The 92nd Academy Award nominations have been announced. While Joker leads the pack with 11 nods, a number of films from the Mena region are competing for the coveted Oscars. Among them, two acclaimed films from Syria will vie for Best Documentary.
Directed by Feras Fayyad, The Cave tells the story of female doctors working in Ghouta as they battle sexism and limited resources amid air strikes. Multi award-winner For Sama, directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts, was also nominated. The film, which tells the story of Al-Kateab's time as a mother in Aleppo, already won the Prix L'Oeil d'Or for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and four prizes at the British Independent Film Awards, including Best Picture.
Two short films from the region will compete in the Live Action Short Film category. Brotherhood, by Meryam Joobeur, tells the story of a prodigal son returning to his Tunisian family with his mysterious new bride. Also nominated is another Tunisian story, Yves Piat's Nefta Football Club, the tale of two brothers who encounter a missing donkey while playing football on a makeshift pitch.
In the category for Best Documentary Short, Carol Dysinger's Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) also received a nomination. The film is about young Afghan girls learning to read, write and skateboard in Kabul.
With Todd Philips's comic book tale Joker scoring 11 nominations, making it the film to beat, three other movies come close behind. Tied on 10 nominations each are Martin Scorsese's gangster picture The Irishman, Sam Mendes's First World War drama 1917 and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood. All four titles were nominated for Best Picture, and each will compete in the screenplay categories.
Other films running these close include Noah Baumbach's Marriage Story and Greta Gerwig's Little Women, which both scored six nominations, including Best Picture. Baumbach was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay, while Gerwig will compete for Best Adapted Screenplay – her third Oscar nomination, after the two received for 2017's Lady Bird. Both, however, missed out on a Best Director nod.
Also with six nominations is New Zealand director Taika Waititi's Jojo Rabbit, his anti-hate satire in which he plays Adolf Hitler as a figment of a boy's imagination. Also up for Best Picture, Waititi will compete with Gerwig in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, whilst Scarlett Johansson – also nominated in the Best Actress category for Marriage Story – is up for Best Supporting Actress.
One of the biggest successes was Korean director's Bong Joon-ho's social satire Parasite, which backed up its success at the Golden Globes – where it won in the foreign language category – with six nominations. While it will be a clear favourite to scoop the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film, it went much further, with a Best Picture nomination, as well as nods for Film Editing, Original Screenplay, Directing and Production Design.
Undoubtedly, there will be criticisms from some quarters, due to the lack of diversity, with actors of colour largely ignored. In the acting categories, only British black actress Cynthia Erivo was nominated – for her role as the slave-turned-freedom fighter Harriet Tubman in the film Harriet. She will compete against Renee Zellweger, whose turn as Judy Garland in Judy has made her the bookmaker's favourite.
In the Best Actor category, Joaquin Phoenix will be the favourite for his performance in Joker, while there were nominations for Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and first nods for Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes) and Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory).
In the Supporting Actor categories, Golden Globe winner Laura Dern will be the hot favourite for Marriage Story. There was also a first nod for British actress Florence Pugh for Little Women and a surprise nomination for previous Oscar winner Kathy Bates for Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell. Best Supporting Actor, meanwhile, is a gallery of riches, with five former Oscar winners: The Irishman's Al Pacino and Joe Pesci; Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood), Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood) and Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes).
Among the notable nominations, veteran composer John Williams has been nominated for a record-breaking 52nd time for his work on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. British cinematographer Roger Deakins, who finally broke his Oscar duck two years ago at the 14th time of asking, when he won for Blade Runner 2049, now stands the chance to win again, with a nod for his stirring work on 1917.
The 2020 Academy Award nominees in full:
Best picture
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood
Parasite
Best director
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Todd Phillips, Joker
Sam Mendes, 1917
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Best actress
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron , Bombshell
Renee Zellweger, Judy
Best actor
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes
Best supporting actress
Kathy Bates , Richard Jewell
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Best supporting actor
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood
Best international feature film
Corpus Christi (Poland)
Honeyland (North Macedonia)
Les Miserables (France)
Pain and Glory (Spain)
Parasite (South Korea)
Best documentary feature
American Factory
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland
Best original score
Joker, Hildur Gudnadottir
Little Women, Alexandre Desplat
Marriage Story, Randy Newman
1917, Thomas Newman
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, John Williams
Best original song
I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away from Toy Story 4. Music and lyrics by Randy Newman
(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again from Rocketman. Music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin
I'm Standing With You from Breakthrough. Music and lyrics by Diane Warren
Into the Unknown from Frozen 2. Music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Stand Up from Harriet. Music and lyrics by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo
Best costume design
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood
Best adapted screenplay
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
The Two Popes
Best original screenplay
Knives Out
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood
Parasite
Best animated feature
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Toy Story 4
Best cinematography
The Irishman
Joker
The Lighthouse
1917
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood
Best editing
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Parasite
Best make-up and hairstyling
Bombshell
Joker
Judy
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917
Best production design
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
1917
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood
Parasite
Best sound editing
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Best sound mixing
Ad Astra
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
Best visual effects
Avengers: Endgame
The Irishman
The Lion King
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Best animated short
Dcera (Daughter)
Hair Love
Kitbull
Memorable
Sister
Best documentary short
In the Absence
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)
Life Overtakes Me
St Louis Superman
Walk Run Cha-Cha
Best live action short
Brotherhood
Nefta Football Club
The Neighbors' Window
Saria
A Sister
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The 92nd Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 9 in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre
