
Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
Documentary Feature
“Ascension” (MTV Documentary Films) – dir. Jessica Kingdon
“Attica” (Showtime) – dir. Stanley Nelson
“Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” (Apple Original Films) – dir. RJ Cutler
“Faya Dayi” (Janus Films) – dir. Jessica Beshir
“The First Wave” (National Geographic) – dir. Matthew Heineman
“Flee” (Neon) – dir. Jonas Poher Rasmussen
“In the Same Breath” (HBO Documentary Films) – dir. Nanfu Wang
“Julia” (Sony Pictures Classics) – dir. Julie Cohen, Betsy West
“President” (Greenwich Entertainment) – dir. Camilla Nielsson
“Procession” (Netflix) – dir. Robert Greene
“The Rescue” (National Geographic) – dir. Jimmy Chin, Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
“Simple as Water” (HBO Documentary Films) – dir. Megan Mylan
“Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” (Hulu/Searchlight Pictures) – dir. Quest Love
“The Velvet Underground” (Apple Original Films) – dir. Todd Haynes
“Writing with Fire” (Music Box Films) – dir. Rintu Thomas
With 138 features submitted for recognition, there aren’t as many “shockers” as we thought there would be. Apple Original Films managed two entries for music docs — “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” and “The Velvet Underground.” Also landing two films each was HBO with Nanfu Wang’s “In The Same Breath” (who missed out for her film “One Child Nation”) and Megan Mylan’s “Simple as Water” (who won the Oscar for documentary short for 2008’s “Smile Pinki”). Eight of the shortlisted films are helmed by women, which is notable.
The snubs include Discovery Plus’ “Francesco” and “Introducing, Selma Blair,” both powerful portraits, along with Edgar Wright’s love letter to the band Sparks, “The Sparks Brothers.” Also missing out was Netflix’s “Pray Away” and, most egregious, Sony Pictures Classics’ “Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.”
Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
International Feature
“Great Freedom” (Austria) – dir. Sebastian Meise
“Playground” (Belgium) – dir. Laura Wandel
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” (Bhutan) – dir. Pawo Choyning Dorji
“Flee” (Denmark) – dir. Jonas Poher Rasmussen
“Compartment No. 6” (Finland) – dir. Juho Kuosmanen
“I’m Your Man” (Germany) – dir. Maria Schrader
“Lamb” (Iceland) – dir. Valdimar Jóhannsson
“A Hero” (Iran) – dir. Asghar Farhadi
“The Hand of God” (Italy) – dir. Paolo Sorrentino
“Drive My Car” (Japan) – dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Hive” (Kosovo) – dir. Blerta Basholli
“Prayers for the Stolen” (Mexico) – dir. Tatiana Huezo
“The Worst Person in the World” (Norway) – dir. Joachim Trier
“Plaza Catedral” (Panama) – dir. Abner Benaim
“The Good Boss” (Spain) – dir. Fernando León de Aranoa
The glaring snub of the day is France’s “Titane” from Julia Ducournau, who became the second woman ever to win the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. It was a divisive film among many, and it was assumed that the film would be a difficult sell to Academy members but was expected to make the shortlist. Four of the films on the shortlist are helmed by women (“Playground,” “I’m Your Man,” “Hive” and “Prayers for the Stolen”). In addition, there are three countries making entry onto the shortlist for the first time — Bhutan, Kosovo and Panama. The latter was the big surprise on the list with “Plaza Catedral.”
The list included the usual suspects among pundits and analysts, which had “Flee,” the only crossover from the documentary race, and the first film in history to be eligible in animated, doc and international (“Waltz With Bashir” was disqualified from documentary in its respective year). It’s widely expected that the Norway entry will be nominated in all three while also making a play for best picture with the help of Neon that got “Parasite” its historic win.
Other notable omissions include Colombia’s “Memoria,” Russia’s “Unclenching the Fists” and Czech Republic’s “Zátopek.”
Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting. However, they must have met a minimum viewing requirement to vote in the category. The same will apply for the nominations round, with participants opting-in and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.
