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      'Lunana,' a Movie From Bhutan, Is Nominated for an Academy Award

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      “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” was filmed on a shoestring budget in a remote Himalayan village. It’s now an Academy Award nominee, a first for Bhutan.THIMPHU, Bhutan — As a crew of 35 people prepared to make a movie in Bhutan’s remote Lunana Valley, they faced a slew of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.The valley had no electricity. It could only be reached by walking eight days from the nearest village. And the schoolchildren who were expected to star in the film knew nothing about acting or cinema.“They did not even know what a camera was or what it looked like,” Namgay Dorji, the village schoolteacher, said in a telephone interview.On Tuesday, the movie, “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” was nominated for an Academy Award — a first for Bhutan. Its director, Pawo Choyning Dorji, said he had been on an “improbable journey” ever since deciding to shoot the film, his first, in a Himalayan village about three miles above sea level.“It was so improbable that I thought I wouldn’t be able to finish,” said Mr. Dorji, 38, who is from a rural part of Bhutan that is east of Lunana.“Somehow we now find ourselves nominated for an Oscar,” he added. “When I found out, it was so unbelievable that I kept telling my friends: ‘What if I wake up tomorrow and I realize all this was a dream?’”The ‘dark valley’“Lunana,” which was released digitally on Friday, tells the story of a young teacher from Bhutan’s capital, Thimphu, who is assigned to work at a remote mountain school against his will. He dreams of quitting his government job, emigrating to Australia and pursuing a career as a singer.Yogesh Gurav, a boom operator, during the filming of “Lunana.” The crew sent their equipment into the mountain valley on mules.Pawo Choyning DorjiBut the teacher, Ugyen, is fascinated by the people he meets in Lunana — particularly 9-year-old Pem Zam, a radiant student with a difficult home life. As the months go by, he begins to take his job more seriously.Mr. Dorji, who wrote the script, said he made a teacher the protagonist after reading news reports about Bhutanese educators quitting their jobs. He saw that as a symbol of discontent in a poor, isolated country where globalization has caused profound social changes.Bhutan prides itself on measuring, and maximizing, the “gross national happiness” of its roughly 750,000 people. But Mr. Dorji said young Bhutanese increasingly believe that true happiness lies abroad, in places like Australia, Europe or New York City.He said he picked the Lunana Valley as the film’s setting because it presented a dramatic contrast with a “well-lit” foreign city. The area is isolated even by the standards of this remote Himalayan kingdom; in Dzongkha, the national language, lunana means “dark valley.”“My idea was: Can we discover in the shadows and darkness what we are so desperately seeking in the light?” Mr. Dorji, who divides his time among Bhutan, India and Taiwan, said in an interview from Taipei, Taiwan.Keeping it naturalTurning his vision into a movie was a giant undertaking. The Lunana Valley borders far western China, has glacial lakes and some of the world’s highest peaks, and cannot be reached by car. When health workers administered coronavirus vaccines there last year, they had to fly in by helicopter and walk from village to village through snow and ice.When Mr. Dorji’s film crew traveled to Lunana in the late summer of 2018, they transported their firewood, batteries, solar chargers and other essential gear on mules. They brought nonperishable rations, such as of dried pumpkin and mushrooms, because there was no refrigeration. And when they arrived, they had to build their own temporary housing.There was just enough solar power to shoot the movie on a single camera, but not enough for Mr. Dorji to review his footage each night after shooting, as most directors do. So he had to go by his instincts and hope for the best.His cast presented another challenge. The three main roles were played by nonprofessional actors from Thimphu. The others were all from Lunana — a place where families survive through subsistence agriculture and by harvesting a valuable alpine fungus — and had never even seen a movie.“The camera in front of them could have been a yak, for all they cared,” Mr. Dorji said.Pem Zam, left, and Sangay Lham in a scene from “Lunana.”Samuel Goldwyn PicturesMr. Dorji said he adapted to his characters’ lack of experience by tailoring the script to their lives, encouraging them to essentially play themselves. Pem Zam, for instance, goes by her real name in the movie.Mr. Dorji also shot scenes in the order in which they appear in the film, so that his actors could let their characters develop with the story. He also added scenes that he felt were poignant examples of real village life. One example: In a scene where Ugyen teaches his students how to use a toothbrush, they aren’t acting; they really didn’t know.The result is a film that successfully captures a sense of innocence, the Oscar-winning director Ang Lee told Mr. Dorji in a video call last month. He described “Lunana” as a “breath of fresh air.”“It’s a precious, precious, very simple but very touching movie,” Mr. Lee said. “Thank you for going through all that and sharing your country and culture with us.”An unlikely hit“Lunana” is Bhutan’s first Oscar entry since “The Cup,” a 1999 film that was written and directed by Mr. Dorji’s teacher Khyentse Norbu. That film, which chronicles the arrival of television in a monastery, was not shortlisted or nominated for an Academy Award.The Bhutanese government submitted “Lunana” for last year’s Oscars, but it was disqualified: The national film committee had gone so long without submitting a film for consideration that it was no longer officially recognized by the Academy.For the 2022 awards, the country formed a special selection committee. And in December, “Lunana” was among 15 shortlisted of 93 Academy Award submissions from around the world. On Tuesday, it was one of five films — alongside others from Japan, Denmark, Italy and Norway — nominated for an Oscar in the International Feature Film category.Karma Phuntsho, the selection committee’s chairman, said “Lunana” reflects the maturation of a domestic film industry that’s only about three decades old.“I have been encouraging my friends in the film industry to look beyond the small Bhutanese market and share our stories with the world,” he said. “Pawo has done that with a flair and it is a proud moment for all Bhutanese and friends of Bhutan.”Mr. Dorji with some of his cast. Kinley WangchukMr. Dorji said the film was made on a $300,000 budget — “peanuts when it comes to filmmaking” — and that he never expected to have much help publicizing it. Now it’s being distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films and marketed by a public relations agency with offices in New York and Beverly Hills.News of the film’s success has trickled back to Lunana, according to Kaka, a 51-year-old village headman there who goes by one name. “The people back home are happy that their village has become known to the world,” he said by telephone.Namgay Dorji, 35, the real-life schoolteacher whose experience of living in the Lunana Valley for a decade inspired parts of the script, said the film’s international success had inspired him to stay in the area longer than he had once planned to.“When I was in front of the camera, I wasn’t that excited,” said Mr. Dorji, the schoolteacher, who appeared in the film as an extra. “But after watching it and listening to the children’s dialogue, I realized how much hardship our community has had to overcome.”Chencho Dema reported from Thimphu, Bhutan, and Mike Ives from Seoul. More

