#Oscars
Trailer Watch: Sisters Long to Be Reunited in Brazil’s Oscar Submission “Invisible Life”
“Please, never forget me,” a woman begs of her sister in a new trailer for “Invisible Life.” Brazil’s submission to the 2020 Oscars’ Best International Film...
Lynette Howell Taylor and Stephanie Allain Will Produce the 2020 Oscars
Lynette Howell Taylor and Stephanie Allain are set to produce the 92nd Oscars, a press release announced. Slated to take place February 9, 2020, this year’s ceremony will mark the pair’s...
Maryam Touzani’s Oscar Hopeful “Adam” Acquired by Strand Releasing
Maryam Touzani’s feature directorial debut, “Adam,” is heading stateside. U.S. rights to the Cannes pic, and Morocco’s selection for the International Feature Oscar, have been...
Lina Wertmüller and Geena Davis Call for Change at the 2019 Governors Awards
While accepting Honorary Oscars at the Academy’s Governors Awards last night, both Lina Wertmüller and Geena Davis spoke about the need for change in show business — specifically regarding...
Oscars: 16 Percent of Films Submitted to Feature Animation Race Are Directed by Women
Academy Award nominations won’t be announced until January 13, but the 2020 Oscar race is heating up. Submissions for the International Feature category closed earlier this month, and now the...
Oscars: International Feature Category Receives 93 Submissions, 28 Directed by Women
The Academy has confirmed which films have been submitted to the International Feature category for the 2020 Academy Awards. Of 93 titles from around the globe, 28 are directed or co-directed by...
Haifaa Al-Mansour’s “The Perfect Candidate” Added to the International Feature Film Oscar Race
Haifaa Al-Mansour’s portrait of a Saudi woman who runs for political office may be headed to the Oscars. Saudi Arabia has submitted “The Perfect Candidate” as its official entry for...
Mati Diop’s “Atlantics” Is Senegal’s Pick for International Feature Film Oscar Race
Mati Diop made history at Cannes and now she’s joining the Oscar race. A press release announced that Senegal has selected her feature debut, “Atlantics,” as the country’s...
“Hava, Maryam, Ayesha” and “Debut” Join the International Feature Film Oscar Race
Two more women-directed titles just entered the International Feature Film Oscar race. A press release announced that Afghanistan submitted Sahraa Karimi’s “Hava, Maryam, Ayesha”...
May el-Toukhy’s “Queen of Hearts” Is Denmark’s Pick for International Feature Film Oscar
More great news for May el-Toukhy. Less than a week ago she signed on to helm “The Lioness,” a biopic about “Out of Africa” writer Karen Blixen, and now word comes that she’s...
Algeria Cancels “Papicha” Screenings, Putting Its Oscar Chances at Risk
This summer, Algeria became the first country to enter the 2020 International Feature Film Oscar race when it submitted Mounia Meddour’s “Papicha” for consideration. Now the nation is...
Canada Submits Sophie Deraspe’s “Antigone” for the International Feature Film Oscar
“Antigone” just made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it claimed the Best Canadian Feature Film prize. Now it could be headed to the Oscars. A press...
“The Chambermaid” is Mexico’s Pick for International Feature Film Oscar
Lila Avilés’ award-winning feature debut could be heading all the way to the Oscars. Mexico has submitted “The Chambermaid” for consideration in the Best International Feature Film...
Halina Reijn’s “Instinct” Is The Netherlands’ Pick for International Feature Film Oscar Race
Halina Reijn’s “Instinct” is joining the Oscar race. The Netherlands has selected the award-winning psychological thriller as its submission for the 2020 Academy Award in the...
Germany Adds “System Crasher” to the International Feature Film Oscar Race
“System Crasher” may be heading to the Oscars. A press release announced that Germany has selected Nora Fingscheidt’s debut feature as their submission for Best International...
“Finding Farideh” Is Named Iran’s Submission for the International Feature Film Oscar
“Finding Farideh” is an Oscar hopeful. Co-directed by “From Iran, a Separation” collaborators Azadeh Mousavi and Kourosh Ataee, the documentary has been selected as Iran’s...
Foreign-Language Oscar Picks: Algeria Selects Mounia Meddour’s “Papicha”
The 2020 foreign-language Oscar race is off to a promising start. Algeria is the first country to submit a feature for contention and it’s a woman-directed title, Mounia Meddour’s...
Academy Invites 842 New Members, 50% Are Women and 29% POC
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), the organization behind the Oscars, has invited 842 people from 59 countries to join as members. According to the Academy’s website, 50...
Guest Post: What “Roma” Gets Right About Motherhood
Guest Post by Cristina Escobar “Roma” became the first film from Mexico to win the “foreign” language category at the Oscars on Sunday, and also nabbed best director and cinematography...
Black Women Make History at Oscars 2019
A record number of women took home statuettes at last night’s Academy Awards. Though they were shut out of a number of categories — most notably, Best Director — women won 15...
