2022 Oscar Nominations: Film Festival Profile
by KM, Movie Lightbox
The nominated films for the 94th Academy Awards in all 23 categories were announced early morning on Tuesday. The Power of the Dog, a festival film which had its World Premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival led the nominations tally with 12, followed by Dune (10) which also premiered at the same festival in Out of Competition section.
Film festivals, both major and regional, could serve as laundpads for prestige and arthouse films in finding audiences and gaining traction later on in the awards season. From Sundance with its wide array of documentaries, Cannes with its auteur-centric international films and towards the end of the year with the fall film festivals - Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York.
A total of 53 films (38 features,15 shorts) were nominated across the board in 23 categories. 23 out of the 38 films (61%) nominated had their World Premieres at the major film festivals in Europe and North America. 14 out of 15 (93%) nominated short films (live-action, animated, documentary) started their premieres at major and local film festivals. Venice leads the pack with 6 films in their Official Selection garnering 29 total nominations, followed by Telluride with 3 films, 14 nominations and Sundance with 6 films, 10 nominations.
Jane Campion, who won the Silver Lion for Best Director at the the 2021 Venice Film Festival secured a Best Director spot for her Western psychological drama, The Power of the Dog. The film also earned three acting nominations and several nods in the craft categories. Two films which got major accolades at the big festivals scored Best Picture nominations. CODA by Sian Heder has received an unprecented four awards at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival including the Grand Jury Prize, US Dramatic Competition section while Belfast took home the People’s Choice Award at Toronto International Film Festival.
Flee, the animated documentary film included in the Cannes Film Festival 2020 selection and which landed the Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Documentary Competition at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival made history by garnering nominations in three Oscar categories (Best International Film, Best Documentary Feature and Best Animated Feature). Drive My Car, the Japanese drama film directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi which premiered at the Competition section of the 74th Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Best Screenplay prize also landed into four categories including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and International Film. Penelope Cruz, who went on to win the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 78th Venice Film Festival, also got a Best Actress nod this year for her performance in Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers. Another Venice winner, The Hand of God from Italy (Silver Lion, Grand Jury Prize) got one of the spots in the Best International Film category. Surprisingly, Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, which played in competition at Cannes got a nomination for Best Original Screenplay. In the short film categories, 14 out of 15 films had their initial run at several film festivals including Hot Docs, Full Frame, Clermont-Ferrand and LA Shorts Film Festival.
Here’s the list of Film Festivals where the Oscar nominated films (features and shorts) had their World Premieres:
AFI Fest (1 nomination)
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Annecy International Animation Film Festival (2 nominations)
Bestia (Festival Connexion Award)
Boxballet
BFI London Film Festival (1 nomination)
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom
Cannes Film Festival (7 nominations)
Drive My Car (Best Screenplay, Competition; FIPRESCI Prize, Competition; Prize of the Ecumenical Jury)
The Worst Person in the World (Best Actress for Renate Reinsve)
The Windshield Wiper (**Official Selection at Directors’ Fortnight)
Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival (1 nomination)
Affairs of the Art (Best Animation, International Competition)
Fantastic Fest (1 nomination)
Please Hold
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival (1 nomination)
Three Songs for Benazir (Jury Award for Best Short)
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (1 nomination)
Audible
Krakow Film Festival (1 nomination)
The Dress
LA Shorts International Film Festival (1 nomination)
On My Mind
Locarno Film Festival (1 nomination)
Free Guy
New York Film Festival (3 nominations)
The Tragedy of Macbeth
Rhode Island International Film Festival (1 nomination)
Ala Kachuu - Take and Run (Marlyn Mason Award, First Prize)
Sundance Film Festival (10 nominations)
CODA (Grand Jury Prize, US Dramatic Competition; Directing, US Dramatic Competition; Audience Award, US Dramatic Competition; Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast)
Flee (Grand Jury Prize, World Cinema Documentary; **Cannes 2020 Selection, World Premiere at Sundance 2021)
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Grand Jury Prize, US Documentary; Audience Award, US Documentary)
Writing With Fire (Audience Award, World Cinema Documentary; Special Jury Award: Impact for Change)
Four Good Days (**Sundance 2020)
When We Were Bullies
Telluride Film Festival (14 nominations)
Belfast
King Richard
Cyrano (Silver Medallion to Peter Dinklage)
Toronto International Film Festival (3 nominations)
The Eyes of Tammy Faye (TIFF Tribute Actor Award to Jessica Chastain)
Attica
Tribeca Film Festival (2 nominations)
Ascension (Best Documentary Feature)
The Queen of Basketball
Venice International Film Festival (29 nominations)
Dune
The Power of the Dog (Silver Lion for Best Director, Jane Campion)
The Lost Daughter (Golden Osella for Best Screenplay)
Parallel Mothers (Volpi Cup for Best Actress, Penelope Cruz)
Spencer
The Hand of God (Silver Lion, Grand Jury Prize)
Image courtesy of Venice Film Festival