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      2022 Oscars Nominations: Snubs and Surprises for Lady Gaga and Jared Leto

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      “The Power of the Dog” led the Oscar nominations on Tuesday, but plenty of other high-profile contenders fell short. Here, the Projectionist muses on the morning’s most startling surprises and omissions.Kristen Stewart gets the royal treatment.Kristen Stewart’s role as Princess Diana in “Spencer” is the sort of thing Oscar voters usually rush to crown: It’s a juicy, transformative lead in a biopic, performed by a famous actress who has successfully leapt from blockbusters to prestige films. Then came a shocking snub from the Screen Actors Guild, followed by another shutout from BAFTA, and pundits worried whether she’d get nominated at all. Still, Stewart was game, continuing to do press and awards-season round tables, and the 31-year-old actress was rewarded Tuesday morning with her very first Oscar nomination.Lady Gaga and Jared Leto are shut out.“House of Gucci” was stripped to its studs Tuesday, as former winners Lady Gaga and Jared Leto were both snubbed by the academy. Few performances this year were talked about more — both by audiences and by the two actors themselves — and the red carpet will be a little lesser for their absence. (Hey, nobody said the Oscars were particularly ethical … but they are fair.)‘Drive My Car’ overperforms.Coming out of last summer’s Cannes Film Festival, no one had tagged Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Drive My Car” as a major Oscar spoiler: Instead, films like Asghar Farhadi’s “A Hero” and Julia Ducournau’s “Titane” had all the buzz. But a funny thing happened on the way to the Dolby Theater: A year-end surge from critics’ groups put Hamaguchi’s contemplative three-hour drama in the thick of the awards conversation, thanks to high-profile best-film wins from the critics in New York and Los Angeles. Off that momentum, “Drive My Car” managed an astounding four Oscar nominations, with citations in picture, director, adapted screenplay and international film.‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is snubbed.There was no bigger film last year than “Spider-Man: No Way Home” — in fact, with a domestic gross of more than $748 million so far, there are only three other films that have ever been bigger. As the superhero movie kept raking in cash, the drumbeat grew louder that if the Oscars really wanted to reflect the year in film, they should honor one of the few movies that kept theaters open at all. And the academy did … but only with a nomination in visual effects. A best-picture nomination proved well outside the web-slinger’s reach.The director of ‘Dune’ goes missing.The academy’s directing branch is often dazzled by technical achievement, and a filmmaker who can wield blockbuster scale in the service of a soulful story usually has a leg up over more intimate fare. That’s why it’s startling that this year’s best-director race didn’t make room for Denis Villeneuve, especially since his sci-fi film “Dune” did score 10 nominations in a host of categories. But history was made elsewhere in that category, as Jane Campion became the first woman to earn two directing nominations (for “The Power of the Dog” and 1993’s “The Piano”) and the “West Side Story” filmmaker Steven Spielberg became the first person to be nominated in that category in six different decades.Two couples were nominated.Not only did the real-life partners Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons score their first Oscar nominations this year for “The Power of the Dog,” so did Penélope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”) and Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”), the rare married couple to have already won before. Even better: It’s a four-category split, as Cruz and Bardem were nominated in the lead races while Dunst and Plemons continued the spread in the supporting categories. Talk about a double date!Kenneth Branagh makes history.Even before “Belfast,” Branagh was an Oscar favorite, collecting five nominations over the course for his career in categories as varied as director, actor, supporting actor, adapted screenplay and live-action short film. But Tuesday morning’s collection of nods for the black-and-white film “Belfast” vaulted Branagh to a surprising Oscar record: He is now the first person to be nominated in seven different categories, having added citations for best picture and original screenplay to his haul. (Hopefully that makes up for a few surprising “Belfast” snubs in editing and cinematography.)‘Flee’ scores the hat trick.Look, it’s hard enough to earn just one Oscar nomination, as so many of the morning’s snubbed artists can attest. That makes what “Flee” just accomplished all the more remarkable: This animated documentary about an Afghan refugee is now the first film ever to receive Oscar nominations for documentary, animated film and international film all in the same year. A win in any of those categories seems unlikely, but at least when the makers of “Flee” claim it’s an honor just to be nominated, you’ll know that they mean it. More

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      Will Smith on ‘King Richard’ and His Secret Career Fear