Makeup and Hairstyling
“Coming 2 America” (Amazon Studios)
“Cruella” (Walt Disney Pictures)
“Cyrano” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
“Dune” (Warner Bros)
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” (Searchlight Pictures)
“House of Gucci” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
“Nightmare Alley” (Searchlight Pictures)
“No Time to Die” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
“The Suicide Squad” (Warner Bros)
“West Side Story” (20th Century Studios)
It’s a fantastic showing for MGM/United Artists Releasing, which landed three spots in the field of 10 — “Cyrano,” “House of Gucci” and surprisingly, “No Time to Die.” In addition, the expected frontrunner “Dune” made the cut, along with its Warner Bros counterpart “The Suicide Squad,” Whose original predecessor, which was helmed by David Ayer, won this category.
Unanticipated entries include Amazon Studios’ “Coming 2 America,” which could be a good signal for Ruth E. Carter in costume design.
The hair and makeup artisans always leave off some expected frontrunners and contenders. This year that seems to be Amazon Studios’ “Being the Ricardos” and the work done on Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem. In contrast, Searchlight Pictures’ “The French Dispatch” was left off, which is unexpected considering their previous love for Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” It also seems that the transformation of Kristen Stewart into Princess Diana didn’t impress the branch, as the film was also overlooked.
All members of the Academy’s Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch will be invited to view seven-minute excerpts and interviews with the artists from each shortlisted film on Sunday, Jan. 30. In addition, branch members will vote to nominate five films.
Sound
“Belfast” (Focus Features)
“Dune” (Warner Bros)
“Last Night in Soho” (Focus Features)
“The Matrix Resurrections” (Warner Bros)
“No Time to Die” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
“The Power of the Dog” (Netflix)
“A Quiet Place Part II” (Paramount Pictures)
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” (Sony Pictures)
“Tick, Tick … Boom!” (Netflix)
“West Side Story” (20th Century Studios)
The first year that the Oscars have presented a shortlist for sound, just two years after merging the awards for sound mixing and sound editing. It seems not to be raising any glaring issues thus far as the 10 features to make the cut are all respected entries and worthy of a nomination.
Edgar Wright’s “Last Night in Soho,” the most surprising entry, could bode well for a showing in other artisan categories like production and costumes.
It was a massive year for musicals, and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Tick, Tick … Boom!” and Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” will represent the genre. Both stand an excellent chance to make the final cut. But, unfortunately, Joe Wright’s “Cyrano” and Jon M. Chu’s “In the Heights” were passed over for their achievements.
The biggest omission is Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” which missed in two critical races that were announced — unsure if we can chalk it up to not seeing the film in time (which is hard to argue considering “Spider-Man: No Way Home” made it) or if the film’s divisive nature is having trouble with members. Other notable rebuffs were Netflix’s “Don’t Look Up” and Marvel’s “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
Members of the Sound Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. All members of the Sound Branch will be invited to view eight-minute excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films beginning Friday, Jan. 28. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.
Visual Effects
“Black Widow” (Marvel Studios)
“Dune” (Warner Bros)
“Eternals” (Marvel Studios)
“Free Guy” (20th Century Studios)
“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (Sony Pictures)
“Godzilla vs. Kong” (Warner Bros)
“The Matrix Resurrections” (Warner Bros)
“No Time to Die” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (Marvel Studios)
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” (Sony Pictures)
Marvel Studios owned the Visual Effects Branch this year, with “Black Widow,” “Eternals,” and “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” all making appearances. However, Scarlett Johansson’s last entry as the Natasha Romanoff may face the biggest hurdle of the three due to the early release.
Marvel can also own half of Sony Pictures’ success with getting the box-office juggernaut “Spider-Man: No Way Home” into the lineup. The Tom Holland and Zendaya vehicle dominated the box office, scoring the third highest-grossing opening of all time. That’s going to help for awards campaigning in January.
Taking cues from “Kong: Skull Island” that was nominated here, Warner Bros’ “Godzilla vs. Kong” mustered its way in, alongside the sequel “The Matrix: Resurrections” and the category frontrunner “Dune.”
Kudos to the Academy for not forgetting “Free Guy,” which deserves a nom.
All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on Saturday, Jan. 29. Then, branch members will vote to nominate five films.
