The brightest night in the world’s entertainment calendar will descend in a few hours. There are speculations about who will win the Oscar, the prestigious award of the film world. Bets are being made on who will have the last smile on their faces. Hollywood production companies and award-winning OTT platforms have spent countless dollars on Oscar campaigns. The curiosity around the 96th Academy Awards has peaked all over the world. All eyes are on the Dolby Theater at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles, California, USA. There on the night of March 10 (Bangladesh time 6 am on March 11) the famous stars will say the famous words one by one on the grand stage, ‘And the Oscar goes to….’
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will recognize the best works of films released last year in 23 categories at this event. This will mark the end of the awards season in Hollywood. How to predict who is more likely to win in which category! Although there is a tough fight in some categories, the names of some of the winners of this season can be announced in advance!
Best Film and Best Director
The most favorite atomic bomb inventor biopic ‘Oppenheimer’ with maximum 13 nominations including Best Picture. It has won BAFTA, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild and Producers Guild of America Awards. This film directed by Christopher Nolan is on the verge of winning the Oscar in the best film category. One of its rivals, last year’s highest-grossing movie ‘Barbie’, received 8 nominations at the Oscars. Despite ace at the box office, the film doesn’t seem likely to win front row categories at the Oscars.
Other nominations in the Best Film category include ‘American Fiction’, about a black writer fed up with publishers’ stifling ideas, French courtroom drama ‘Anatomy of a Fall’, which won the Palme d’Or at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, and ‘The Holdovers’, a Christmas comedy set in a boarding school, in 1920s Oklahoma, USA. ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, a biopic of American composer and orchestra director Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Maestro’, South Korean-Canadian director Celine Song’s ‘Past Lives’, a romantic story about the brutal killing of members of the Osage tribe in pursuit of oil resources in the state, life despite suicide. ‘Poor Things’ about a young woman who embarks on a journey of self-discovery after being repatriated and ‘The Zone of Interest’ about the family of a Nazi officer who settled next to a concentration camp that killed more than 1.1 million people in World War II.
‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and ‘The Zone of Interest’ are the first time two non-English films have been nominated for Best Picture at the same Oscars. Three of the 10 nominees in the Best Picture category this year were directed by women. This is the first time in Oscar history that three films directed by women have been nominated in the Best Picture category. These are Celine Song’s ‘Past Lives’, Greta Gerwig’s ‘Barbie’ and Justin Trier’s ‘Anatomy of a Fall’.
Oscar members cast a ballot ranking the winners from among the 10 films nominated in the Best Picture category. The picture that is number 1 in the most members’ ballots gets the prize. As a result, the film that is discussed more, it catches the attention of the voters. ‘Oppenheimer’ is therefore clearly ahead.
‘Titanic’, ‘Ben Hur’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ jointly hold the record for the most awards in Oscar history with 11. ‘Oppenheimer’ is likely to be added to that list.
British-born filmmaker Christopher Nolan is the clear favorite in the Best Director category. Although he directed ‘Interstellar’, ‘Inception’ and ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ won Oscars in various categories, he never won the best director award. Earlier, he was nominated as the best director only in 2018 for the film ‘Dunkirk’. But thanks to ‘Oppenheimer’, this 53-year-old producer is definitely going to win the elusive Oscar this time. He has already won BAFTA, Golden Globes, Directors Guild of America and Critics Choice Awards. As a result, the honor of the best director is going to be in his hands.
Four of the five nominees in the Best Director category are European, including Christopher Nolan. The others are France’s Justin Trier (Anatomy of a Fall), UK’s Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest) and Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things). Although Nolan has dual citizenship (British-American). But since he was born and raised in London, he must first be considered European.
Justine Trier is the eighth woman in the Oscars’ 96-year history to be nominated for Best Director. This may be due to the fact that 75 percent of the Oscars’ directorial corps is male. As per rules, the members of the directorate vote to finalize the nominees.
Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) is the only American among this year’s Best Director nominees. He set a record by being nominated for the best director category for the tenth time among the living. Scorsese also holds the record for being the oldest nominee in the Best Director category. This time he got the nomination at the age of 81 years. ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ is nominated in 10 categories.
