Steven Spielberg’s political biopic Lincoln is leading this year’s Oscars race with 12 nominations, while the tally for Ang Lee’s Indian drama Life of Pi rose to 11 on Wednesday, including in the ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’ categories.
As many as nine films are vying for the golden statuette for ‘Best Picture’ this year. Life of Pi , the survival story of an Indian boy lost in the ocean with a Bengal tiger, will fight closely with political dramas like Lincoln , Ben Affleck’s Argo, and Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty, a film on the manhunt for Osama bin Laden.
The other films hoping to bag the ‘Best Picture’ award are David O. Russell’s comedy Silver Linings Playbook, Tom Hooper’s musical Les Miserables, Michael Haneke’s Amour, Quentin Tarantino’s civil-war western Django Unchained and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Taiwanese-American filmmaker Lee, who chose an entirely Indian cast for Life of Pi and shot some scenes in India, is in the race for the ‘Best Director’ trophy with Spielberg, Russell, Haneke and Zeitlin.
Life of Pi , which starred Delhi boy Suraj Sharma in the lead and noted Indian actors Irrfan Khan, Tabu and Adil Hussain, also gained nominations in categories like cinematography, film editing, original score, original song, production design, best adapted screenplay, visual effects, sound editing and sound mixing.
Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is leading in the ‘Best Actor’ category for his widely-praised portrayal of United States President Abraham Lincoln in the Reliance-DreamWorks produced Lincoln.
The other contenders in the ‘Best Actor’ category are Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook (also starring Indian actor Anupam Kher), Denzel Washington for Flight, Joaquin Phoenix for The Master and Hugh Jackman for Les Miserables.
Actors Emma Stone and Seth MacFarlane announced the nominations today at Hollywood.
85-year-old French actor Emmanuelle Riva is the oldest ever to be nominated in the ‘Best Actress’ category. Riva plays a woman struggling with old age and death in Haneke’s Amour.
While the record for being the youngest-ever nominee in the same category goes to 8-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis for her role in Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Jessica Chastain is also a strong contender for the ‘Best Actress’ trophy this year for her role of a CIA agent in Zero Dark Thirty. She is facing competition from Silver Linings Playbook star Jennifer Lawrence and Naomi Watts from the Tsunami drama The Impossible.
The ‘Supporting Actor’ list is full of previous Oscar-winning actors such as Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), Alan Arkin (Argo), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln) and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained).
The ‘Supporting Actress’ category has Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Helen Hunt (The Sessions) and Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook).
Indian vocalist Bombay Jayashri is nominated in the ‘Original song’ category for ‘Pi’s Lullaby’ from Life of Pi along with the composer Mychael Danna.
British soul singer Adele has earned an Oscar nomination with her rendition of the theme song of James Bond film Skyfall. Other contenders in the category are ‘Before My Time’ from Chasing Ice and ‘Everybody Needs A Best Friend’ from Ted.
Amour, from Austria, is leading in the ‘Best Foreign Film’ category. The ‘Best Documentary Feature’ category is being led by 5 Broken Cameras by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi. The documentary shows a Palestinian farmer’s chronicle of his nonviolent resistance to the Israeli army.
List of 85th annual Academy Award nominations
1. Best Picture- “Amour,” “Argo,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Django Unchained,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Zero Dark Thirty.”
2. Actor- Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook“; Daniel Day—Lewis, “Lincoln“; Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables“; Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master“; Denzel Washington, “Flight.”
3. Actress- Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty“; Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook“; Emmanuelle Riva, “Amour“; Quvenzhane Wallis, “Beasts of the Southern Wild“; Naomi Watts, “The Impossible.”
4. Supporting Actor- Alan Arkin, “Argo“; Robert De Niro, “Silver Linings Playbook“; Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master“; Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln“; Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained.”
5. Supporting Actress- Amy Adams, “The Master“; Sally Field, “Lincoln“; Anne Hathaway, “Les Miserables“; Helen Hunt, “The Sessions“; Jacki Weaver, “Silver Linings Playbook.”
6. Directing- Michael Haneke, “Amour“; Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild“; Ang Lee, “Life of Pi“; Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln“; David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook.”
7. Foreign Language Film- “Amour,” Austria; “Kon—Tiki,” Norway; “No,” Chile; “A Royal Affair,” Denmark; “War Witch,” Canada.
8. Adapted Screenplay- Chris Terrio, “Argo“; Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, “Beasts of the Southern Wild“; David Magee, “Life of Pi“; Tony Kushner, “Lincoln“; David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook.”
9. Original Screenplay- Michael Haneke, “Amour“; Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained“; John Gatins, “Flight“; Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, “Moonrise Kingdom“; Mark Boal, “Zero Dark Thirty.”
10. Animated Feature Film- “Brave“; “Frankenweenie“; “ParaNorman“; “The Pirates! Band of Misfits“; “Wreck—It Ralph.”
11. Production Design- “Anna Karenina,” “The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln.”
12. Cinematography- “Anna Karenina,” “Django Unchained,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Skyfall.”
13. Sound Mixing- “Argo,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Skyfall.”
14. Sound Editing- “Argo,” “Django Unchained,” “Life of Pi,” “Skyfall,” “Zero Dark Thirty.”
15. Original Score- “Anna Karenina,” Dario Marianelli; “Argo,” Alexandre Desplat; “Life of Pi,” Mychael Danna; “Lincoln,” John Williams; “Skyfall,” Thomas Newman.
16. Original Song- “Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice,” J. Ralph; “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from “Ted,” Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane; “Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi,” Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri; “Skyfall” from “Skyfall,” Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth; “Suddenly” from “Les Miserables,” Claude—Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil.
17. Costume- “Anna Karenina,” “Les Miserables,” “Lincoln,” “Mirror Mirror,” “Snow White and the Huntsman.”
18. Documentary Feature- “5 Broken Cameras,” “The Gatekeepers,” “How to Survive a Plague,” “The Invisible War,” “Searching for Sugar Man.”
19. Documentary (short subject)- “Inocente,” “Kings Point,” “Mondays at Racine,” “Open Heart,” “Redemption.”
20. Film Editing- “Argo,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Zero Dark Thirty.”
21. Makeup and Hairstyling- “Hitchcock,” “The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey,” “Les Miserables.”
22. Animated Short Film- “Adam and Dog,” “Fresh Guacamole,” “Head over Heels,” “Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare,’” “Paperman.”
23. Live Action Short Film- “Asad,” “Buzkashi Boys,” “Curfew,” “Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw),” “Henry.”
24. Visual Effects- “The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey,” “Life of Pi,” “Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Prometheus,” “Snow White and the Huntsman.”