Original Score
“Being the Ricardos” (Amazon Studios) – Daniel Pemberton
“Candyman” (Universal Pictures) – Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe
“Don’t Look Up” (Netflix) – Nicholas Britell
“Dune” (Warner Bros) – Hans Zimmer
“Encanto” (Walt Disney Pictures) – Germaine Franco
“The French Dispatch” (Searchlight Pictures) – Alexandre Desplat
“The Green Knight” (A24) – Daniel Hart
“The Harder They Fall” (Netflix) – Jeymes Samuel
“King Richard” (Warner Bros) – Kris Bowers
“The Last Duel” (20th Century Studios) – Harry Gregson-Williams
“No Time to Die” (MGM/United Artists Releasing) – Hans Zimmer
“Parallel Mothers” (Sony Pictures Classics) – Alberto Iglesias
“The Power of the Dog” (Netflix) – Jonny Greenwood
“Spencer” (Neon/Topic Studios) – Jonny Greenwood
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” (Apple Original Films/A24) – Carter Burwell
This year, there are two possibilities for double nominations in the original score category. Oscar winner Hans Zimmer (“The Lion King”) nabbed two of the 15 spots with “Dune” and “No Time to Die” while the still unrewarded Jonny Greenwood was shortlisted for “The Power of the Dog” and “Spencer.”
Germaine Franco, who became the first Latina to ever join the Music Branch in 2019, is the only woman represented among the shortlisted for the animated musical “Encanto.” Fresh off her Golden Globe nom, she could become one of the favorites if the film continues to gain traction in other races like animated feature and original song.
The most shocking (but welcoming) inclusion on the list is the horror film “Candyman” by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, who is one of three Black composers to make the shortlist, including Kris Bowers for “King Richard” and Jeymes Samuel for “The Harder They Fall.”
The most shocking exclusion came from Nathan Johnson’s beautiful work on “Nightmare Alley” failing to cut. At the same time, the branch also passed on another Disney feature, “Raya and the Last Dragon,” from nine-time Oscar-nominee James Newton Howard.
Despite three scores submitted this year, the Grammy-winning The National failed to make a list with “C’mon C’mon,” “Cyrano” and “Jockey.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the shortlists for nine categories for the upcoming Oscars. The categories and number of films include documentary feature (15), documentary short subject (10), international feature (15), makeup and hairstyling (10), original score (15), original song (15), animated short film (10), live action short film (10) and visual effects (10).
The shortlist voting concluded on Feb. 5, and the remaining will move on to the official phase one voting, which will take place on March 5-9. The Oscar nominations will be announced on March 15, with the show scheduled to take place on April 25.
The full lists are below with snubs and surprises:
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Fifteen films will advance in the documentary feature category out of 238 films eligible films. Members of the documentary branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
“All In: The Fight for Democracy” (Amazon Studios) – directed by Lisa Cortes, Liz Garbus
“Boys State” (Apple TV Plus) – directed by Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
“Collective” (Magnolia Pictures and Participant) – directed by Alexander Nanau
“Crip Camp” (Netflix) – directed by James Lebrecht, Nicole Newnham
“Dick Johnson Is Dead” (Netflix) – directed by Kirsten Johnson
“Gunda” (Neon) – directed by Viktor Kosakovskiy
“MLK/FBI” (IFC Films) – directed by Sam Pollard
“The Mole Agent” (Gravitas Ventures) – directed by Maite Alberdi
“My Octopus Teacher” (Netflix) – directed by Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed
“Notturno” (Neon) – directed by Gianfranco Rosi
“The Painter and the Thief” (Neon) – directed by Benjamin Ree
“Time” (Amazon Studios) – directed by Garrett Bradley
“The Truffle Hunters” (Sony Pictures Classics) – directed by Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
“Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO) – directed by David France
PREDICTION TALLY: 11/15 With 238 documentaries submitted, the category presented itself as fairly standard, with no egregious entries or surprises. However, the amount of entries warrants the Academy to consider expanding this lineup from five to ten nominees if large submissions like this continue. Eight of the 15 are helmed by female filmmakers which is incredibly encouraging with Asian, Black, Latinx and the disability community also represented. Very proud of the branch with many of these choices. Dawn Porter delivered a one-two punch this year with “John Lewis: Good Trouble” and “The Way I See It,” both of which failed to make the respective shortlist. Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger’s teamwork on “Totally Under Control” was also shut out.
