By Samantha Ofole-Prince
Announced this morning by actor-writer-comedians Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang live from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Los Angeles, the 97th Oscar Award nominations offered few surprises.
As widely expected, Cynthia Erivo snagged her third Oscar nomination for her role as Elphaba in the movie “Wicked.” The Nigerian actress was previously nominated both for Original Song and for her leading role in the movie “Harriet” in 2019. Her film “Wicked” also picked up numerous nominations, but the drama ‘Emilia Pérez’ a Spanish-language Netflix musical exploring trans identity and the 3 and 1/2-hour film about a Hungarian architect chasing the American dream racked up the most nominations.
Other notable nominees include Zoe Saldaña who earned her first Oscar nomination for playing “Rita” in “Emilia Pérez” and Colman Domingo who earned his second nomination for the engaging prison drama “Sing Sing.”
“Conclave,” the brilliant drama about the selection of a new Pope received 8 nominations for Costume design, Film editing, Original score, Production design and acting nods for its lead actors Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini. The song “The Journey” from Tyler Perry’s Netflix film “The Six Triple Eight” also received an achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song).
Shut out from the Best International Feature Film category was Mati Diop’s “Dahomey.” The documentary style piece which tracks the journey of royal treasures looted during colonization by France as they are returned to Africa, was a firm favorite in the Oscar race for best foreign film nod. There was also no Oscar love for Malcolm Washington’s “The Piano Lesson” or “Blitz,” Steve McQueen’s World War II drama which follows the epic journey of a 9-year-old British boy.
The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theater at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC, streamed live on Hulu.
Photos: A.M.P.A.S.