Study: Women Represent 25 Percent of Non-Acting 2019 Oscar Nominees
Another year, another Oscars ceremony dominated by male nominees. The Women’s Media Center (WMC) has released its annual study of gender representation among the non-acting Academy Award...
New Ad Campaign Celebrates Women Directors, Brings Attention to Awards Season’s Gender Gap
2018 saw the release of many acclaimed films from women directors, including Chloé Zhao’s “The Rider,” Debra Granik’s “Leave No Trace,” and Marielle...
Oscar Noms 2019: Another All-Male Directing Category
The 2019 Oscar nominations have been announced, and we can still count every woman who has ever been nominated for Best Director on one hand: Lina Wertmüller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Kathryn...
Over 50 Percent of Documentary Features in the Oscar Race are Women-Directed
The Oscar race is heating up. Just 15 films remain in the running for the Documentary Feature category for the 91st Academy Awards. Over 160 films were originally submitted for consideration. Eight...
Trailer Watch: “The Heiresses” Run Out of Money in Paraguay’s Oscar Submission
A trailer has dropped for “The Heiresses,” Paraguay’s official submission in the foreign-language Oscar race. The award-winning drama tells the stories of Chela (Ana Brun) and Chiquita...
Trailer Watch: A Family Goes to War Over Drug Money in “Birds of Passage”
“Do you know why I’m respected? Because I’m capable of anything for my family and my clan,” a matriarch (Carmiña Martínez) explains in a new trailer for “Birds of...
Trailer Watch: A Child Sues His Parents in Nadine Labaki’s Cannes Winner “Capernaum”
An Oscar hopeful in the Best Foreign Language Film category, Nadine Labaki’s “Capernaum” already took home the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival. A new trailer has dropped...
Donna Gigliotti to Produce the Oscars
The Academy Awards has an Oscar-winning producer on board. Donna Gigliotti will produce the upcoming 91st Oscars, a press release has announced. A Best Picture winner for “Shakespeare in...
Foreign Language Oscar Submissions Are 23 Percent Women-Directed
Eighty-seven countries have submitted films for consideration for the upcoming 91st edition of the Oscars, and according to our count, 20 titles in the running, or 23 percent, are women-directed or...
Quote of the Day: Jada Pinkett Smith on Ensuring #OscarsSoWhite Isn’t a Fad
Jada Pinkett Smith famously boycotted the 2016 Oscars — the year the ceremony was dubbed #OscarsSoWhite on account of its blindingly white nominees. Two years have passed, and while...
Rima Das’ “Village Rockstars” Is India’s Foreign-Language Oscar Pick
India is the latest country to submit a woman-directed film to the Academy. The Hindu reports that Rima Das’ “Village Rockstars” will represent the county as this year’s...
Kenya Temporarily Lifts Ban on “Rafiki,” Making the Lesbian Love Story Eligible for Oscars
Audiences in Kenya are finally allowed to watch “Rafiki” — for now, at least. A Kenyan judge has temporarily lifted the country’s ban on Wanuri Kahiu’s lesbian romance,...
Foreign-Language Oscar Picks: Indonesia Selects “Marlina the Murderer,” Lebanon “Capernaum”
Another two women-directed films have been selected for the foreign-language Oscar race. Indonesia has chosen Mouly Surya’s “Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts” as its submission...
Cicely Tyson to Receive Honorary Oscar, Kathleen Kennedy the Thalberg Award
Legendary actress Cicely Tyson and mega-producer Kathleen Kennedy will be honored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization behind the Oscars. Per The Hollywood Reporter,...
Foreign-Language Oscar Submissions: Colombia Picks “Birds of Passage,” Estonia “Take It Or Leave It”
Two more women-directed films have joined the foreign-language Oscar race. Colombia named Cristina Gallego — and Ciro Guerra’s — “Birds of Passage” as their entry, and...
Cannes Winner “Girl” Is Belgium’s 2019 Foreign-Language Oscar Pick
“Girl” will be representing Belgium in the 2019 foreign-language Oscar race, Deadline confirms. The drama about a transgender teen took home the Camera d’Or at Cannes for best first...
Rungano Nyoni’s “I Am Not a Witch” Is UK’s 2019 Foreign-Language Oscar Pick
“I Am Not a Witch” may be heading to the Academy Awards. Rungano Nyoni’s debut feature has been named as the UK’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2019 Oscars,...
2016 Oscar Noms Announced; ‘Brooklyn,’ ‘Room,’ ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ to Compete For Best Picture
2016 won’t go down as the most homogeneous (i.e., exclusionary) year in recent Oscar history. Three female-centric films ("Brooklyn," "Room" and...
Guest Post: Gender Parity in Documentary Filmmaking Is A Fiction
Over the holiday break, I read many of the Oscar predictions that litter not just the trades but the various general interest "papers of record" this time of year. But I hardly saw a single...