SNUB: “Totally Under Control” (Neon) and “The Way I See It” (Focus Features)
SURPRISE: None?
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Fifteen films will advance to the next round of voting in the international feature film category. Films from 93 countries were eligible in the category, the most in Oscars history. Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category. In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.
“Another Round” (Denmark) – directed Thomas Vinterberg
“Better Days” (Hong Kong) – directed by Derek Tsang
“Charlatan” (Czech Republic) – directed by Agnieszka Holland
“Collective” (Romania) – directed by Alexander Nanau
“Dear Comrades!” (Russia) – directed by
“I’m No Longer Here” (Mexico) – directed by Fernando Frias
“Hope” (Norway) – directed by Maria Sødahl
“La Llorona” (Guatemala) – directed by Jayro Bustamante
“The Mole Agent” (Chile) – directed by Maite Alberdi
“Night of the Kings” (Ivory Coast) – Philippe Lacôte
“Quo Vadis, Aida?” (Bosnia and Herzegovina) – directed by Jasmila Žbanić
“Sun Children” (Iran) – directed by Majid Majidi
“Two of Us” (France) – directed by Filippo Meneghetti
“A Sun” (Taiwan) – directed by Chung Mong-hong
“The Man Who Sold His Skin” (Tunisia) – directed by Kaouther Ben Hania
PREDICTION TALLY: 12/15 This was a close race. There was chatter about “The Man Who Sold His Skin” doing very well with Academy members, but also concerns that not enough would see it. Guess I was wrong there, but all the usual suspects are still in the running. Spain is usually one of the default choices and with the power of Netflix behind it, I thought it would have a fighting chance. Despite playing film festivals, Poland also missed out on making the shortlist this year.
SNUB: “The Endless Trench” (Spain) and “Never Gonna Snow Again” (Poland)
SURPRISE: “Better Days” (Hong Kong) and “The Man Who Sold His Skin” (Tunisia)
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” (Warner Bros)
“Emma” (Focus Features)
“The Glorias” (Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment)
“Hillbilly Elegy” (Netflix)
“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” (Netflix)
“The Little Things” (Warner Bros)
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (Netflix)
“Mank” (Netflix)
“One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
“Pinocchio” (Roadside Attractions)
PREDICTION TALLY: 5/10 Netflix dominated here with four films in the running, but their tentpole film “The Trial of the Chicago 7” missing out could be an early warning signal, though it’s nearly impossible to read into the shortlist. “The Glorias” is one of those entries that when you see it on the list, you feel stupid for not predicting it considering they have three different women playing Gloria Steinem at different points in her life. The inclusion of “Birds of Prey” is a pleasant surprise, considering that it seems Warner Bros. didn’t put much effort behind it (omitting it from its FYC site). The big misses here are Emerald Fennell’s “Promising Young Woman,” which looked like a potential winner, and Lee Daniels’ “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” both of which made the Critics Choice lineup earlier this week. “The Prom” was also left off. The frontrunner here seems to be “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
SNUB: “Promising Young Woman” and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
SURPRISE: “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” and “The Glorias”
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Fifteen scores will advance in the original score category for the 93rd Academy Awards, out of 136 eligible scores. Members of the music branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
“Blizzard of Souls” (Film Movement) – Lolita Ritmanis
“Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix) – Terence Blanchard
“The Invisible Man” (Universal Pictures) – Benjamin Wallfisch
“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” (Netflix) – John Debney
“The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)” (Netflix) – Gabriel Yared
“The Little Things” (Warner Bros) – Thomas Newman
“Mank” (Netflix) – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
“The Midnight Sky” (Netflix) – Alexandre Desplat
“Minari” (A24) – Emile Mosseri
“Mulan” (Walt Disney Pictures) – Henry Gregson-Williams
“News of the World” (Universal Pictures) – James Newton Howard
“Soul” (Pixar) – Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
“Tenet” (Warner Bros) – Ludwig Göransson
“The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix) – Daniel Pemberton
PREDICTION TALLY: 12/15 One woman made this shortlist, and it wasn’t the one we expected. Lolita Ritmanis makes the cut for the international feature “Blizzard of Souls,” which didn’t make its respective lineup. Tamar-kali, who delivered great work in “Shirley,” will be sitting this one out, as will “Emma” co-composers Isobel Waller-Bridge and David Schweitzer. Familiarity and legacy typically work well with the music branch, which helped surprise inclusions like John Debney and Thomas Newman. But that didn’t help Elliot Goldenthal for “The Glorias” unfortunately. Another ding for “Promising Young Woman” and “Wolfwalkers,” which I thought would make an appearance. Amen and hallelujah for Terence Blanchard, Emile Mosseri, Daniel Pemberton and especially Benjamin Wallfisch.
