SS Rajamouli’s RRR scored a single nomination at the 2023 Oscars in the Music (Original Song) category for Naatu Naatu, while Shaunak Sen’s All That Breathes has been shortlisted in the Best Documentary Feature Film category. All That Breathes is only the second Indian title to be nominated in the long documentary format after Writing With Fire in 2021.
India will also be represented in the Documentary Short Film category by Kartiki Gonsalves’s The Elephant Whisperers (produced by Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment).
Nominations for the 95th edition of the Oscars, officially known as the Academy Awards, were announced on Tuesday by Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams. The Oscars will be held on March 12, with Jimmy Kimmel as the host.
Shaunak Sen’s critically feted documentary sets the experiences of a pair of bird rescuing brothers in Delhi against rising pollution and an increasingly toxic political climate for minority communities. In a previous interview with Scroll.in, Sen had said:
“I was interested in the visual texture of growing up in Delhi, a dystopian place where everything is grey. Among Delhi’s archetypal images is these dots in the sky, these black kites. The general sense is that the air is noxious, that the engines of spaceship Earth have gone awry. I was also deeply interested in the human-non human relationship, and particularly in birds. The initial thing was to try and make a film where audiences would step out of theatres and immediately look up at the sky.”
Also read:
In ‘All That Breathes’, brothers who rescue birds and a struggle for human survival
Hopes were high for RRR, which has won praise from Hollywood heavyweights and charmed audiences the world over with its rumbustious tale of two revolutionaries taking on British colonisers. Despite being passed over for Pan Nalin’s Last Film Show as India’s official entry for International Feature Film, Rajamouli and his team mounted an extensive campaign in America over the past few months to compete on their own. Yet, Rajamouli’s Telugu-language period epic failed to make it to the Best Picture and Best Director categories.
While AR Rahman’s songs for Slumdog Millionaire have been previously nominated and have won at the Oscars, Naatu Naatu, composed by MM Keeravani, is the first tune from an entirely homegrown production (DVV Entertainments) to be nominated in the category.
Nalin’s autobiographical drama lost out in the international feature category to Jerzy Skolimowski’s EO (Poland), Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany), Lukas Dhont’s Close (Belgium), Colm Bairead’s The Quiet Girl (Ireland) and Santiago Mitre’s Argentina, 1985 (Argentina).
Everything Everywhere All at Once by The Daniels (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) led the race with 11 nominations. Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin and Edward Berger’s German-language All Quiet on the Western Front had nine nominations each. Everything Everywhere All at Once also gave Michelle Yeoh her first ever nomination in the Best Actress category.
Here is the complete list of nominations.
Best Picture
Everything Everywhere All at Once.
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Avatar: The Way of Water.
The Banshees of Inisherin.
Elvis.
The Fabelmans.
Tár.
Top Gun: Maverick.
Triangle of Sadness.
Women Talking.
Directing
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin.
Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans.
Todd Field, Tár.
Ruben Ostlund, Triangle of Sadness.
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin.
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans.
Todd Field, Tár.
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Ruben Ostlund, Triangle of Sadness.
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Sarah Polley, Women Talking.
Rian Johnson, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.
Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie, Top Gun: Maverick.
Kazuo Ishiguro, Living.
Edward Berger, Ian Stokell and Lesley Paterson, All Quiet on the Western Front.
Actress in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett, Tár.
Ana de Armas, Blonde.
Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie.
Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans.
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin.
Brendan Fraser, The Whale.
Paul Mescal, Aftersun.
Bill Nighy, Living.
Austin Butler, Elvis.
Actor in a Supporting Role
Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin.
Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway.
Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans.
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin.
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Actress in a Supporting Role
Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Hong Chau, The Whale.
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin.
International Feature Film
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Argentina, 1985.
Close.
EO.
The Quiet One.
Cinematography
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Bardo.
Elvis.
Empire of Light.
Tár.
Film Editing
The Banshees of Inisherin.
Elvis.
Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Tár.
Top Gun: Maverick.
Sound
The Batman.
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Avatar: The Way of Water.
Elvis.
Top Gun: Maverick.
Production Design
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Avatar: The Way of Water.
Babylon.
Elvis.
The Fabelmans.
Costume Design
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Elvis.
Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Babylon.
Mrs Harris Goes to Paris.
Visual Effects
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Avatar: The Way of Water.
The Batman.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Top Gun: Maverick.
Makeup and Hairstyling
All Quiet on the Western Front.
The Batman.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Elvis.
The Whale.
Animated Feature Film
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On.
Puss In Boots.
The Sea Beast.
Turning Red.
Animated Short Film
The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse.
The Flying Sailor.
Ice Merchants.
My Year of Dicks.
An Ostrich Told Me the World is Fake and I Think I Believe It.
Live Action Short Film
An Irish Goodbye.
Ivalu.
Le Pupille.
Night Ride.
The Red Suitcase.
Documentary Feature Film
All That Breathes.
All The Beauty and the Bloodshed.
Fire of Love.
A House Made of Splinters.
Navalny.
Documentary Short Film
The Elephant Whisperers.
Haulout.
How Do You Measure a Year.
Stranger at the Gate.
Music (Original Score)
All Quiet on the Western Front.
Babylon.
The Banshees of Inisherin.
Everything Everywhere All at Once.
The Fabelmans.
Music (Original Song)
Naatu Naatu, RRR.
Applause, Tell it Like A Woman.
Hold My Hand, Top Gun: Maverick.
Lift Me Up, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
This Is A Life, Everything Everywhere All at Once.