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      Will Smith was just opening his eyes “bright and early” Tuesday in Wyoming, where he was speaking at a business conference, when his phone began buzzing. This year’s Oscar nominations had just been announced.“It was like, uh oh, wait, let me Google myself and see what happened,” Smith said in a phone interview later that afternoon. “But it was just a beautiful, pleasant surprise.”Smith was nominated for best actor for his role as the father of Venus and Serena Williams in “King Richard.” It’s the third time around for the actor, now 53, who was also up for “Ali” in 2002 and “The Pursuit of Happyness” in 2007.The actor said that for a long time he secretly feared that he would never make anything as good as “The Pursuit of Happyness,” the story of a man trying to hold his family together in the face of homelessness.“I thought I had reached my artistic pinnacle,” he said. “So for the world to respond to this film and in this way energizes me as an artist. I’m just wildly inspired to create and even to to be able to tell stories like this,” a sports drama.“King Richard” chronicles the journey and triumph of an ambitious father who’s determined to turn his daughters into tennis champs. The film also stars Aunjanue Ellis, who received her first Oscar nomination on Tuesday, in the best supporting actress category for her performance as Oracene Price, the Williams family matriarch. All told, the film picked up six nominations, including one for best picture.If Smith wins, this will be the first time he takes home an Oscar after more than 30 years in the business as one of the Hollywood’s top stars.In a phone interview, Smith discussed the nominations for “King Richard,” working with the director, Reinaldo Marcus Green, and the special way he plans to celebrate this recognition. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.Hey, Will! How’s it going?All is in divine order. How are you?I’m great and congratulations!Thank you, thank you. That was a little head-spinning.What was exactly? The nomination?Six! I’ve had films that have had box office success and I’ve been nominated twice before, but this is like a lovefest for the film, the entire cast, the crew. That’s definitely a little bit of a new world.What are your thoughts on the other five nominations that “King Richard” received, especially on Aunjanue Ellis receiving her first?We spent so much time together and became friends, and I just know how hard she’s worked and my heart was yearning for her to be honored. Her work was so subtle in this film. It’s the type of exquisite and extraordinary performance that can be overlooked. So I was ecstatic that she got honored. And then just for Venus and Serena and the entire Williams family. For Richard Williams, he has been wildly misunderstood for so many years. I love that the world is standing up and acknowledging their story, acknowledging their family.This is the third time you’ve been nominated for an Oscar in the best actor category and for playing another real-life figure. How does that feel?This one is really different. It’s one thing to be singularly nominated. And it’s another thing when it’s the entire group, the film. It’s just a different thing. This could have been a much smaller story. But the audience recognizing the universal gifts and power of the ideas in this film, it is beautifully uplifting and inspiring for me.Can you share some thoughts about the other films that were recognized by the academy this morning? Any that you’ve seen and are rooting for, obviously apart from your own?I just heard that Denzel, with this nomination, became the most nominated Black actor in history. So as soon as we hang up, I’m going to post about that. [Denzel Washington on Tuesday earned his 10th Oscar nomination, for “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”]Speaking of Denzel Washington, I also understand that 2002 marked the first time that two Black actors were competing for the best actor award. Washington won that year for “Training Day,” and now it’s 20 years later and you guys are back here again. How does that feel?You know it’s funny, I don’t think I’ve ever talked about this. So those two times I was nominated before, I’ve only ever lost to Black actors. I lost once to Denzel and the next was Forest Whitaker. So it’s funny, Jada [Pinkett Smith, his wife] and I were talking about the inclusion and all that [the issue of the lack of diversity among Oscar nominees over the years] and I was like, “I’ve only ever lost to Black actors!” [Laughs].Have you spoken to the film’s director?Yeah we spoke this morning. He is so calm and sweet. I was like, “Dude, your movie’s nominated for best picture, you got a bunch of your actors nominated. You can laugh a little bit if you want.” He’s just so humble and happy for others. And what I love about him is like he’s never reaching for himself. And even on set, that’s part of the beauty of what he was able to create.You’ve had a big and busy past year, with the premiere of “King Richard,” publishing your memoir, “Will,” last fall, your new Disney+ documentary about the planet and the new adaptation of the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” next month. And now with this recognition, how do you plan on celebrating all of this?We celebrate by creating the next thing. We live in celebration of the fact that we get to do this for a living. It’s like every single day is the celebration of the gift to live and work. I don’t think of it in terms of “grind, grind, grind and celebrate.” Like, let’s just be thankful for this opportunity, and gratitude is a major part of my belief in how you can create great things, to constantly live in gratitude. I don’t feel a necessity to set aside celebration time in that way.What excites you the most about the award ceremony?I am excited to honor my cast and crew and Venus and Serena. And I will do it in person or in my living room if Covid demands. But I am excited and ready to hand out flowers to my people. More

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      Lin-Manuel Miranda on His 'Encanto' Oscar Nomination and His EGOT Prospects