SNUB: “Shirley” and “Wolfwalkers”
SURPRISE: “Blizzard of Souls” and “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey”
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
Fifteen songs will advance in the original song category out of 105 eligible songs. Members of the music branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
“Turntables” from “All In: The Fight for Democracy” (Amazon Studios)
“See What You’ve Done” from “Belly of the Beast” (Independent Lens)
“Wuhan Flu” from “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (Amazon Studios)
“Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga” (Netflix)
“Never Break” from “Giving Voice” (Netflix)
“Make It Work” from “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” (Netflix)
“Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Warner Bros)
“lo Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)” (Netflix)
“Rain Song” from “Minari” (A24)
“Show Me Your Soul” from “Mr. Soul!” (Shoes in the Bed Productions)
“Loyal Brave True” from “Mulan” (Walt Disney Pictures)
“Free” from “The One and Only Ivan” (Disney Plus)
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami” (Amazon Studios)
“Green” from “Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios)
“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Netflix)
PREDICTION TALLY: 9/15 This category offers several exclusions that are surprising to see. The magic for “Over the Moon” wasn’t able to crack the lineup, nor the sincerity of “Onward.” Andra Day’s possibility of a double Oscar nomination has now ended with both of her songs failing to make the list, despite a Golden Globe nomination — which by the way, she can still win. There are two songs from Diane Warren from “The Life Ahead” and “The One and Only Ivan,” and Abraham Marder can also be a double nominee as he wrote the song for “Sound of Metal” and was also a co-writer with his brother, Darius Marder, and director Derek Cianfrance on the screenplay. Good on the Academy for the shout out for the song from “Mr. Soul!” but shame for not shortlisting it for documentary feature.
SNUB: “Onward” (“Carried Me With You”), “Over the Moon” (“Rocket To the Moon”), “Tenet” (“The Plan”) and “The United States vs. Billie Holiday” (“Tigress & Tweed”)
SURPRISE: “Mr. Soul!” (“Show Me Your Soul”) and “Sound of Metal” (“Green”)
VISUAL EFFECTS
Ten films remain in the running in the visual effects category for the 93rd Academy Awards. The visual effects branch executive committee determined the shortlist. All members of the visual effects branch will be invited virtually to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the shortlisted films on March 6. Following the screenings, members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscars consideration.
“Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn” (Warner Bros)
“Bloodshot” (Sony Pictures)
“Love and Monsters” (Paramount Pictures)
“Mank” (Netflix)
“The Midnight Sky” (Netflix)
“Mulan” (Walt Disney Pictures)
“The One and Only Ivan” (Disney Plus)
“Soul” (Pixar)
“Tenet” (Warner Bros)
“Welcome to Chechnya” (HBO)
PREDICTION TALLY: 5/10 with alternate This was a slaughterhouse of top-tier contenders. Apple TV Plus seemed like a shoo-in with “Greyhound,” as did Universal Pictures’ “The Invisible Man” and Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog.” All failed to make the lineup in place of shock admissions like Lionsgate’s “Bloodshot” and Paramount’s “Love and Monsters.” “The One and Only Ivan” had a strong day, while “Soul” could be another one of the animated films that typically make the shortlist but fails to make it on nomination day. This year could present a different outcome for it as it may have the goods to go the way of “Kubo and the Two Strings.”
