The nominations for the 2023 Oscars were announced on Tuesday, January 24th, with Riz Ahmed, who won the Oscar for best live-action short last year, and Allison Williams, who currently stars in the horror hit M3GAN, announcing the nominees. The ceremony, which will take place Sunday, March 12, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, has Jimmy Kimmel back as the host after previously leading the awards show in 2017 and 2018.
The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: Our Highlights
Similar to the 2023 Golden Globes, A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Banshees of Inisherin from Searchlight Pictures led the nominations. All Quiet on the Western Front, which got a single Golden Globe nomination for Best Picture – Non-English Language (formerly Foreign Language), received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. With the nominations came some surprises, snubs, and standouts, promising an exciting show this year.
Here are some brief highlights and in-depth looks at the nominations.
- Asian Actors Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, and Hong Chau made history with their nominations
- Prominent films by Black filmmakers, such as The Woman King and Till, although being must-watch films, were not nominated for any Oscars
- Andrea Riseborough received a surprise nomination for Best Lead Actress for her performance in the film To Leslie
- Brian Tyree Henry received a surprise nomination for Best Supporting Actor for Causeway
- No Oscar nominations for acclaimed horror hits, including Nope, Pearl, and The Menu
READ MORE: The 2023 Screen Actors Guild Awards: Highlights & Full List of Nominees
Everything Everywhere All at Once Makes History
Leading with eleven nominations, including Best Lead Actress for Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan, and two Best Supporting Actress nominations for Stephanie Hsu and NYFA Guest Speaker Jamie Lee Curtis, the eccentric and heartwarming Everything Everywhere All at Once dominates the Oscars this year. Many were relieved to see recognition for Hsu, the only main cast member not to receive a Golden Globe nomination. Each actor is receiving their first Oscar nomination this year.
The nominations also helped make history, as it’s the first time four actors of Asian descent — Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, and Hong Chau (The Whale) were nominated in the same year. Yeoh is also the first self-identified Asian actress nominated for Best Lead Actress.
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Brings a Spotlight to Craftsmanship
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Animated and was also nominated at the 95th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. The film is del Toro’s first stop-motion film and features the work of experienced craftspeople and visual artists. NYFA’s very own Tony Candelaria, who works as an Instructor at NYFA Los Angeles, also worked on the film. The film currently has an exhibit, Crafting Pinocchio, at The Museum of. Modern Art history in New York City.
“No art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation, and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio,” del Toro has said.
Netflix, who produced the film, also created the documentary Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio: Handcarved Cinema to show the audience how del Toro’s vision came to life.
READ MORE: What Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio Can Teach Aspiring Visual Storytellers
The Fabelmans Proves to be a ‘Best Picture’ Contender
The Fabelmans, which won the Golden Globe for Best Picture – Drama and Best Director – Motion Picture for NYFA Guest Speaker Steven Spielberg, was nominated for seven Oscars this year, including Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Picture. The Universal Pictures film, based on Spielberg’s own life, also stars NYFA alum Paul Dano and NYFA Guest Speaker Seth Rogen as family friend Benny. Dano also starred in The Batman, which was nominated for three Oscars.
WATCH: Guest Speaker Series: Seth Rogen Q&A at NYFA
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Brings Marvel to the Table
Marvel fans were overjoyed when Black Panther: Wakanda Forever earned six nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for Angela Bassett, who played Queen Ramonda. Bassett, who won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, may be tough to beat for her category, which also includes Hong Chau (The Whale), Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin), Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once), and Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once).
It’s the first Oscar nomination in an acting category for Marvel Studios and NYFA Guest Speaker Kevin Feige and Guest Speaker Nate Moore, both Producers of the film. Win or lose, the successful awards season for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever continues to pay tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman, who passed while the sequel to his film was in production.
WATCH: NYFA’s Q&A-List with Tova Laiter: Nate Moore
Elvis Continues to Sing for Austin Butler
Austin Butler, who won Best Actor in a Drama for his performance in Elvis, was nominated for Best Lead Actor. He joins the long list of actors with their first Academy Award nomination this year. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, including Best Picture. The nominations are bittersweet for the Elvis team, as Lisa Marie Presley, the famous crooner’s real-life daughter, passed away only days after the Golden Globes.
“I know she’s smiling down right now,” Butler said.
The movie was filmed in Gold Coast, Australia, with the assistance of some hardworking NYFA Australia students. As Queensland continues to prove itself as a top-notch destination for filmmaking, we can’t wait to see what films come out of Australia (and from our NYFA Australia alums!) next.
No Female Director Nominations
Despite an exceptional talent pool this year, including Sarah Polley for Women Talking, Charlotte Wells for Aftersun, Gina Prince-Bythewood for The Woman King, and Chinonye Chukwu for Till, no female directors were nominated this year. While some of the films had some recognition, such as Women Talking for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture, as well as Best Lead Actor for Aftersun’s Paul Mescal, The Woman King and Till were shut out of nominations entirely. It’s important to note that no Black woman has ever been nominated or won the award for Best Director.
