“Nomadland” triumphs at the Academy Awards. The Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao receives the coveted director’s trophy. Other non-whites can cheer too.
Update, 6.30 am: The road movie “Nomadland” won this year with three Oscars in the main categories: The work was chosen as the best film, the Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao received the director’s trophy and Frances McDormand the award for the best female Main role. “Nomadland” tells of a woman (played by McDormand) who loads her belongings into a car because of economic hardship and travels through the USA as a nomad. For the actress it is already the third Oscar of her career. With Zhao, a woman was honored with the Director’s Oscar for the second time in the 93-year Oscar history.
Anthony Hopkins was honored as best leading actor for his role as a man with dementia in “The Father”. However, the 83-year-old Brit was unable to receive the second Oscar of his career in person.
Yuh-Jung Youn won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The 73-year-old South Korean was honored for her performance in “Minari – Where We Put Down Roots”. In it she plays the grandmother of a Korean family in the USA. In the male variant of this category, the black Brit Daniel Kaluuya won. The 32-year-old was recognized for his performance in “Judas and the Black Messiah”. He plays the civil rights activist and activist Fred Hampton in the film about the Black Panther Party in the 1960s. This film also got the Oscar for the best song: “Fight For You” by HER, Dernest Emile II and Tiara Thomas.
Films about non-whites were also honored with other prizes: Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson, for example, won in the make-up / hairstyle category for the musical drama “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” about the black singer Ma Rainey. Ann Roth received an award for the best costume design – for the same film.
The German Oscar hopes were not fulfilled this time, although three German co-productions were in the running. The international OScar was secured by the Danish social satire “Der Rausch” by director Thomas Vinterberg. In it, Mads Mikkelsen plays one of four teachers who start a drinking experiment that soon gets out of control.
Because of the corona pandemic, the 93rd Academy Awards ceremony had a much smaller and therefore more intimate setting than usual. This time the historic Union Station building in Los Angeles served as the main venue for the Oscar show and not the large Dolby Theater. Because of the travel difficulties caused by the Corona requirements, some Oscar candidates and laudators from international locations were also switched on via video.
Oscars 2021: Away From White America – The Academy Awards Nominations
Los Angeles – One thing is certain, despite all the uncertainty that precedes every Academy Awards: The 93rd ceremony will not be the same as any other, not only because of the Corona security restrictions. It is above all the selection of the nominees that will lead this year on a completely new path – away from studio cinema towards independent cinema. Away from white America to a commitment to the representation of the cinema in all diversity in front of and behind the camera.
This is exemplified in the favorite role of the multiple award-winning film “Nomadland” in the category of the best film, produced by the leading actress Frances McDormand. There is much to suggest that Chloé Zhao will also be the first “woman of color” in Oscar history to receive the directing award. The semi-documentary panorama of the precarious living conditions of a new class of migrant workers who camp in front of Amazon’s warehouses is a picture of this time.
Oscars 2021: Large number of the nominated films distributed via streaming services
Zhao follows in the footsteps of the great John Ford, who in 1940 also conveyed Roosevelt’s New Deal policy with his Steinbeck adaptation of “The Fruits of Wrath” – and who also took home an Oscar for it. Her script deserves another award, which turns a non-fiction book into a great drama without losing credibility.
Almost all of the nominated films were distributed via streaming services. They grew vigorously during the pandemic, which also resulted in many smaller films finding wide audiences. For example a chamber play with an Afro-American theme like Chadwick Boseman’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” about the blues singer. The leading actor couple has been nominated: Boseman, who died in 2020, is likely to win against Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”) and Gary Oldman (“Mank”) for his demanding role as an ambitious trumpeter. Viola Davis in the title role is unlikely to prevail against her strong competition: Especially Carey Mulligan in “Promising Young Woman” is given great opportunities.
Oscars 2021: Big favorite for the “best foreign language film”
Andra Day’s performance in the second musician’s biography of the season, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”, is extremely impressive. If the prize were awarded for vocal achievements, she would surely have it. People of Color are also among the favorites for the supporting roles: Daniel Kuluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) and Yuh-Jung Yeon (“Minari”).
There is a huge favorite with the “best foreign language film”: The Dane Thomas Vinterberg, who once founded dogma cinema with “Das Fest”, staged the deep black alcoholism satire “Another Round” with a sure hand. This film is an ideal example of what usually counts in this category: a general human subject.
Oscars 2021: Classic quality cinema could only take side prizes
But where are the usual suspects, the big studio films that usually always win? Pixar’s animated film treasure “Soul” will win in its category, and it will be hard to find a better score either. No artist makes animated films as intelligent as Pete Docter, who shares directorial credit with writer Kemp Powers. What they succeeded is likely to have conveyed the topic of blackness, the specifically Afro-American life experience, to a worldwide audience.
The classic quality cinema will probably have to be content with secondary prices. Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet”, one of the most original films of the year and the last blockbuster that still saw widespread cinema use, could win over the “visual effects”. And “Mank”, David Fincher’s subtle journey into the genesis of the classic “Citizen Kane”, may only be the price for the “best equipment”. But who knows? Without a few surprises, these “Oscars” will not take place either. (Daniel Kothenschulte)
Headline list image: © Chris Pizzello / dpa
