Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki has made history again today as the first female Arab filmmaker ever to be nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for her moving refugee drama Capernaum. Egyptian director Jehane Noujaim was previously nominated in the Best Feature Documentary category for 2013's The Square.
Labaki entered the record books last May as the first Arab woman to pick up a major prize at Cannes when she won the Jury Prize following a premiere screening that earned a 15-minute-plus standing ovation. She did so again in December when she was the first to be shortlisted for the nomination, alongside another eight films from around the world.
Today, she moved onto the next level with the announcement that her film had made the final nomination list – the second successive year a Lebanese film made the cut following the nomination for Ziad Doueri's The Insult at last year's awards.
Can she now go one step further and win the award?
She certainly has some high profile supporters. None other than chat show queen, and Academy voting member, Oprah Winfrey, tweeted her support for the film on January 13 – the day before Oscars voting closed.
These 2 are so compelling on screen and worthy of your time. Story of a young boy who sues his parents for having children they can’t take care of. Makes you think of all the children for whom this story is a daily reality. Bravo team #Capernaum 👏🏽👏🏽 pic.twitter.com/J26E2vigc6
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) January 11, 2019
Winfrey's tweet attracted 10,000 likes, with Selma director Ava DuVernay among those replying to agree with Winfrey's sentiments.
Watched it on Cannes jury. So beautiful. What gorgeous performances. Woman director!
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) January 11, 2019
The film has also been nominated for a foreign language BAFTA, as well as a Golden Globe – where it lost out to Alfonso Cuaron's hotly fancied Roma recently. That film could prove Labaki's nemesis.
At the same time as Labaki was celebrating her own nomination, Cuaron was celebrating becoming only the 10th director to have a film not in the English language nominated in the Best Picture category, and the movie is among the favourites to pick up that award.
If it does, it would be the first foreign language film ever to do so. Simple logic would dictate that if Roma is among the best films in any language of the year, it is by default the best in a foreign language, since none of its Foreign Language competitors have been nominated for Best Picture. Voting doesn't always follow a logical pattern, however – just look to either side of the Atlantic for evidence – and voters who give Cuaron the nod for Best Picture may well feel that they should give something else a chance in the Foreign section.
The full list of the 91st Oscar nominees:
Best Picture:
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
Green Book
The Favourite
Roma
A Star is Born
Vice
_______________
Best Director:
Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman
Pawel Pawlikowski, Cold War
Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite
Alfonso Curaron, Roma
Adam McKay, Vice
_______________
Best Actor:
Christian Bale (Vice)
Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born)
Willem Dafoe (At Eternity's Gate)
Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)
Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)
_______________
Best Actress:
Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)
Glenn Close (The Wife)
Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)
Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Olivia Colman (The Favourite)
_______________
Best Supporting Actor:
Mahershala Ali (Green Book)
Sam Elliott (A Star is Born)
Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)
Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Sam Rockwell (Vice)
_______________
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams (Vice)
Marina De Tavira (Roma)
Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)
Emma Stone (The Favourite)
Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)
_______________
Best Adapted Screenplay:
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
BlacKkKlansman
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
If Beale Street Could Talk
A Star is Born
_______________
Best Original Screenplay:
The Favourite
First Reform
Green Book
Roma
Vice
_______________
Best Original Song:
All the Stars (Black Panther)
I'll Fight (RBG)
The Place Where Lost Things Go" (Mary Poppins Returns)
Shallow (A Star is Born)
When a Cowboy Trades his Spurs for Wings (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)
_______________
Best Costume Design:
Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots
_______________
Best Film Editing:
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book
Vice
_______________
Best Original Score:
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns
_______________
Best Animated Short Film:
Animal Behavior
Bao
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends
_______________
Best Live Action Short Film:
Detainment
Fauv
Margarite
Mother
Skin
_______________
Best Sound Editing:
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma
_______________
Best Sound Mixing:
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody
First Man
Roma
A Star is Born
_______________
Best Animated Feature:
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
_______________
Best Cinematography:
Cold War
The Favourite
Roma
Never Look Away
A Star is Born
_______________
Best Documentary Feature:
Free Solo
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG
_______________
Best Documentary Short Subject:
Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden
Period. End of Sentence.
_______________
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:
Border
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice
_______________
Best Visual Effects:
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
First Man
Ready Player One
Solo
_______________
Best Production Design:
Black Panther
The Favourite
First Man
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma
_________________
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Nadine Labaki's 'Capernaum' nominated for a Bafta
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