A giant Oscar trophy statuette on display at the 91st Nominees Gala in February 2019 in Los Angeles. – Robyn BECK / AFP
- The 93rd edition of the Oscars takes place this Sunday in Los Angeles.
- The ceremony, postponed for two months due to the health crisis, will look like “nothing that has been done before,” says Steven Soderbergh, the co-producer of the evening.
- Nomadland is favorite for the Oscar for best film, while the race for the statuette is very open for actors and actresses. In addition, Netflix, which has 35 nominations, could be one of the big winners of the evening.
The Oscar of the ceremony unlike any other is awarded to … the 93rd edition which will take place Sunday in Los Angeles (and on the night of Sunday to Monday, Paris time). The event will be held in an art deco station and should essentially crown works seen on streaming platforms. Here are the keys to better understand this award ceremony and its challenges.
Nomadland has a very good chance of winning the Oscar for best feature film. This film at the crossroads of drama, documentary and road movie: it follows elderly Americans living on the roads after having lost everything during the “subprime” crisis. It is signed Chloé Zhao, who is racing in the best achievement category and could become the second woman and the first non-white to win this trophy. Four other Oscars are also within the reach of this film: Best Actress for Frances McDormand, Best Cinematography for Joshua James Richards, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing for Chloé Zhao.
The Oscar race for actor and actress categories is very open. All four awards could go to comedians of color, after years of controversy over the Academy’s lineup, deemed too white and masculine to reflect society as a whole. Best actress side, the five candidates, including Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Blues) and Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman), have won major awards for their performances. Viola Davis’ on-screen partner Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer last summer before the film’s release in which he plays a trumpeter haunted by racist atrocities, is expected to triumph in his category. But a member of the Academy of Oscars estimated on condition of anonymity that a “surprise” remained possible with “Anthony Hopkins in ambush” for his performance noticed in The Father.
Daniel Kaluuya is favorite for Oscar for Best Supporting Actor thanks to his role in Judas and the Black Messiah while South Korean Youn Yuh-jung is enjoying increasing popularity on the feminine side after the recent funny and biting speeches she gave when receiving awards for Minari.
Yes Of them, French candidate for the Oscar for best non-English-speaking film, does not appear in the final list of contenders for the statuette, chauvinistic spirits can be consoled: France will still be represented at the ceremony. The Father, the first feature film by French director Florian Zeller is in the running for six trophies, including best film and best adapted screenplay. It is an adaptation, in English, of his play The father, staged for the first time in 2012 at the Hébertot Theater. Robert Hirsch has played the title role on the stage no less than 350 times. On screen, the character is played by Anthony Hopkins who could well walk away with the Oscar for best actor.
The closure of cinemas due to the health crisis has in fact been favorable to films available for streaming. On paper, Netflix is expected to win the most Oscars on Sunday, especially with technical categories and documentary The wisdom of the octopus. Mank by David Fincher, released directly on the platform, is at the top of the nominations with ten citations, notably in the categories best film and director. But this biographical film going behind the scenes of the writing of the screenplay of Citizen Kane almost left empty-handed from the ceremonies leading up to the Oscars (Golden Globes, Baftas, etc.). Chicago Seven, signed Aaron Sorkin, has six nominations, including best film and best original screenplay. In all, Netflix films garnered 35 nominations this year, compared to 12 for Amazon Prime Video (Sound of Metal…) And two for Apple TV + (Greyhound and Wolfwalkers). Nomadland, it was put online on Disney + in North America and in several other countries (United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, with the exception of France where its theatrical release is announced for June 9.
- The ceremony, unheard of
If the pandemic has forced organizers to postpone the Oscars by two months, the co-producer of the evening, director Steven Soderbergh, has promised that these upheavals will be an opportunity to offer a show that will be like “nothing that has been done before “. He wants the ceremony to be filmed like a movie film rather than a TV show. Organizers insisted the stars, including Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, be in gala attire. They should be allowed to remove their masks when they are onscreen. European stars who will not be able to reach Los Angeles will be welcomed at dedicated sites in London and Paris, with satellite broadcast. Most reporters will follow the awards show via the Internet, and not all Hollywood moguls themselves have received an invitation.