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      It was just one of those Tuesdays for Lin-Manuel Miranda. The composer, lyricist and actor — known for “In the Heights” and “Hamilton” — had trouble getting his youngest off to preschool, and his older son’s school bus was running late.He sat down with his wife, the attorney and engineer Vanessa Nadal, just in time to catch the Oscar nominations. The real joy in watching, he said, was “how many friends I’m lucky enough to know that made such amazing work this year.”He texted Ariana DeBose when she was nominated for best supporting actress for “West Side Story” and hit up the costume designer Paul Tazewell when he scored a nod for the same film. When Germaine Franco was recognized for best original score on the Disney animated film “Encanto,” which Miranda wrote songs for, he screamed for the whole neighborhood to hear.“Encanto” follows Alma Madrigal, who fled her home years ago while escaping conflict. She saved her three infant children, but lost her husband, Pedro. Devastated, Alma clung to the candle she was using to light her way, which became enchanted — hence the “encanto” — and imbued her family members with magical powers, all except her grandchild Mirabel.Miranda also received a nomination for the film: best original song for “Dos Oruguitas,” a heart-rending ballad at the emotional climax of “Encanto.” To top it off, the film — directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush and co-directed by Charise Castro Smith — garnered a nomination for best animated feature.Miranda, who lives in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York, jogged across the George Washington Bridge and back in his excitement.Although he has written his fair share of music — his “How Far I’ll Go” for Disney’s “Moana” picked up a best original song nomination in 2017 — “Dos Oruguitas” is the first song Miranda had written from start to finish in Spanish.“I really went pretty far out of my comfort zone to write the tune, so I’m really just thrilled it’s been recognized,” he said. “It just makes you want to push more: lean into the things that scare you and do those things. That’s what’s worth doing, because that’s what makes you grow.”These are edited excerpts from the conversation.When did you write this song? What did that process look like?It’s probably early last year, like March or April. But I remember the idea came on a brainstorm with Jared and Charise on the phone. Just sort of like, “I think the butterfly metaphor is already there visually. What if this song goes to nature’s original miracle?” And then, when I thought of the idea of two caterpillars in love, it was a wrap.There’s so much that it was able to hold: both Abuela [Alma] and Pedro, and what the family is doing to each other by holding on too tight. I wanted it to feel like a song that always existed. All of my favorite folkloric songs all have nature metaphors embedded in them. I started dreaming in Spanish again while I was writing it. It was like my whole brain was trying to make it happen, even my subconscious.Once you had that idea — caterpillars in love — were you able to write smoothly or did it take awhile to write in Spanish?I think I wrote the first verse and chorus in, like, a week. Sent it to the creative team. They were all sniffling and they were like, “You’re on the right track; keep going.” I needed to reach for a poetic language that is beyond my standard conversational Spanish. I’m pretty fluent in conversational Spanish, but this needed to be elevated. I ran the grammar by my dad. And looked for the words that aren’t in my everyday usage: crisálidas [chrysalises], desorientadas [disoriented]. You do whatever you need to do to get the hook out.Why did it feel like this song had to be in Spanish?Because honestly, all of the words central to the metaphor are more beautiful in Spanish, on a technical level: oruguitas, crisálidas, mariposas [butterflies] are just beautiful words. But also I think there’s a subtle generational play happening with the way we use language in this movie: The younger siblings are all expressing themselves in pretty contemporary genres: reggaeton for Luisa, ’90s rock en español for Isabela [Mirabel’s sisters]. And so it felt like the matriarch of the family and the