Stage is set for Oscars, as nominees are announced

Kenya’s official submission for the 95th Academy Awards, TeraStorm, missed out on the nominations list that was released on Tuesday. In September 2022, the Kenya Oscars Selection committee announced that the CGI superhero film by Afrikana Digital had been chosen to represent the country in the International Best Feature Film category.

Written and directed by animator Andrew Kaggia, TeraStorm is the first animated film ever presented for an Oscars nomination by an African country.

The five films in that category that landed nominations are Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, The Sea Beast, and Turning Red.

Angela Bassett became the first Marvel Cinematic Universe star to be nominated for an acting Oscar for her Black Panther: Wakanda Forever role as Queen Ramonda.

“Wakanda Forever’s Queen Ramonda is a character that touched my spirit because she is a mother and a leader who must care for her grieving nation as much as she cares for her family in mourning,” Bassett said in a statement.

Everything Everywhere All at Once, a twisty sci-fi adventure directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, led the nominations, picking up 11 nods. It was followed by All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Banshees of Inisherin, a darkly comic look at friendship that unfolds against the backdrop of the Irish civil war, both of which scored nine nominations.

All three films will vie for best picture, in what is shaping up to be a much more commercially successful collection of honourees than recent years. The best picture race contains the two highest-grossing films of the year, Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick, along with Elvis, a musical biopic that scored with audiences last summer.

Other contenders include Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans, Tár, a drama about an abusive conductor, Women Talking, a look at the residents of a repressive religious community, and Triangle of Sadness, a send-up of the one per cent that unfolds partly on a mega yacht.

Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund will compete for the director’s prize against Spielberg, Todd Field, Martin McDonagh, and the directing duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert.

The nominations were announced at a challenging time for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the non-profit behind the awards, and the film business itself. Ratings for the Oscars have declined precipitously in recent years, imperilling the broadcast’s licensing fees, the leading source of revenue for the Academy.

Ke Huy Quan, a former child actor best known for his work in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, earned a best supporting actor nomination for his work in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

A few years ago, Quan had given up on acting, convinced that his career in front of the camera was over. There’s also Brendan Fraser, a former action star whose career was derailed by health issues and personal struggles, but who has re-emerged as a powerful character actor with a transformative turn as a morbidly obese man in The Whale. He earned a nomination for best actor.

And there were some surprise inclusions, perhaps none more stunning than Andrea Riseborough, whose performance as an alcoholic woman in the little-seen indie To Leslie scored her a best actress nomination.

In addition to Fraser, the best actor race includes Austin Butler (Elvis), Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Bill Nighy (Living) and Paul Mescal (Aftersun). All five actors are first-time nominees, a distinction that they share with Yeoh, de Armas and Riseborough. Blanchett has won two Oscars and been nominated eight times. The Fabelmans marks Williams’ fifth nomination.

Jimmy Kimmel will return to host the Oscars, marking the late night comic’s third stint as emcee. He previously led the awards show in 2017 and 2018. Last year, the Oscars returned to a host format with Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall, after going host-less the previous two years.

The 95th Oscars will be held on March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles.

-Additional reporting by Variety