SNUB: “Greyhound,” “The Invisible Man” and “Sonic the Hedgehog”
SURPRISE: “Bloodshot,” “Love and Monsters” and “The One and Only Ivan”
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Ten films will advance in the Animated Short Film category, with 96 films qualifying in the category. Members of the short films and feature animation branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
“Burrow”
“Genius Loci”
“If Anything Happens I Love You”
“Kapaemahu”
“Opera”
“Out”
“The Snail and the Whale”
“To Gerard”
“Traces”
“Yes-People”
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Ten films will advance in the documentary short subject category for the 93rd Academy Awards out of 114 films that qualified. Members of the documentary branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
“Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa”
“Call Center Blues”
“Colette”
“A Concerto Is a Conversation”
“Do Not Split”
“Hunger Ward”
“Hysterical Girl”
“A Love Song for Latasha”
“The Speed Cubers”
“What Would Sophia Loren Do?”
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Ten films will advance in the live action short film category for the 93rd Academy Awards out of 174 qualifying films. Members of the short films and feature animation branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.
The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:
PLEASE NOTE: This forecast, assembled by The Hollywood Reporter‘s awards columnist Scott Feinberg, reflects his best attempt to predict the behavior of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, not his personal preferences. He arrives at these standings by drawing upon consultations with voters and awards strategists, analysis of marketing and awards campaigns, results of awards ceremonies that precede the Oscars, and the history of the Oscars ceremony itself. There will be regular updates to reflect new developments.
*BEST PICTURE*
Frontrunners Nomadland (Searchlight) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix) Minari (A24) Da 5 Bloods (Netflix) Sound of Metal (Amazon) One Night in Miami (Amazon) Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix) Promising Young Woman (Focus) Soul (Pixar) Mank (Netflix)
Major Threats Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros.) News of the World (Universal) The Father (Sony Classics) Tenet (Warner Bros.) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon)
Possibilities Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Focus) First Cow (A24) The Midnight Sky (Netflix) Palm Springs (Hulu/Neon) Malcolm & Marie (Netflix)
Long Shots The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Paramount) The White Tiger (Netflix) The Way Back (Warner Bros.) The Invisible Man (Universal)
*BEST DIRECTOR*
Frontrunners Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago 7) — podcast Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods) — podcast Darius Marder (Sound of Metal)
Major Threats David Fincher (Mank) Regina King (One Night in Miami) — podcast George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman)
Possibilities Paul Greengrass (News of the World) — podcast Christopher Nolan (Tenet) Eliza Hittman (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) Kelly Reichardt (First Cow)
Long Shots Florian Zeller (The Father) Lee Daniels (TheUnited States vs. Billie Holiday) Pete Docter & Kemp Powers (Soul) Ramin Bahrani (The White Tiger)
*BEST ACTOR*
Frontrunners Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) — podcast Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) — podcast Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods) — podcast Anthony Hopkins (The Father) Ben Affleck (The Way Back) — podcast
Major Threats Gary Oldman (Mank) Steven Yeun (Minari) — podcast Tom Hanks (News of the World) — podcast [one and two] Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) — podcast
Possibilities John David Washington (Malcolm & Marie) Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami) Eli Goree (One Night in Miami)
Long Shots LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah) George Clooney (The Midnight Sky) — podcast Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian) Adarsh Gourav (The White Tiger)
*BEST ACTRESS*
Frontrunners Frances McDormand (Nomadland) Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) — podcast Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) Sophia Loren (The Life Ahead) — podcast Zendaya (Malcolm & Marie)