central, foundational story of this family and this miracle should be in Spanish.How did you choose Sebastián Yatra — a younger, pop-y singer — to voice that sentiment?We went back and forth initially over whether it was a female or male vocal. And we kind of felt like, “Well, if it’s female, it will feel like Abuela is singing it.” It didn’t feel quite right. I tell the story a lot, but a lot of writing the right song is figuring out what is not the right song. It didn’t feel right for Abuela to sing a song to Mirabel, full stop. So that’s what gets you to the male vocalist.When we started working on this together — Jared, Charise, Byron and I — we all sort of made mixtapes for each other. We all did our own deep dives of Colombian music, and Sebastián just popped up in all our mixes. He’s got such a beautiful voice, and he’s around the age of Abuelo Pedro when the film takes place, so it’s just kind of a perfect fit.Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz) in a scene from “Encanto.”DisneyWhat specific aspects of Colombian folk music inspired you?First of all, the folkloric music we heard over there, which was so beautiful — basically anything with a tiple on it, I was kind of in love with. But then the other thing I really thought about was, “What are just the Latin songs that live forever?” I was thinking about “Guantanamera” and “Cielito Lindo.” I don’t feel like anyone ever wrote those songs. Although of course they all have incredible songwriters. I just feel like they always existed. So I really listened to those and the shape of them. The verse and chorus of it owes a lot to those hits.The only other song that feels close to it in songs I’ve written is a snippet of a song called “Siempre” in “In the Heights,” where I wanted that to feel like a bolero that always existed. But again, that’s not a full song. It’s like a verse in the chorus for a record-scratch joke.In the scene where we hear “Dos Oruguitas,” golden butterflies are everywhere, which evokes a favorite motif of the Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez. Did his butterflies inspire the metaphor in any way, or did they just happen to align once you found the caterpillar idea?Absolutely. The song itself was absolutely inspired by the visual metaphor that the animation team was already playing with. That scene in all of its conception hadn’t existed yet, but I had seen the candle which turned into a butterfly. And that was the inspiration for going to that metaphor. So it’s also of a great example of how much collaboration happens in an animated movie. It’s like writing for theater to the nth power.Like I write a rap section for Dolores in “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” and the writers take that and ran that vibe for her throughout the movie, and in turn, the animation department thinks of this butterfly metaphor absolutely inspired by García Márquez. And then I get to run with that as a song idea. You know you’re cooking with gas when you’re all kind of feeding each other.This song makes me cry every time. Did you cry at all while writing it?Oh yeah. I always think of myself as Tita in “Como Agua Para Chocolate” [“Like Water For Chocolate”]: I cry in the recipe.I thought about my first serious relationship and how we were two people who loved each other very much, but the world was bigger and we were going in different directions. I definitely went there in my heart while I was writing it. You pull on all of it. And also moments in your life when you were so scared of change, and you just have to trust that there’s a reason it’s happening. That, to me, strikes a deeper chord than even the themes as they appear in the movie itself.This is your second Oscar nomination, and if you were to win, you’d become the 17th person to attain EGOT status. How does it feel?On one level, it feels totally silly, because that is a term that got popularized by “30 Rock,” which is a hilarious thing for anyone to chase: that you’re chasing something Tracy Jordan chased.But on another level, the thing that always feels special about this is that artists vote on it. My fellow moviemakers, my fellow songwriters, the music branch. I’ve met some of those folks, and they’re like the most incredibly, wildly intelligent folks who have made music that I love. More

