Today was a very good day if you are the persons and studios behind the films La La Land, Moonlight, and Arrival. All three films lead the pack when it comes to receiving Oscar nominations. Damien Chazelle’s musical tied Titanic and All About Eve with a total of 14 nominations; Barry Jenkins’s drama and Denis Villenueve’s sci-fi epic received eight apiece. Plus, Kubo and the Two Strings made history becoming the first animated film since Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas to be in the visual effects category.
As far as predictions go, BackstageOL did pretty well. Predicting 14 of 24 total categories we got a total of 64 out of 74 correct. This included a perfect 9 for 9 in the Best Picture race, and 100-percent in the races for Best Actor, Supporting Actress, Animated Feature, Cinematography and Adapted Screenplay.
Here is a complete rundown of nominees as well as reactions from those who were nominated.
BEST PICTURE
ARRIVAL
Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron Ryder and David Linde, Producers
FENCES
Scott Rudin, Denzel Washington and Todd Black, Producers
HACKSAW RIDGE
Bill Mechanic and David Permut, Producers
HELL OR HIGH WATER
Carla Hacken and Julie Yorn, Producers
HIDDEN FIGURES
Donna Gigliotti, Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping, Pharrell Williams and Theodore Melfi, Producers
LA LA LAND
Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz and Marc Platt, Producers
LION
Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Angie Fielder, Producers
“LION is the company’s 26th Best Picture Nomination in 28 years, and it is just as exciting as the first. I couldn’t be more proud of the entire team. The most important part of this is the effect that LION is having on social issues around the world. Its themes of diversity, love, and unity are very special to me on a personal level. UNICEF said it best, LION is an anthem of hope, love and acceptance.’ That means more to me than anything.” – Harvey Weinstein, CEO of The Weinstein Company
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Matt Damon, Kimberly Steward, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck and Kevin J. Walsh, Producers
MOONLIGHT
Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
CASEY AFFLECK
Manchester by the Sea
ANDREW GARFIELD
Hacksaw Ridge
RYAN GOSLING
La La Land
VIGGO MORTENSEN
Captain Fantastic
DENZEL WASHINGTON
Fences
“Thank you to the Academy for this wonderful recognition and for honoring August Wilson’s brilliant words. I am just lucky to have been entrusted with this project and to have the chance to work with the amazing Viola Davis and the rest of my talented cast and crew.” – Denzel Washington
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
MAHERSHALA ALI
Moonlight
JEFF BRIDGES
Hell or High Water
LUCAS HEDGES
Manchester by the Sea
DEV PATEL
Lion
MICHAEL SHANNON
Nocturnal Animals
“I am thrilled! Loved making this film. I would work with Tom Ford anytime, anywhere. Jake Gyllenhaal and Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Karl Glusman made it easy for me. Nice to get some good news in the midst of all the carnage, so to speak.” – Michael Shannon
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
ISABELLE HUPPERT
Elle
RUTH NEGGA
Loving
NATALIE PORTMAN
Jackie
EMMA STONE
La La Land
MERYL STREEP
Florence Foster Jenkins
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
VIOLA DAVIS
Fences
“Thank you to the Academy for this wonderful recognition and for honoring August Wilson’s brilliant words. I am just lucky to have been entrusted with this project and to have the chance to work with the amazing Viola Davis and the rest of my talented cast and crew.” – Viola Davis
NAOMIE HARRIS
Moonlight
NICOLE KIDMAN
Lion
OCTAVIA SPENCER
Hidden Figures
MICHELLE WILLIAMS
Manchester by the Sea
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner
MOANA
John Musker, Ron Clements and Osnat Shurer
MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI
Claude Barras and Max Karli
THE RED TURTLE
Michael Dudok de Wit and Toshio Suzuki
ZOOTOPIA
Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer
CINEMATOGRAPHY
ARRIVAL
Bradford Young
LA LA LAND
Linus Sandgren
LION
Greig Fraser
MOONLIGHT
James Laxton
SILENCE
Rodrigo Prieto
COSTUME DESIGN
ALLIED
Joanna Johnston
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Colleen Atwood
FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS
Consolata Boyle
JACKIE
Madeline Fontaine
LA LA LAND
Mary Zophres
DIRECTING
ARRIVAL
Denis Villeneuve
HACKSAW RIDGE
Mel Gibson
LA LA LAND
Damien Chazelle
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Kenneth Lonergan
MOONLIGHT
Barry Jenkins
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
FIRE AT SEA
Gianfranco Rosi and Donatella Palermo
I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO
Raoul Peck, Rémi Grellety and Hébert Peck
LIFE, ANIMATED
Roger Ross Williams and Julie Goldman
O.J.: MADE IN AMERICA
Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow
13TH
Ava DuVernay, Spencer Averick and Howard Barish
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
EXTREMIS
Dan Krauss
4.1 MILES
Daphne Matziaraki
JOE’S VIOLIN
Kahane Cooperman and Raphaela Neihausen
WATANI: MY HOMELAND
Marcel Mettelsiefen and Stephen Ellis
THE WHITE HELMETS
Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara
FILM EDITING
