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Home Culture Cinema

Oscars Spotlight: 2022 Shortlists Announced 

Oscars shortlists announced for 10 categories, demonstrating Hollywood’s continued attempts to diversify 

byHenrietta McFarlane
December 30, 2021
in Cinema, Culture, Entertainment
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Last week, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday unveiled its shortlists for the 2022 Oscars in 10 categories.  Two years into the pandemic and following what was a rather mellow affair in 2021, it is uncertain as to what next year’s ceremony will involve. However, the films mentioned in the shortlists so far certainly confirm that the Oscars are continuing to answer Hollywood’s decade-long calls to diversify. 

The 2022 shortlists seem to reflect the slow and steady changes that are taking place on screen and behind the camera. From the Academy’s perspective, the awards don’t necessarily have to end up going to films that exhibit greater diversity, but they must be included in nominations. The Academy will want a diverse field of nominees, given that studies have found a direct correlation between Oscar nominee diversity in major categories and viewership. 

It could well be argued that this year’s nominations of films that deal with race, gender, and the immigration experience, as well as female directors, are merely symbolic. Whilst contenders such as King Richard, Flee and West Side Story don’t need Oscars to validate them, the Oscars need these films to survive. 

The shortlists include documentary and international features as well as documentary short subject, makeup and hairstyling, original score, original song, animated short, live-action short, visual effects. This article moves through a number of the top picks for winners of these categories, exploring their position in relation to the ongoing need for the Oscars to be ‘updated’ and diversify. The full shortlists for each of the 10 are listed at the bottom of this article. 

Flee 

One such nomination that has answered Hollywood’s calls to diversify is the animated documentary Flee which has been shortlisted for the best feature documentary, best international feature and best animated feature. It has even been suggested that the film may make history as the first documentary nominated for best picture. 

 

Written and directed by filmmaker Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Flee tells the story of Amin Nawabi as he grapples with a painful secret he has kept hidden for 20 years, one that threatens to derail the life he has built for himself and his soon to be husband. He tells for the first time the story of his extraordinary journey as a child refugee from Afghanistan. 

Given the film’s glowing critical reception and multiple nominations, it is clear that this film has not simply been shortlisted for the purpose of tokenistic diversity. 


Related Articles: Spielberg’s West Side Story Fails To Hit Box Office Notes |  “Don’t Look Up”: One Major Reason Why This is The Most Important Film of 2021 

International Feature Film: Drive My Car (and Flee)

Among the surprise winners at New York Film Critics Circle, both Flee and Drive My Car have been shortlisted in the Oscars international feature film category. 

Drive My Car tells the story of Yusuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), who, two years after his wife’s unexpected death, receives an offer to direct a production of Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. He meets Misaki Watari (Toko Miura), a taciturn young woman assigned by the festival to chauffeur him in his beloved red Saab 900. As the production’s premiere approaches, tensions mount amongst the cast and crew, not least between Yusuke and Koji Takatsuki, a handsome TV star who shares an unwelcome connection to Yusuke’s late wife. The film, much like Flee, unravels stories of the characters’ pasts.

 

As the title suggests, much of the film is shot in the car. Many reviews have commented on the use of silence as a powerful tool for amplifying and exploring past truths. Critics also believe the film is in the running for the best adapted screenplay category; a category that has historically included the least diverse nominations. 

However, what has arguably been the most hyped up film of the year is also in the running for the category. The Power of the Dog has dominated shortlists across the categories and nominations are sure to continue. 

The Power of the Dog strikes again 

Jonny Greenwood has joined fellow film composer Hans Zimmer’s No Time to Die on the Academy’s shortlist for the best original score with his score for the 2021 Western drama film The Power of the Dog. 

 

With its luscious string textures and carefully chosen dissonances, the Radiohead star who is famed for filling packed arenas with the idioms of the classical genre, perfectly captures the essence of this particular Western. The solo horn opening of the second cue ‘Requiem for Phil’ instantly connects the psychology of the characters to the expansive landscape of rural Otago where the film is shot. 

The cue titled ‘Mimicry’ makes use of a solo violin without vibrato or shimmer, its gutsy sound eerily ringing in the ears of audiences as it comes to a close. Greenwood’s name appeared again on the shortlist, this time for his score for Spencer. His training in classical harmony and composition throughout his upbringing has now not only infiltrated his career as a ‘pop’ musician but also as a film composer. We await confirmation of further category shortlists which will undoubtedly result in a number of awards for The Power of the Dog. 

Beyoncé takes on cinema 

In another music category, this time best original song, Beyoncé’s ‘Be Alive’ from King Richard is a firm favourite alongside her husband Jay-Z’s ‘Guns Go Bang’ for The Harder They Fall and Ariana Grande’s ‘Just Look Up’ for Don’t Look Up. 

 

Theme songs or original songs that first surface and are made popular by a film is a phenomenon that became commonplace in the 60s and 70s as an answer to commercial and aesthetic challenges the film industry faced post-war. 