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      Troy Kotsur Makes History as the First Deaf Actor to Get a Nomination

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      A couple of weeks ago in The Hollywood Reporter, Troy Kotsur compared the opportunities for deaf actors like himself to one small hair in a beard’s worth of roles for those who can hear.With Sian Heder’s “CODA,” which stands for Child of Deaf Adults, he plucked it and made history. He’s the first deaf actor to be nominated for an Oscar. In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first deaf performer to be nominated; she went on to win the Oscar, for “Children of a Lesser God.” Matlin happens to be Kotsur’s co-star in “CODA.”Kotsur plays Frank Rossi, a deaf fisherman, gruff yet surprisingly tender, trying to keep his business in Gloucester, Mass., afloat with the help of his teenage daughter, Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only hearing member of their family. Ruby has served as the interpreter for Frank, her mother, Jackie (Matlin), and her brother, Leo (Daniel Durant) for most of her life. But she longs to go to music school and become a singer, a dream her parents can’t understand. (“If I were blind, would you paint?” Jackie asks.) And the thought of having to navigate life on their own is terrifying.The critical response to Kotsur’s portrayal has been overwhelmingly warm. Owen Gleiberman of Variety called him “an extraordinary actor”; Steve Pond of The Wrap declared him “a treasure as Matlin’s gloriously profane husband”; and Peter Travers of “Good Morning America” said he was “hilarious and heartbreaking.”The role has also earned Kotsur 31 nominations, including a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, the first Screen Actors Guild nod for an individual deaf male actor and now an Oscar for best supporting actor. So far he has tallied nine wins, including a Gotham Award and a Spotlight Award from the Hollywood Critics Association.In a statement on Tuesday after the Oscar nominations were announced, Kotsur said he was stunned, explaining, “I can still remember watching Marlee win her Oscar on television and telling friends I was going to get nominated one day and them being skeptical. I would like to thank everyone for this huge honor.”Despite the scarcity of jobs for deaf actors, Kotsur is not exactly a stranger to the limelight. In 2003, he shared the role of Pap with a hearing actor in the Tony-nominated 2003 American Sign Language adaptation of “Big River” on Broadway. More recently he helped to develop a sign language for the Tusken Raiders in “The Mandalorian.”Still, “I’m so glad that they recognized me,” Kotsur told The Hollywood Reporter of the accolades that have come his way, “not because I’m deaf but because I’m a talented actor.” More

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      Beyoncé Gets Her First Oscar Nomination for 'King Richard'

