While the Golden Globes garnered several notable nominations and wins for Black actors in television and film, this year’s Oscar nominations look very different.
Some films by and about black people that could be considered Oscar fodder this awards season — including Emmett Till’s 1955 lynching film and “The Woman King” — made it to the list of nominations announced Tuesday. Did not make ,
Previous Oscar winner and star Viola Davis did not earn a nomination for her portrayal of a female warrior defending the Dahomey kingdom in 19th-century West Africa in “The Woman King.” Davis, who has become a fixture of award season, earned a Golden Globe nomination as well as a Screen Actors Guild nomination for her performance.
“Till,” starring Danielle Deadweiler as Mamie Till-Mobley, tells the story of a 14-year-old mother during her search for justice after her child is brutally murdered. The film did not earn any Academy Award nominations.
No women were nominated in the directing category, shutting out a handful of black women working in films this year, as was the case with the Golden Globe nominations earlier this year. Gina Prince-Bythewood, director of “The Woman King” starring Davis, was not nominated, nor was Chinoni Chukwu, who directed “Until”.
In December, Chukwu said in an interview with Tyler Perry for Variety that he felt inspired to break the anxiety he had in directing “Till” by doing justice to black ancestors.
“I had deep, deep concerns beforehand. Because of the importance of the story and its weight and its responsibility,” she said. “And so, I had all that going into it, and then I had to let it all go.”
While the science fiction horror film “Knope” was praised by film festivals and critics’ associations, the film directed by Oscar winner Jordan Peele and starring Keke Palmer, Daniel Kaluuya and Brandon Perea did not earn any nominations.
Brian Tyree Henry came away with a surprise nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as James Aucoin, an amputee who bonds with a soldier recovering from a traumatic brain injury, as in “Causeway.” was played by Jennifer Lawrence.
The latest Marvel blockbuster, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” earned five nominations — Angela Bassett for Best Supporting Actress, Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” for Best Original Song, Makeup and Hairstyling, Costumes and Visual Effects — Ryan Coogler were not nominated for their directorial efforts. “Wakanda Forever” also failed to match the best picture nod earned by 2018’s “Black Panther” — the first superhero film nominated for the top Oscar.
Bassett makes superhero cinema history as the first woman, the first person of color, and the first Marvel Studios actor to be nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in a comic book adaptation. This is Bassett’s second Oscar nomination; She first appeared 29 years ago in the 1993 Tina Turner biopic “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” Best Actress for
The 64-year-old at this point enters what was until now a small and exclusive club of white, male actors who have earned nominations for comic book and graphic novel adaptations, a list that includes Al Pacino for “Dick Tracy” in 1990. Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight” in 2008 and Joaquin Phoenix for “Joker” in 2019. Bassett is also the second oldest black woman to be nominated for an acting Oscar, behind supporting actress Ruby Dee, who appeared in 2007’s “American Gangster.” ,