The collection of stars from the music world that have written theme songs for this year’s movies reflect answers to new and old challenges. Pop songs benefit the film, acting as a catchy melody that audiences can hold onto and listen to again upon leaving the cinema as well as the artist whose music is automatically disseminated through public consciousness as it is intrinsically connected to what will hopefully be a box office success. 

Beyoncé’s ‘Be Alive’ is no different story, King Richard has greatly benefited from the song which has entered the film’s title into the Oscars shortlists. Beyoncé’s name has now also been entered into the hall of film fame as well as the hall of pop fame. 

As a figurehead of the Black Lives Matter Movement, Beyoncé was perfect for the film in another way. King Richard tells the story of how tennis superstars Venus and Serena Williams became who they are after the coaching from their father Richard Williams. It is predicted to be a big contender for the best picture category, a category that was relatively diverse last year. For the past two years, the best picture winners have been films directed by a filmmaker of colour. 

Whether tokenistic or not, the Academy is certainly taking the call to diversify seriously. After the challenges that the pandemic has thrown at the entertainment industry and cinema attendance, they must do everything they can to stay up to date and culturally cutting edge. Huge award ceremonies like the Oscars are at the forefront of this movement by recognising and bringing public attention to diverse talent in the film space. 

Full list of nominations

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Ascension

Attica

Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry

Faya Dayi

The First Wave

Flee

In the Same Breath

Julia

President

Procession

The Rescue

Simple as Water

Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

The Velvet Underground

Writing With Fire

 

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

Águilas

Audible

A Broken House

Camp Confidential: America’s Secret Nazis

Coded: The Hidden Love of J. C. Leyendecker

Day of Rage

The Facility

Lead Me Home

Lynching Postcards: Token of a Great Day

The Queen of Basketball

Sophie & the Baron

Takeover

Terror Contagion

Three Songs for Benazir

When We Were Bullies

 

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Austria, Great Freedom

Belgium, Playground

Bhutan, Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom

Denmark, Flee

Finland, Compartment No. 6

Germany, I’m Your Man

Iceland, Lamb

Iran, A Hero

Italy, The Hand of God

Japan, Drive My Car

Kosovo, Hive

Mexico, Prayers for the Stolen

Norway, The Worst Person in the World

Panama, Plaza Catedral

Spain, The Good Boss

 

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING 

Coming 2 America

Cruella

Cyrano

Dune

The Eyes of Tammy Faye

House of Gucci

Nightmare Alley

No Time to Die

The Suicide Squad

West Side Story

 

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Being the Ricardos

Candyman

Don’t Look Up

Dune

Encanto

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun

The Green Knight

The Harder They Fall

King Richard

The Last Duel

No Time to Die

Parallel Mothers

The Power of the Dog

Spencer

The Tragedy of Macbeth

 

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“So May We Start?” from Annette

“Down To Joy” from Belfast

“Right Where I Belong” from Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road

“Automatic Woman” from Bruised

“Dream Girl” from Cinderella

“Beyond The Shore” from CODA

“The Anonymous Ones” from Dear Evan Hansen

“Just Look Up” from Don’t Look Up

“Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto

“Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days

“Guns Go Bang” from The Harder They Fall

“Be Alive” from King Richard

“No Time To Die” from No Time to Die

“Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” from Respect

“Your Song Saved My Life” from Sing 2

 

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Affairs of the Art

Angakusajaujuq: The Shaman’s Apprentice

Bad Seeds

Bestia

Boxballet

Flowing Home

Mum Is Pouring Rain

The Musician

Namoo

Only a Child

Robin Robin

Souvenir Souvenir

Step into the River

Us Again

The Windshield Wiper

 

LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM

Ala Kachuu – Take and Run

Censor of Dreams

The Criminals

Distances

The Dress

Frimas

Les Grandes Claques

The Long Goodbye

On My Mind

Please Hold

Stenofonen

Tala’vision

Under the Heavens

When the Sun Sets

You’re Dead Helen

 

SOUND

Belfast

Dune

Last Night in Soho

The Matrix Resurrections

No Time to Die

The Power of the Dog

A Quiet Place Part II

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Tick, Tick … Boom!

West Side Story

 

VISUAL EFFECTS

Black Widow

Dune

Eternals

Free Guy

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Godzilla vs. Kong

The Matrix Resurrections

No Time to Die

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Spider-Man: No Way Home


Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by Impakter.com columnists are their own, not those of Impakter.com. — In the Featured Photo: The 86th Annual Academy Awards, 2014. Featured Photo Credit: Walt Disney Television

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Henrietta McFarlane

Henrietta McFarlane

Henrietta McFarlane is a journalist at Impakter. She has recently graduated from the University of Cambridge with a degree in Music and has grown up in both the UK and Australia. She enjoys writing about Indigenous Australian culture and has previously worked as a columnist for Varsity Newspaper where she wrote articles on topics such as the Black Lives Matter movement and the representation of Indigenous Australians in cinema.

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