HERE ARE THE NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2020 ACADEMY AWARDS

The nominations for the 92nd edition of the Academy Awards have been announced this afternoon. The 2020 edition of the Oscars will be taking place this year on February the 9th. Film fans worldwide will be turning their eyes – whether they are willing to admit it or not – to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood to see which of this year’s accolades will be delighting or more likely disappointing us all. Not to editorialise…

Okay to editorialise slightly, the nominations are a fairly bland and dismal representation of the best of cinema over the last year, with uninspiring nods also coming at the expense of a wider, more diverse range of talents. The failure to put any women forward in the Best Director category, despite worthy and/or successful offerings over the last twelve months from Lulu Wang, Celine Sciamma, Marielle Heller, Greta Gerwig, Lorene Scafaria and more is a particularly glaring omission, while the acting categories have outdone themselves in repeating their frequent pitfalls, this year even finding a way to nominate Scarlett Johnansson twice. The Oscars have always represented a middlebrow, narrow-minded field of the best films of the year, often but not always overlapping with true quality and often exclusionary to the point of oversight and the 2020 Academy Awards are no different. Still they encourage audiences to seek out films and filmmakers that they otherwise would not be as inclined to see, that at least should continue this year and hopefully to the benefit of some quality work, even if the absence of the likes of The Farewell, Hustlers or Uncut Gems boggles the mind.

There are still some positives to be gleamed amid the usual banality. Eagerly anticipated by Irish audiences ahead of its release here next month, Parasite has made history as the first South Korean film to be nominated for Best Picture after years of exceptional filmmaking from the Asian nation, with one of its leading lights Bong Joon-ho also receiving a nod in the Best Director category. Saoirse Ronan gained a worthy nomination for Best Actress for her role in Little Women and will be hoping for a win at the fourth time of asking after having been shortlisted in previous years  for Atonement (Best Supporting Actress, 2008), Brooklyn (Best Actress, 2016) and Lady Bird (Best Actress, 2018).

Best picture

Best cinematography

Best supporting actor

Best documentary feature

Best international feature film

Best actor

Best costume design

Best original score

Best original song

Best sound editing

Best sound mixing

Best documentary short

Best production design

Best original screenplay

Best adapted screenplay

Best animated feature

Best animated short

Best live-action short

Best supporting actress

Best film editing

Best actress

Best director

Best visual effects

Best makeup and hairstyling