‘Poor Things’, which won the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice Film Festival, received the second highest number of nominations in 11 categories at this year’s event.
best actor
Barring an upset, Irish star Cillian Murphy could have the last laugh in the Best Actor category for ‘Oppenheimer’. He is the winner of BAFTA, Golden Globes (Drama) and Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Cillian Murphy is set to become the first Irish-born actor to win an Oscar. British-Irish Daniel Day-Lewis has won the Oscar for Best Actor three times.
Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) boosted his Oscar chances by winning the Golden Globes (Musical or Comedy) and Critics’ Choice Movie Awards for Best Actor. But SAG’s 190,000 acting members make up the largest portion of Oscar voters. So Cillian Murphy has gone a long way by winning the SAG Awards. The other three stars nominated in the Best Actor category, Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Coleman Domingo (Rustin) and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) will be empty-handed! However, with the big event, Coleman Domingo has a chance to become the first Afro-Latino actor to win the Best Actor Oscar. He played the role of a gay civil rights activist in the film ‘Rustin’.
Best Supporting Actor
Like the best actor, the best supporting actor category will have the name ‘Oppenheimer’ as well as predictably. Through this, American star Robert Downey Jr.’s first Oscar win can be said to be certain. He is the absolute favorite to win the BAFTA, Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice and Screen Actors Guild Awards. His rival in the same category is Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction), Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon), Ryan Gosling (Barbie) and Mark Raffaello (Poor Things).
best actress
The two stars are in a tight fight in the Best Actress category. Emma Stone (Poor Things) or Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), who will win this award is spreading heat. Emma Stone won the BAFTA, Golden Globes (Musical or Comedy) and Critics’ Choice Awards for her portrayal of Bella Baxter. However, after winning the Golden Globes (Drama) for her role as Osage woman Molly Kyle, Lily Gladstone took the fight back by winning the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. He created history by becoming the first Native American to be nominated for an Oscar. This time, he is in front of him to make another history by winning the Oscar. The best actress award is going to go to one of these two stars.
The other three best actress nominees, Annette Bening (Naiad), Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall) and Carey Mulligan (Maestro), don’t seem to be able to do much. However, if Sandra Hüller wins the award, it will be 60 years since a German woman won the trophy for the best actress category.
Best Supporting Actress
A winner of the Best Supporting Actress category is almost certain, as is Best Supporting Actor! American star De’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) will win the award. He is an absolute favorite, winning BAFTAs, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, Critics’ Choice and Independent Spirit Awards. The other four stars nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category are Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple), America Ferrera (Barbie) and Jodie Foster (Naiad) returning empty-handed! Among them, Jodie Foster, like Coleman Domingo, is openly gay. This is the first time in Oscar history that two homosexuals have received nominations at the same ceremony.
Best International Film
The favorite in the Best International Film category is UK’s ‘The Zone of Interest’. It won the Best Sound and Best Non-English Film awards at the BAFTAs. ‘The Zone of Interest’ has also been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. At the 76th Cannes Film Festival, the British film won the Grand Prix after 24 years in the Best International Film category with ‘The Zone of Interest’. Although it is made in German. Because its story centers on the family of a Nazi commandant who settles near the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The Nazis killed more than 1.1 million people there in World War II. The family is haunted by the constant screams of prisoners, gunshots and smoke from the gas chambers.
The other four films nominated in the Best International Film category this year are ‘Eo Capitano’ (Italy), ‘Perfect Days’ (Japan), ‘Society of the Snow’ (Spain) and “The Teacher’s Lounge” (Germany). Meanwhile, the life story of the director of “The Teachers’ Lounge” Ilkar Katak is fascinating. Turkish parents never wanted their son to be a builder. That boy was nominated for an Oscar! It highlights the challenges that teachers face.
J. A. Directed by Bayona, Netflix’s ‘Society of the Snow’ follows the plight of the passengers who survived the October 13, 1972, plane crash in the Andes Mountains. The film has some potential in the Best International Film category.
Best Original Song and Background Music
The global hit ‘Barbie’ is the favorite in the Best Original Song category. American singer Billie Eilish sings ‘What Was I Made For?’ will win the prize. The song has won Golden Globes and two Grammys. It was written and composed by Billie Eilish and her brother Phineas O’Connell.
