Oscars: Academy Unveils Shortlists in 10 Categories - BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY
By Carolyn Giardina
The Hollywood Reporter
December 21, 2021
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday unveiled its shortlists for the 2022 Oscars in 10 categories, including documentary and international features. It also includes documentary short subject, makeup and hairstyling, original score, original song, animated short, live-action short, visual effects, and — returning this year — sound.
Fifteen international features advanced, out of the films from 92 countries that were eligible. Frontrunners that made the cut include Iran’s A Hero, Italy’s Hand of God, Japan’s Drive My Car and Flee, which represents Denmark. But France’s Titane, which won the Paleme D’Or at Cannes, failed to make the shortlist.
A whopping 108 documentary features were eligible this year, and 15 advanced through the shortlist phase, including expected contenders such as Summer of Soul, The Rescue, The Velvet Underground and Flee.
Animated documentary Flee could become the first movie to be nominated for best feature documentary, best international feature and best animated feature — and could even make history as the first doc nominated for best picture. Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Flee tells an intimate story of the life of “Amin” (a pseudonym), who shares his extraordinary escape from Afghanistan as a child refugee.
Jonny Greenwood was named twice on the shortlist for original score, for his work on The Power of the Dog and Spencer. Others include Dune‘s Hans Zimmer, King Richard‘s Kris Bowers and The Harder They Fall helmer Jeymes Samuel. In total, 136 scores were eligible.
The original song shortlist is loaded with stars from the music world, including Billie Eilish (“No Time To Die”), Beyonce (“Be Alive”), Jay-Z (“Guns Go Bang”), Ariana Grande (“Just Look Up”) and U2 (“Your Song Saved My Life”). Twelve-time nominee Diane Warren made the shortlist for “Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days, and Lin-Manuel Miranda is in the mix for “Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto. A total of 84 songs were eligible.
The visual effects category is back with blockbuster contenders that were largely absent in last year’s race. Due to the pandemic, which caused many tentpoles to move from 2020 to 2021, last year was the first since 2009 that the VFX shortlist didn’t contain at least one Marvel movie. But this year’s list includes Marvel titles Black Widow, Shang Chi and Eternals as well as Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far From Home. Incidentally, 2004’s Spider-Man 2 was the last superhero movie to win an Oscar in visual effects. This year, the 10 shortlisted titles will be featured in the VFX branches’ annual bake-off, involving 10-minute excerpts and interviews with the contenders, on Jan. 29, before branch members vote on the five nominees.
This year the Sound Branch reinstated its bake-off and shortlist, which includes Dune, A Quiet Place Part II, Spider-Man: Far From Home and West Side Story. The branch will be invited to view eight-minute excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films beginning Jan. 28 before voting on the category nominees.
The Academy’s Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch will additionally participate in a bake-off, slated for Jan. 30, during which branch members are invited to view seven-minute excerpts and interviews with the artists from each of the shortlisted films.
Nominations voting runs from Jan. 27 to Feb. 1, and nominations will be announced on Feb. 8. The 94th Oscars are slated to be held March 27 at the Dolby Theatre.
The complete shortlists follow:
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”