After the nominees were announced, in a message on Instagram, Chukwu said this:
“We live in a world and work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women,” she said.
“And yet. I am forever in gratitude for the greatest lesson of my life – regardless of any challenges or obstacles, I will always have the power to cultivate my own joy, and it is this joy that will continue to be one of my greatest forms of resistance.”
Babylon Falls Short of La La Land
Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, called a “love letter to cinema,” got three Oscar nominations, including Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Costume Design. Regardless of the all-star cast, which includes Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, who is one of the most famous Australian actors of our age, as well as Tobey Maguire, Jean Smart, Olivia Wilde, and Diego Calva, there were no further nominations. Director Chazelle won a 2017 Oscar for Best Achievement in Directing for La La Land. At NYFA, we’re particularly proud of Babylon, as NYFA Acting Instructor Miraj Grbic worked on the film.
First-Time Nomination for Fan Favorite Brendan Fraser
While 2022’s The Whale has had some controversy, fans still applaud Brendan Fraser, who received a nomination for Best Lead Actor. It’s Fraser’s first-ever Oscar nomination as. The Whale marked his return to film after nearly 12 years. In what is lovingly being referred to as “the Brenaissance,” Fraser has been welcomed back into the fold. He is speculated to have upcoming roles in Behind the Curtain of Night, Martin Scorcese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, as well as a Coen Brothers movie.
“I like people feeling like they’re getting to know me again,” Fraser said in an interview with GQ. “Because we’ve all grown a little older together.”
READ MORE: Producing Students Attend ‘The Whale’ Premiere at Lincoln Center
ALL 2023 OSCAR NOMINATIONS
Best Supporting Actor
Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)
Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans)
Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)
WINNER: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Best Supporting Actress
Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Hong Chau (The Whale)
Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)
WINNER: Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Best Animated Feature Film
WINNER: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (Netflix)
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On (A24)
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (DreamWorks Animation)
The Sea Beast (Netflix)
Turning Red (Pixar)
Best Animated Short Film
WINNER: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse (Apple TV+)
The Flying Sailor (ONF/NFB)
Ice Merchants (COLA – Coletivo Audiovisual, Wildstream, Royal College of Art)
My Year of Dicks (Jeanette Jeanenne)
An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It (Griffith Film School)
Best Costume Design
Babylon (Paramount Pictures)
WINNER: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel Studios)
Elvis (Warner Bros)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (Focus Features)
Best Live Action Short
WINNER: An Irish Goodbye (Floodlight Pictures)
Ivalu (M&M Productions)
Le Pupille (Disney+)
Night Ride
The Red Suitcase (Cynefilms)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
The Batman (Warner Bros.)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel Studios)
Elvis (Warner Bros.)
WINNER: The Whale (A24)
Best Original Score
WINNER: All Quiet on the Western Front
Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
Best Sound
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios)
The Batman (Warner Bros.)
Elvis (Warner Bros.)
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Best Adapted Screenplay
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)
Living (Sony Pictures Classics)
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
WINNER: Women Talking (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
Best Original Screenplay
The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)
WINNER: Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Tár (Focus Features)
Triangle of Sadness (Neon)
An Irish Goodbye (Floodlight Pictures)
Best Cinematography
WINNER: All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Netflix)
Elvis (Warner Bros.)
Empire of Light (Searchlight Pictures)
Tár (Focus Features)
Best Documentary Feature Film
All That Breathes (HBO Documentary Films)
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (Neon)
Fire of Love (National Geographic Documentary Films/Neon)
A House Made of Splinters (Final Cut for Real)
WINNER: Navalny (CNN/Warner Bros.)
Best Documentary Short Film
WINNER: The Elephant Whisperers (Netflix)
Haulout (Albireo Films)
How Do You Measure a Year? (Jay Rosenblatt Films)
The Martha Mitchell Effect (Netflix)
Stranger at the Gate (Smartypants Pictures)
Best Film Editing
The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)
Elvis (Warner Bros.)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount)
Best International Feature Film
WINNER: All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)
Close (Belgium)
EO (Poland)
The Quiet Girl (Ireland)
Best Original Song
“Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman
“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick
“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
“Naatu Naatu” from RRR
“This Is a Life” from Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Production Design
WINNER: All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios)
Babylon (Paramount Pictures)
Elvis (Warner Bros)
The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Best Visual Effects
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
WINNER: Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios)
The Batman (Warner Bros.)
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Marvel Studios)
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Best Lead Actor
Austin Butler (Elvis)
Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
Bill Nighy (Living)
Best Lead Actress
Cate Blanchett (Tár)
Ana de Armas (Blonde)
Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie)
Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Best Director
Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)
Todd Field (Tár)
Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness)
Best Picture
All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix)
Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios)
The Banshees of Inisherin (Searchlight Pictures)
Elvis (Warner Bros.)
Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24)
The Fabelmans (Universal Pictures)
Tár (Focus Features)
Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures)
Triangle of Sadness (Neon)
Women Talking (MGM/United Artists Releasing)
Tune in to support our alumni at the 95th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 12, 2023!