Another Barbie song, “I’m Just Why,” is a slight favorite in the Best Original Song category. Sung by Canadian star Ryan Gosling, the song was written and composed by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt.
Also nominated in the same category are ‘The Fire Inside’ (lyricist and composer Diane Warren, film: Flamin’ Hot), ‘It Never Went Away’ (lyricist and composer John Batiste and Dan Wilson, film: American Symphony) and ‘Wahjaze-a Song’ For My People’ (lyricist and composer Scott George, film: Killers of the Flower Moon) doesn’t seem to do the trick.
Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson will receive the award for Best Original Ambient Music. He has already won BAFTA, Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards for the film ‘Oppenheimer’.
Composer and member of Canadian rock group The Band Robbie Robertson received a posthumous nomination in the Best Original Score category for ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’. He died in August 2023 at the age of 80. Also nominated in the same category are Laura Karpman (American Fiction), John Williams (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) and Yerskin Fendrix (Poor Things).
Best Animated Film
The best animated film category is hotly contested. Japan’s Hayao Miyazaki’s ‘The Boy and the Heron’ or Sony Pictures’ ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ could win the award. Among them, ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ received Annie Awards, Critics’ Choice and Producers Guild of America Awards. On the other hand, ‘The Boy and the Heron’ has won the BAFTA and the Golden Globes and kept its hopes of winning the Oscar. Also nominated in the same category are ‘Elemental’ from the 76th Cannes Film Festival, Netflix’s ‘Nimona’, RTVE’s ‘Robot Dreams’.
Best Short Film
‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar’ directed by renowned American filmmaker Wes Anderson is the favorite in the Best Short Film category. Based on Roald Dahl’s short story, it stars ‘Doctor Strange’ star Benedict Cumberbatch, ‘James Bond’ star Ralph Fiennes and ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ star Dev Patel.
Bangladeshi-born British-American Nazreen Chowdhury directed ‘Red, White and Blue’, nominated in the Best Short Film category. It was produced by Sarah McFarlane. It stars Hollywood actress Brittany Snow. The story of the short film shows the disadvantages faced by women in the US state of Arkansas due to the ban on abortion.
Also nominated in the Best Short Film category are ‘The After’, ‘Invincible’ and ‘Night of Fortune’ directed by Misan Harriman and starring David Weloyo.
Best Animated Short Film
Directed by Dave Mullins, ‘War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko’ is a favorite in the Best Animated Short Film category. Sean Lennon, son of the legendary John Lennon, is the executive producer of the film. Also nominated in the same category are ‘Letter to a Pig’, ‘Ninety-Five Senses’, ‘Our Uniform’ and ‘Pichiderm’.
Best Documentary
‘Twenty Days in Mariupol’, set against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, is the favorite in the Best Documentary category. But ‘Four Daughters’, directed by Tunisia’s Kawtar Ben Hania, could also win the prize. She is the first Arab woman to be nominated for an Oscar twice. Her documentary tells the story of a Tunisian mother whose two daughters were radicalized by the Islamic State militant group.
‘To Kill A Tiger’, nominated in the Best Documentary category, is being talked about. It is directed by Indian-Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja. Also nominated in the same category were ‘Bobby Wine: The People’s President’ and ‘The Eternal Memory’.
Best edit
Jennifer Lemm can win the award in the best editing category for the film ‘Oppenheimer’. One of her rivals is Thelma Schoonmaker of ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’. He is the most nominated in the Best Editing category in Oscar history with 9 times. This time, if he wins, he will make the record of maximum four Oscar wins. Also nominated in the Best Editing category are ‘Poor Things’ (Yorgos Mavropsarivis), ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ (Lonho Seneschal) and ‘The Holdovers’ (Kevin Tent).
Best visual effects
Two Oscar-winning British special effects supervisor Neil Corbould received three nominations in the Best Visual Effects category alone. ‘The Creator’, ‘Napoleon’ and ‘Mission: Impossible-Dead Reckoning Part One’. But ‘Godzilla Minus One’ could get the award in this category. The other film nominated in the Best Visual Effects category is ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3’.
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