Major Threats Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday) Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman) Meryl Streep (The Prom) — podcast Meryl Streep (Let Them All Talk) — podcast
Possibilities Nicole Beharie (Miss Juneteenth) Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) Kate Winslet (Ammonite) — podcast [one and two] Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit) — podcast
Long Shots Yeri Han (Minari) Radha Blank (The 40-Year-Old Version) Rachel Brosnahan (I’m Your Woman) — podcast Julia Garner (The Assistant) — podcast Elisabeth Moss (The Invisible Man) — podcast
*BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR*
Frontrunners Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods) — podcast Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7) — podcast Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami) — podcast Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)
Major Threats David Strathairn (Nomadland) Aldis Hodge (One Night in Miami) Mark Rylance (The Trial of the Chicago 7) Glynn Turman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
Possibilities Bill Murray (On the Rocks) Bo Burnham (Promising Young Woman) — podcast Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
Long Shots Colman Domingo (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) Will Patton (Minari) Frank Langella (The Trial of the Chicago 7) Rajkummar Rao (The White Tiger)
*BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS*
Frontrunners Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) Youn Yuh-jung (Minari) Amanda Seyfried (Mank) — podcast Olivia Cooke (Sound of Metal) Ellen Burstyn (Pieces of a Woman)
Major Threats Olivia Colman (The Father) — podcast Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian) Candice Bergen (Let Them All Talk) Helena Zengel (News of the World)
Possibilities Priyanka Chopra-Jonas (The White Tiger) Dominique Fishback (Judas and the Black Messiah) Saoirse Ronan (Ammonite) — podcast
Long Shots Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy) — podcast Talia Ryder (Never Rarely Sometimes Always) Alexis Chikaeze (Miss Juneteenth)
*BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY*
Frontrunners Nomadland (Chloé Zhao) One Night in Miami (Kemp Powers) Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Ruben Santiago-Hudson) The Father (Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller) News of the World (Luke Davies & Paul Greengrass) — podcast [Greengrass]
Major Threats The Life Ahead (Edoardo Ponti) The Midnight Sky (Mark L. Smith) Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Peter Baynham, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jena Friedman, Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer, Erica Rivinoja & Dan Swimer) — podcast [Cohen]
Possibilities First Cow (Jonathan Raymond & Kelly Reichardt) I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Charlie Kaufman) — podcast The White Tiger (Ramin Bahrani)
Long Shots The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Suzan-Lori Parks) Shirley (Sarah Gibbons) The Personal History of David Copperfield (Armando Iannucci) Emma. (Eleanor Catton)
*BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY*
Frontrunners The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Aaron Sorkin) — podcast Minari (Lee Isaac Chung) Sound of Metal (Derek Cianfrance, Abraham Marder & Darius Marder) Promising Young Woman (Emerald Fennell) Soul (Pete Docter, Mike Jones & Kemp Powers)
Major Threats Mank (Jack Fincher) Da 5 Bloods (Danny Bilson, Paul De Meo, Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee) — podcast [Lee] Malcolm & Marie (Sam Levinson) The Forty-Year-Old Version (Radha Blank)
Possibilities Never Rarely Sometimes Always (Eliza Hittman) Judas and the Black Messiah (Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas & Kenny Lucas) Palm Springs (Andy Siara) On the Rocks (Sofia Coppola)
Long Shots Miss Juneteenth (Channing Godfrey Peoples) I’m Your Woman (Julia Hart & Jordan Horowitz) Ammonite (Francis Lee) Tenet (Christopher Nolan)
*BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE*
Frontrunners Crip Camp (Netflix) Time (Amazon) Collective (Magnolia/Participant) Welcome to Chechnya (HBO) The Truffle Hunters (Sony Classics)
Rest of Shortlist Dick Johnson Is Dead (Netflix) The Dissident (Briarcliff) — podcast [Bryan Fogel] MLK/FBI (IFC) City Hall (Zipporah) — podcast [Frederick Wiseman] Boys State (Apple) The Mole Agent (Gravitas) On the Record (HBO Max) The Social Dilemma (Netflix) My Octopus Teacher (Netflix) Notturno (Super LTD)
