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The Communiqué News

LOS ANGELES, CA, December 22, 2022: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced shortlists in 10 categories for the 95th Academy Awards® Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film, Sound and Visual Effects.


Swati Bhat

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Feature Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. One hundred forty-four films were eligible in the category. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.


The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:


“All That Breathes”

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”

“Bad Axe”

“Children of the Mist”

“Descendant”

“Fire of Love”

“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song”

“Hidden Letters”

“A House Made of Splinters”

“The Janes”

“Last Flight Home”

“Moonage Daydream”

“Navalny”

“Retrograde”

“The Territory”



DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM

Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Short Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. Ninety-eight films qualified in the category. Members of the Documentary Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.


The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:


“American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton”

“Anastasia”

“Angola Do You Hear Us? Voices from a Plantation Prison”

“As Far as They Can Run”

“The Elephant Whisperers”

“The Flagmakers”

“Happiness Is £4 Million”

“Haulout”

“Holding Moses”

“How Do You Measure a Year?”

“The Martha Mitchell Effect”

“Nuisance Bear”

“Shut Up and Paint”

“Stranger at the Gate”

“38 at the Garden”



INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Fifteen films will advance to the next round of voting in the International Feature Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. Films from 92 countries and regions were eligible in the category.


Academy members from all branches were invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must have met a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.


In the nominations round, Academy members from all branches are invited to opt in to participate and must view all 15 shortlisted films to vote.


The films, listed in alphabetical order by country, are:


Argentina, “Argentina, 1985”

Austria, “Corsage”

Belgium, “Close”

Cambodia, “Return to Seoul”

Denmark, “Holy Spider”

France, “Saint Omer”

Germany, “All Quiet on the Western Front”

India, “Last Film Show”

Ireland, “The Quiet Girl”

Mexico, “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths”

Morocco, “The Blue Caftan”

Pakistan, “Joyland”

Poland, “EO”

South Korea, “Decision to Leave”

Sweden, “Cairo Conspiracy”



MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Ten films will advance in the Makeup and Hairstyling category for the 95th Academy Awards. All members of the Academy’s Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch will be invited to view excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on Sunday, January 15, 2023. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar® consideration.


The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:


“All Quiet on the Western Front”

“Amsterdam”

“Babylon”

“The Batman”

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

“Blonde”

“Crimes of the Future”

“Elvis”

“Emancipation”

“The Whale”



MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

Fifteen scores will advance in the Original Score category for the 95th Academy Awards. One hundred forty-seven scores were eligible in the category. Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.


The scores, listed in alphabetical order by film title, are:


“All Quiet on the Western Front”

“Avatar: The Way of Water”

“Babylon”

“The Banshees of Inisherin”

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

“Devotion”

“Don’t Worry Darling”

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”

“The Fabelmans”

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery”

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

“Nope”

“She Said”

“The Woman King”

“Women Talking”



MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

Fifteen songs will advance in the Original Song category for the 95th Academy Awards. Eighty-one songs were eligible in the category. Members of the Music Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.


The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:


“Time” from “Amsterdam”

“Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from “Avatar: The Way of Water”

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

“This Is A Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

“Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

“Til You’re Home” from “A Man Called Otto”

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”

“My Mind & Me” from “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me”

“Good Afternoon” from “Spirited”

“Applause” from “Tell It like a Woman”

“Stand Up” from “Till”

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick”

“Dust & Ash” from “The Voice of Dust and Ash”

“Carolina” from “Where the Crawdads Sing”

“New Body Rhumba” from “White Noise”



ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Fifteen films will advance in the Animated Short Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. Eighty-one films qualified in the category. Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.


The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:


“Black Slide”

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse”

“The Debutante”

“The Flying Sailor”

“The Garbage Man”

“Ice Merchants”

“It’s Nice in Here”

“More than I Want to Remember”

“My Year of Dicks”

“New Moon”

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It”

“Passenger”

“Save Ralph”

“Sierra”

“Steakhouse”



LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

Fifteen films will advance in the Live Action Short Film category for the 95th Academy Awards. Two hundred films qualified in the category. Members of the Short Films and Feature Animation, Directors, Producers and Writers Branches vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees.


