The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have always has a questionable relationship with artists of color, spawning the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag in 2015 which carried over into the following year after all the actor and actresses nominated were white for two years running.
Last year, the power of films such as Hidden Figures, Fences and Best Picture winner Moonlight resulted in seven of the 20 acting nominees being people of color. This time around, four Black stars have been nominated within acting categories while also holding down Best Director and Best Animated Film.
From veterans to new comers, athletes to soul divas, check out the nominees bringing Black excellence to the forefront during this year’s ceremony.
BEST PICTURE
Call Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Allison Janney, I, Tonya,
Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water
BEST DIRECTOR
Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan
Get Out, Jordan Peele
Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig
Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson
The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Toro
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
Call Me by Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly’s Game
Mudbound
ORIGINAL SONG
“Mighty River,” Mudbound
“Mystery of Love,” Call Me by Your Name
“Remember Me,” Coco
“Stand Up for Something,” Marshall
“This is Me,” The Greatest Showman
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape of Water
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Dear Basketball (Kobe Bryant)
Garden Party
Negative Space
Lou
Revolting Rhymes