ARRIVAL
Joe Walker
HACKSAW RIDGE
John Gilbert
HELL OR HIGH WATER
Jake Roberts
LA LA LAND
Tom Cross
MOONLIGHT
Nat Sanders and Joi McMillon
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
LAND OF MINE
Denmark
A MAN CALLED OVE
Sweden
THE SALESMAN
Iran
TANNA
Australia
TONI ERDMANN
Germany
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
A MAN CALLED OVE
Eva von Bahr and Love Larson
STAR TREK BEYOND
Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
SUICIDE SQUAD
Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
JACKIE
Mica Levi
LA LA LAND
Justin Hurwitz
LION
Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
“We feel extremely honored to receive this Academy Awards nomination and to be acknowledged by The Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences.We celebrate this nomination with our friend and colleague director Garth Davis, and the whole creative team and talented cast of LION. We are grateful that our music supports this magnificent true story of love, determination and family. Saroo’s journey enriched our lives and we hope it will touch audiences watching this beautiful movie around the world, bringing us all closer together.” – Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka
MOONLIGHT
Nicholas Britell
PASSENGERS
Thomas Newman
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
AUDITION (THE FOOLS WHO DREAM)
from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
CAN’T STOP THE FEELING
from Trolls; Music and Lyric by Justin Timberlake, Max Martin and Karl Johan Schuster
CITY OF STARS
from La La Land; Music by Justin Hurwitz; Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
THE EMPTY CHAIR
from Jim: The James Foley Story; Music and Lyric by J. Ralph and Sting
HOW FAR I’LL GO
from Moana; Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
PRODUCTION DESIGN
ARRIVAL
Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Paul Hotte
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM
Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
HAIL, CAESAR!
Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
LA LA LAND
Production Design: David Wasco; Set Decoration: Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
PASSENGERS
Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas; Set Decoration: Gene Serdena
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
BLIND VAYSHA
Theodore Ushev
BORROWED TIME
Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadj
PEAR CIDER AND CIGARETTES
Robert Valley and Cara Speller
PEARL
Patrick Osborne
PIPER
Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
ENNEMIS INTÉRIEURS
Sélim Azzazi
LA FEMME ET LE TGV
Timo von Gunten and Giacun Caduff
SILENT NIGHTS
Aske Bang and Kim Magnusson
SING
Kristof Deák and Anna Udvardy
TIMECODE
Juanjo Giménez
SOUND EDITING
ARRIVAL
Sylvain Bellemare
DEEPWATER HORIZON
Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli
HACKSAW RIDGE
Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
LA LA LAND
Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
SULLY
Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
SOUND MIXING
ARRIVAL
Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye
HACKSAW RIDGE
Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
LA LA LAND
Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
13 HOURS: THE SECRET SOLDIERS OF BENGHAZI
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth
VISUAL EFFECTS
DEEPWATER HORIZON
Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
DOCTOR STRANGE
Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
THE JUNGLE BOOK
Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff
“As much as Kubo and the Two Strings is an homage to Japanese culture and to woodblock artists including Kiyoshi Saito, it is also a tribute to special effects pioneers Ray Harryhausen, Willis O’Brien, Jim Danforth, and the many innovative FX artists who tell stories using in-camera effects, puppets, and human hands. We’re thrilled for the artists at LAIKA who put years into realizing Kubo. For all of us at the studio, being recognized alongside such distinguished and talented members of the VFX community is truly an honor.” – Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean & Brad Schiff
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY
John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
ARRIVAL
Screenplay by Eric Heisserer
FENCES
Screenplay by August Wilson
HIDDEN FIGURES
Screenplay by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi
LION
Screenplay by Luke Davies
I think of LION as an anthem to the persistence of love, and my main aim in writing it was simply to move people. I didn’t consciously set out to write a film that would spark wider conversations about the ethics of adoption or the worldwide scourge of child sex trafficking. But I am so very grateful it seems to be doing that, too. And I’m grateful and honored to be nominated for an Oscar.” – Luke Davies
MOONLIGHT
Screenplay by Barry Jenkins; Story by Tarell Alvin McCraney
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
HELL OR HIGH WATER
Written by Taylor Sheridan
LA LA LAND
Written by Damien Chazelle
THE LOBSTER
Written by Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthimis Filippou
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
Written by Kenneth Lonergan
20TH CENTURY WOMEN
Written by Mike Mills