Possibilities The Way I See It (Focus) Acasa, My Home (Kino Lorber/Zeitgeist) John Lewis: Good Trouble (Magnolia/Participant) Totally Under Control (Neon) — podcast [Alex Gibney] All In: The Fight for Democracy (Amazon) The Human Factor (Sony Classics) I Am Greta (Hulu) Kingdom of Silence (Showtime) The Fight (Magnolia/Topic) Athlete A (Netflix) Rebuilding Paradise (Nat Geo) — podcast [Ron Howard]
Long Shots Be Water (ESPN) Giving Voice (Netflix) I Am Not Alone (self-distributed) Searching for Mr. Rugoff (still seeking U.S. distribution) Miss Americana (Netflix) Kiss the Ground (self-distributed) Dear Mr. Brody (still seeking U.S. distribution) Oliver Sacks: His Own Life (Zeitgeist) Mucho Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado (Netflix) — podcast [Cristina Costantini] A Secret Love (Netflix) Circus of Books (Netflix)
Still to See 40 Years a Prisoner (HBO) 76 Days (MTV) Apocalypse ’45 (Discovery) Assassins (Greenwich) Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (still seeking U.S. distribution) Beautiful Something Left Behind (MTV) Belly of the Beast (PBS) Belushi (Showtime) Coded Bias (PBS Independent Lens) Crock of Gold (Magnolia) The Crying Steppe (Kazakhstan) Desert One (Greenwich) Disclosure (Netflix) The Earth Is Blue as an Orange (still seeking U.S. distribution) Father Soldier Son (Netflix) Feels Good Man (Wavelength Productions/PBS Independent Lens) Finding Yingying (MTV) Fireball: Visitor from Darker Worlds (Apple TV+) The Forbidden Reel (still seeking U.S. distribution) The Go-Go’s (Showtime) Gunda (Neon) I Walk on Water (Grasshopper) Mayor (Film Movement) Me and the Cult Leader (still seeking U.S. distribution) The Metamorphosis of Birds (still seeking U.S. distribution) A Most Beautiful Thing (still seeking U.S. distribution) Mr. SOUL! (self-distributed) My People (still seeking U.S. distribution) My Psychedelic Love Story (Showtime) Napoli Eden (still seeking U.S. distribution) Nasrin (Virgil Films & Entertainment) Olympia (still seeking U.S. distribution) Once Upon a Time in Venezuela (Topic) The Painter and the Thief (Neon) The Reason I Jump (Kino Lorber) Reunited (still seeking U.S. distribution) Rewind (Grizzly Creek) Rising Phoenix (Netflix) Softie (Icarus) Stars and Strife (Virgil Films & Entertainment) The State of Texas vs. Melissa (Filmrise) Stray (Magnolia) A Thousand Cuts (PBS) ‘Til Kingdom Come (Abramorama) To See You Again (still seeking U.S. distribution) Transhood (HBO) Unapologetic (still seeking U.S. distribution) The Viewing Booth (Roco) Vivos (still seeking U.S. distribution) Wild Daze (Cinedigm) Wintopia (still seeking U.S. distribution) With Drawn Arms (Starz) Zappa (Magnolia)
*BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE*
Frontrunners Another Round (Denmark) Collective (Romania) I’m No Longer Here (Mexico) Two of Us (France) Dear Comrades! (Russia)
Rest of Shortlist Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast) My Little Sister (Switzerland) Apples (Greece) Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Charlatan (Czech Republic) La Llorona (Guatemala) The Mole Agent (Chile) Notturno (Italy) A Sun (Taiwan) Hope (Norway)
Other Official Submissions (alphabetical) 14 Days, 12 Nights (Canada) Agnes Joy (Iceland) And Tomorrow the Entire World (Germany) Arracht (Ireland) Asia (Israel) Atlantis (Ukraine) The Auschwitz Report (Slovakia) Babenco: Tell Me When I Die (Brazil) Beginning (Georgia) Better Days (Hong Kong) Blizzard of Souls (Latvia) Broken Keys (Lebanon) Bulado (Netherlands) Causa Justa (Panama) Charter (Sweden) The Crying Steppe (Kazakhstan) Dara of Jasenovac (Serbia) Emptiness (Ecuador) The Endless Trench (Spain) Exile (Kosovo) Extracurricular (Croatia) The Father (Bulgaria) Gaza Mon Amour (Palestine) Heliopolis (Algeria) Impetigore (Indonesia) Jallikattu (India) Land of Ashes (Costa Rica) The Last Ones (Estonia) Leap (China) The Letter (Kenya) Lunana a Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan) The Man Standing Next (South Korea) The Man Who Sold His Skin (Tunisia) Mindanao (Philippines) Miracle in Cell No. 7 (Turkey) Nafi’s Father (Senegal) Never Gonna Snow Again (Poland) Nova Lituania (Lithuania) Once Upon a Time in Venezuela (Venezuela) Open Door (Albania) Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (Hungary) River Tales (Luxembourg) Roh (Malaysia) The Sleepwalkers (Argentina) Song Without a Name (Peru) Songs of Solomon (Armenia) Stories From the Chestnut Woods (Slovenia) Sun Children (Iran) This Is Not a Burial (Lesotho) Tove (Finland) True Mothers (Japan) Vitalina Varela (Portugal) What We Wanted (Austria) Willow (North Macedonia) Working Girls (Belgium) You Will Die at 20 (Sudan)
