(January 14, 2016 – Hollywood, CA) The last few years haven’t been so good for Canadians when it came to being nominated, let alone winning, a coveted Oscar®. This year, thanks to some co-productions, Canada has fared much better and two films in particular have just received a huge boost thanks to the announcements made this morning by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Following are those categories we’ll be paying attention to when the Academy Awards® are announced on February 28th. We have highlighted and/or linked to those films or names nominated this morning:
Performance by an actress in a leading role:
Cate Blanchett in “Carol”
Brie Larson in “Room”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Joy”
Charlotte Rampling in “45 Years”
Saoirse Ronan in “Brooklyn”
Performance by an actress in a supporting role:
Jennifer Jason Leigh in “The Hateful Eight”
Rooney Mara in “Carol”
Rachel McAdams in “Spotlight”
Alicia Vikander in “The Danish Girl”
Kate Winslet in “Steve Jobs”
Achievement in cinematography:
“Carol” Ed Lachman
“The Hateful Eight” Robert Richardson
“Mad Max: Fury Road” John Seale
“The Revenant” Emmanuel Lubezki
“Sicario” Roger Deakins
Achievement in directing:
“The Big Short” Adam McKay
“Mad Max: Fury Road” George Miller
“The Revenant” Alejandro G. Iñárritu
“Room” Lenny Abrahamson
“Spotlight” Tom McCarthy
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score):
“Bridge of Spies” Thomas Newman
“Carol” Carter Burwell
“The Hateful Eight” Ennio Morricone
“Sicario” Jóhann Jóhannsson
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” John Williams
Best motion picture of the year:
“The Big Short” Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
“Bridge of Spies” Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
“Brooklyn” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Doug Mitchell and George Miller, Producers
“The Martian” Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer and Mark Huffam, Producers
“The Revenant” Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent and Keith Redmon, Producers
“Room” Ed Guiney, Producer
“Spotlight” Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin and Blye Pagon Faust, Producers
Achievement in sound editing:
“Mad Max: Fury Road” Mark Mangini and David White
“The Martian” Oliver Tarney
“The Revenant” Martin Hernandez and Lon Bender
“Sicario” Alan Robert Murray
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Matthew Wood and David Acord
Adapted screenplay:
“The Big Short” Screenplay by Charles Randolph and Adam McKay
“Brooklyn” Screenplay by Nick Hornby
“Carol” Screenplay by Phyllis Nagy
“The Martian” Screenplay by Drew Goddard
“Room” Screenplay by Emma Donoghue
Other nominations for Canadian filmmakers include Adam Benzine (for Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah) and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (for A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness). They will compete against each other in the Best documentary short subject category. Toronto R&B singer-songwriter The Weeknd and his Canadian songwriting collaborators Stephan Moccio, Ahmad Balshe and Jason Daheala Quenneville share an original song nomination for Earned It from the film Fifty Shades of Grey. A film shot mostly in Canada, but not a Canadian film nor Canadian co-production, The Revenant, which featured a number of Canadian actors, has been nominated in twelve categories including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Visual Effects. Some of the technical categories included Canadians, such as visual effects artist Cameron Waldbauer, set decorator Hamish Purdy, sound technician Chris Duesterdiek (for sound mixing) and makeup and hair artist Robert Pandini. Also in the Sound Mixing category is Paul Massey, nominated for his work on The Martian, and finally, in the Animated Short category, Richard Williams shares his nomination with Imogen Sutton for the short, Prologue.
Sicario is not a Canadian film, but it was the first so-called “big budget Hollywood film” for Canadian director Denis Villeneuve. It should be noted that this is the first year we can remember two Canadian films, the co-productions Brooklyn and Room, landing Best Picture nominations, in addition to the other nominations for those films.
In the event we have missed a nomination, Northernstars.ca will update this page quickly.