The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:


“All in Favor”

“Almost Home”

“An Irish Goodbye”

“Ivalu”

“Le Pupille”

“The Lone Wolf”

“Nakam”

“Night Ride”

“Plastic Killer”

“The Red Suitcase”

“The Right Words”

“Sideral”

“The Treatment”

“Tula”

“Warsha”



SOUND

Ten films will advance in the Sound category for the 95th Academy Awards. All eligible members of the Sound Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. Academy members will be invited to view excerpts from each of the shortlisted films beginning Thursday, January 12, 2023, in the San Francisco Bay area, followed by New York, London and Los Angeles. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.


The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:


“All Quiet on the Western Front”

“Avatar: The Way of Water”

“Babylon”

“The Batman”

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

“Elvis”

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”

“Moonage Daydream”

“Top Gun: Maverick”



VISUAL EFFECTS

Ten films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 95th Academy Awards. The Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee determined the shortlist. All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films on Saturday, January 14, 2023. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.


The films, listed in alphabetical order by title, are:


“All Quiet on the Western Front”

“Avatar: The Way of Water”

“The Batman”

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”

“Jurassic World Dominion”

“Nope”

“Thirteen Lives”

“Top Gun: Maverick”


Nominations voting begins on Thursday, January 12, 2023, and concludes on Tuesday, January 17, 2023.


Nominations for the 95th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 24, 2023.


The 95th Oscars® will be held on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.


From Academy Awards Official Press



It could be a star-studded musical evening at the Academy Awards come March 12, as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and the Weeknd are all up for best-song Oscar nominations following today’s announcement of the shortlists in music.


Swati Bhat

Fifteen songs and 15 scores from 2022 movies were selected by the 389 voting members of Oscar’s music branch, and there were few surprises in the song category. The score category made history, however, with two women and three African-American composers on the list.

The music branch will vote again in January to select five nominees in each category.

Taylor Swift could, at long last, become an Oscar nominee, for her song “Carolina” from “Where the Crawdads Sing,” and Rhianna could score with her song “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Gaga, already an Oscar winner for “Shallow” from 2018’s “A Star Is Born,” could score again with her “Top Gun: Maverick” anthem “Hold My Hand.”

The Weeknd is a potential contender for the end-title song “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from “Avatar: The Way of Water,” as is David Byrne for “This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The Weeknd would be a first-time nominee if chosen when final-round voting begins Jan. 12, while Byrne is already an Oscar winner (as co-composer of the score for 1987’s “The Last Emperor”).

Selena Gomez could make the final list for her title song for the documentary “My Mind & Me,” as could D’Mile for the song “Stand Up” from “Till” and Giveon for “Time” from “Amsterdam.”

Diane Warren, who recently won an honorary Oscar for her career of movie songwriting, is up for a competitive slot with her “Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman.” She has made no secret of the fact that she’d like a companion statuette for her newly acquired little gold man.

Lighthearted dance numbers figure in three instances: “Naatu Naatu” from the Indian Telugu-language epic “RRR”; LCD Soundsystem’s “New Body Rhumba” from the finale of “White Noise”; and “Good Afternoon,” sung by Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds in the holiday comedy musical “Spirited,” written by past Oscar winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (“La La Land”) along with three other songwriters.

The touching “Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” made the list, as did “Til You’re Home” from “A Man Called Otto” by the film’s producer, actress and songwriter Rita Wilson (a duet with Sebastián Yatra, now well known for singing “Dos Oroguitas” from “Encanto”).

Perhaps the most surprising entry on the list — and apart from the Selena Gomez entry the only other documentary cited — is “Dust & Ash” from the film “The Voice of Dust & Ash,” a duet by songwriter J. Ralph and pop-jazz star Norah Jones.

High-profile contenders that failed to make the shortlist included Billie Eilish and Finneas, last year’s Oscar winners (for the James Bond song “No Time to Die”), whose “Nobody Like U” from “Turning Red” was considered likely; “Love Is Not Love” from “Bros,” and “Ready as I’ll Never Be,” from the doc “The Return of Tanya Tucker Featuring Brandi Carlile.”

This year’s score list was a triumph of diversity. Two female composers made the list: Hildur Guðnadóttir for “Women Talking” and Chanda Dancy for “Devotion.” Dancy is one of three African-American composers on the shortlist; Michael Abels, for “Nope,” and Terence Blanchard, for “The Woman King,” are the others.

Should Dancy be nominated, she would become the first Black female composer to make the final five.

Guðnadóttir is one of five past Oscar winners to make the shortlist; the Icelandic composer won for 2019’s “Joker.” Ninety-year-old John Williams (“Jaws,” “E.T.”) is poised to earn his 53rd nomination for Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans.” Other past winners include Justin Hurwitz (“La La Land”) for “Babylon,” Ludwig Göransson (“Black Panther”) for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” and Alexandre Desplat (“The Shape of Water”) for “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.”

