96th Academy Awards Overview
Photo Credit: Al Seib/AMPAS via Getty Images via NME
Presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are one of the most prestigious award shows in the entertainment industry. Held annually at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, the awards are attended by nominees, their relatives, and many highly influential people from all sectors of the entertainment industry.
There are 24 categories for the awards that recognize various occupations in the film arts and sciences, including actors, directors, costume designers, and sound editors. The winners are voted in by the approximately 9,500 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. To qualify for a nomination, a film must be in theatres in Los Angeles for a minimum of one week in the previous calendar year, with exceptions for foreign and short films. Those who win are presented with a gold-plated statuette commonly referred to as “Oscar”, hence the nickname for the show.
Jimmy Kimmel will be hosting for the fourth time. The comedian makes an introductory speech and presents select awards. This year, it was announced that starting in 2026, there will be a new award category for achievement in casting, recognizing the work of casting directors.
The nominees face tough competition in 2023, a year with many box-office hits and fan favourites such as Barbie and Oppenheimer. Here is a brief overview of the nominees of four crucial categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director.
Best Picture (10 nominees)
Perhaps the most important category of the Oscars is the Best Picture award. Received by producers of the film, this award represents the cumulative efforts of hundreds of people in different fields. The winners of this award not only receive a statuette but also a plaque featuring the film that is permanently added to the Dolby Theatre Awards Walk.
American Fiction is a comedy-drama about a Black author whose satirical work gets mistaken for serious literature.
Anatomy of a Fall is a film in both French and English about a woman accused of killing her husband and the struggles of her visually impaired son as the sole witness.
Barbie, the highest-grossing film of 2023, tells the story of the classic toys Barbie and Ken as they travel to the real world and interact with humans.
The Holdovers is a comedy-drama about a grouchy teacher and his troubled students as they stay at their boarding school over the winter holidays.
Killers of the Flower Moon is a historical film about a series of murders of people of the Osage Nation after the discovery of oil under their land.
Maestro is a story about the relationship of American composer Leonard Bernstein with his wife.
Oppenheimer, notably released on the same day as Barbie, is a historical drama about the life of Robert J. Oppenheimer before, during, and after he created the atomic bomb during the Second World War.
Past Lives is a romantic film about two childhood friends from South Korea reuniting after being separated for 20 years.
Poor Things, a mix of horror, fantasy, and comedy, is about a young woman named Bella Baxter who is brought back to life by a scientist who replaces her brain with that of her unborn baby.
The Zone of Interest is an unnerving film that follows the Nazi commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp and his family and personal life.
Best Actor (five nominees)
Bradley Cooper plays Leonard Bernstein in the film Maestro. Notably, Cooper also wrote, directed, and co-produced the film.
Rustin, another biopic, led Colman Domingo to be nominated for his work. He portrays the namesake of the film, Bayard Rustin, who is a gay civil rights activist.
A comedy-drama set in the 1970s for which he has already won a Golden Globe, The Holdovers stars Paul Giamatti as a strict teacher left to chaperone students who stay at a boarding school over the holidays.
Oppenheimer was led by Cillian Murphy, who received critical acclaim and a Golden Globe for portraying the father of the atomic bomb in yet another biopic. This is Murphy’s first Academy Award nomination.
Finally, Jeffrey Wright is nominated for the first time in his starring role in the film American Fiction, a comedy-drama about a Black satirical novelist whose novel is mistaken for a serious work and accidentally achieves incredible success.
Best Actress (five nominees)
Annette Benning received her fifth Academy Award nomination for playing the lead of the film Nyad, a film about Diana Nyad’s attempts to swim the straits of Florida.
The first Indigenous woman to be nominated for this category at the Oscars, Lily Gladstone has already won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Mollie Burkhart in the film Killers of the Flower Moon.
Sandra Hüller was nominated for the French film Anatomy of a FalI. Hüller received many European awards for playing a writer trying to prove her innocence after being accused of murdering her husband. This is her first Academy Award nomination.
As the wife of Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, Carey Mulligan is also nominated for her acting in the film — her third nomination in this category.
Emma Stone was nominated for her role as Bella Baxter in the film adaptation of the novel Poor Things. As a producer of the film, Stone will also win an award if it wins Best Picture.
Best Director (five nominees)
Justine Triet, nominated for her film Anatomy of a Fall, is receiving her first two nominations this year for directing and writing the screenplay. She is the only female director nominated this year. Triet told the Hollywood Reporter that she cried with joy when she found out.
Martin Scorsese, the most Oscar-nominated director ever and ten-time best director winner, is once again nominated for Killers of the Flower Moon. “For this particular film too, it's so exciting. [...] The picture means so much to me, and it took a number of years for gestation,” said Scorsese in an interview on The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert.
Another multiple-time nominee, Christopher Nolan, received his second Best Director nomination and eighth nomination overall for Oppenheimer. Despite these encouragements, he has not won yet and “[doesn’t] want to jinx anything”, according to an interview with The Associated Press.
Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos was nominated for his film Poor Things. This is Lanthimos’ sixth Oscar nomination, though he has not won yet. He is a producer of the film, therefore he will also win if the film wins best picture.
Jonathan Glazer is nominated for The Zone of Interest, a historical drama about the Auschwitz concentration camp. When interviewed by Entertainment Weekly, Glazer said, “the film is trying to ask questions about modern humanity and empathy. Whether there are people over our wall now, as a group, whose safety or freedom we care about less than our own,” he said. This is Glazer’s first nomination for Best Director. He is also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.