Five previous Oscar nominees were also cited: Volker Bertelmann (“Lion”) for the German film “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Carter Burwell (“Carol”) for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” John Powell (“How to Train Your Dragon”) for “Don’t Worry Darling,” Nicholas Britell (“Moonlight”) for “She Said” and Blanchard (“Da 5 Bloods”) for “Woman King.”

Composers hoping to earn their first Oscar nomination include Simon Franglen for “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Dancy for “Devotion” and Abels for “Nope,” Nathan Johnson for “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” and perhaps the most curious entry on the list, Son Lux’s music for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Son Lux is a three-man experimental band (Ryan Lott, Rafiq Bhatia, Ian Chang) and Oscar rarely nominates a trio of writers for a single score — although Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste were not only nominated but won for Disney-Pixar’s “Soul” in 2020, so it wouldn’t be unprecedented.

Reznor and Ross were left off this year’s list despite two entries, “Empire of Light” and “Bones and All.” Also missing from the shortlist were Michael Giacchino for “The Batman,” Thomas Newman for “A Man Called Otto,” Danny Elfman for “White Noise” and Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch for “Living.”

The complete shortlist for original song:

“Time” from “Amsterdam” “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from “Avatar: The Way of Water” “Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” “This Is A Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once” “Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” “Til You’re Home” from “A Man Called Otto” “Naatu Naatu” from “RRR” “My Mind & Me” from “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me” “Good Afternoon” from “Spirited” “Applause” from “Tell It like a Woman” “Stand Up” from “Till” “Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick” “Dust & Ash” from “The Voice of Dust and Ash” “Carolina” from “Where the Crawdads Sing” “New Body Rhumba” from “White Noise”

The complete shortlist for original score:

“All Quiet on the Western Front” “Avatar: The Way of Water” “Babylon” “The Banshees of Inisherin” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” “Devotion” “Don’t Worry Darling” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” “The Fabelmans” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” “Nope” “She Said” “The Woman King” “Women Talking”




Other contenders include Raghunath Kemisetty, Mark Mangini, Kevin O'Connell, Gary Rydstrom and Rachael Tate

©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection


Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages are Davis’ assessment of the current standings of the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any film or performance. Like any organization or body that votes, each individual category is fluid and subject to change. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

2023 OSCARS PREDICTIONS: BEST SOUND

CATEGORY COMMENTARY: Celebrating 25 years since James Cameron’s “Titanic” (1997) tied for the most wins ever and the Oscar ceremony itself, which boasted the highest ratings in Academy history, some of the same artisans are in the race again. Those include sound designers Mark Mangini (“The Fifth Element” and “Good Night Oppy”), Gary Rydstrom (“Titanic” and “The Fabelmans”) and Kevin O’Connell (“Con Air” and “The Woman King”).

Supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom (“The Fabelmans”) has netted seven statuettes throughout his incredible career — “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (sound and sound effects), “Jurassic Park” (sound and sound effects), “Titanic” (sound) and “Saving Private Ryan” (sound and sound effects editing). Since his last win in 1999 for “Ryan,” he’s picked up eight more nods in that timeframe including four outings with Steven Spielberg — “War Horse” (2011), “Lincoln” (2012), “Bridge of Spies” (2015) and “West Side Story” (2021).

There’s also recent winner Mark Mangini with the documentary “Good Night Oppy,” fresh off his win for “Dune” (2021) and has another trophy for “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015). Kevin O’Connell hasn’t been nominated since his win for “Hacksaw Ridge” (2016), which marked his first win after 21 nominations, beginning with “Terms of Endearment” (1983). This year, he’s offered his signature beats on Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,” an action-epic that could find its way into the lineup.

Mangini, O’Connell and Rydsrom aren’t the only veterans contending as Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate are pulling double duties with “Empire of Light” and “Thirteen Lives” after getting nominated for “1917.”

The veterans could face competition from some newcomers such as the team behind the Indian epic “RRR” (Raghunath Kemisetty, sound designer, Boloy Kumar Doloi and Rahul Karpe, re-recording mixers) and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (Brent Kiser, supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer, Andrew Twite, sound designer, Stephen Nelson, production sound mixer, and Alexandra Fehrman and Ian Chase, re-recording mixers). We’ll see how they stand up to the bigger names and companies in the race.




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