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      Look out, Lin-Manuel Miranda — Beyoncé has entered the chat.The 40-year-old singer, already the female artist with the most Grammy wins, picked up her first Oscar nomination on Tuesday for best original song for “Be Alive,” a pulsing power ballad that she wrote with the songwriter Dixson for “King Richard,” a biopic about the father of Venus and Serena Williams.The song, which plays during the film’s end credits and is accompanied by archival footage of the real Williams family, features inspirational lyrics that recount the journey the Williams sisters have taken to the top of the tennis world.Backed by a drum-heavy beat and layered vocal harmonies, Beyoncé, in soaring voice, intones:Look how we’ve been fighting to stay aliveSo when we win we will have prideDo you know how much we have cried?How hard we had to fight?Other lyrics speak to the importance of Black pride, family and sisterhood, with a chorus that underscores the importance of having the singer’s “family,” “sisters” and “tribe” by her side.The song, with its blunt, steady beat and vocal pyrotechnics, “insists on the community effort behind the triumph,” The New York Times’s chief pop music critic Jon Pareles wrote. Clayton Davis of Variety compared “Be Alive” to the Common and John Legend song “Glory,” which concluded Ava DuVernay’s 2014 historical drama “Selma.” That song took the Oscar.Though this is Beyoncé’s first Oscar nomination, it’s hardly the 28-time Grammy winner’s first film crossover. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her role as Deena Jones in the 2006 film adaptation of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls”; starred as the R&B singer Etta James in the 2008 biopic “Cadillac Records,” about the pioneering Chicago blues label; and voiced Nala in the 2019 live-action remake of “The Lion King,” in addition to recording music for that film’s soundtrack.But to take home her first statuette, she’ll have to overcome some stiff competition. Miranda, the “Hamilton” creator who needs only an Oscar to attain EGOT status, was nominated for “Dos Oruguitas,” a Spanish love song about two caterpillars that he wrote for Disney’s animated musical “Encanto.” The other nominees in the category are Billie Eilish and Finneas, for the James Bond song “No Time to Die,” which won the Golden Globe; Van Morrison, for “Down to Joy” from “Belfast”; and “Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days.” More

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      The nominees for best actress.

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      Nicole Kidman, “Being the Ricardos”Olivia Colman, “The Lost Daughter”Kristen Stewart, “Spencer”Jessica Chastain, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”Penélope Cruz, “Parallel Mothers” More

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      Oscar Nominations 2022: Date, Time and Streaming the Announcement

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      A guide to everything you need to know about the nominations for the 94th annual Academy Awards on Tuesday morning.Predicting this year’s Oscar nominations feels a bit like groping your way through a cave in the dark, as opposed to the usual brightly illuminated path lined with winners of precursor awards.In a typical year, films and actors would have risen to the top of the field by now. But with the Golden Globes canceled-but-not-canceled and the Critics Choice Awards pushed back to March from January because of the Omicron variant, who knows what’s going on inside the heads of Oscar voters?Between Jan. 27 and Feb. 1, 9,847 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences could cast their votes on the 276 films eligible for the 94th annual Academy Awards. They tend to favor biopics, serious dramas and historical epics. But that doesn’t mean a blockbuster like “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which almost single-handedly resuscitated sagging box-office sales at the end of last year, or the James Bond film “No Time to Die” couldn’t sneak in.So fire up your pancake griddle, put the coffee on and settle in for some drama. Unlike the ceremony in Hollywood in March, which has been known to exceed four hours, there’s little dawdling between the reading of the 120 entries in 23 categories — and no musical performances. The whole thing probably won’t last more than half an hour.Here’s what you can expect on Tuesday.What time should I set my alarm for?First, make sure you have the right day: The nomination announcement on Tuesday is set for 8:18 a.m. Eastern, 5:18 a.m. Pacific. Sharp.Where can I watch the announcement?You can watch the livestream at Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the academy’s social media platforms (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook), or on national broadcast and streaming news programs like ABC’s “Good Morning America” and “ABC News Live.”Why aren’t nominations announced at night, like the Oscars?You would think, with so many nominees on the West Coast, that the academy would maybe not do this at dawn, when many members might still be asleep. But the early morning reveal allows everyone involved to capitalize on the deadlines of the daily news cycle. Also, it’s tradition. Just go with it.I haven’t woken up that early since high school. Can I stream it on YouTube later?Well, yes, technically, but good luck avoiding spoilers. It’s much more fun to catch it live.Who will be presenting?Leslie Jordan, the sitcom actor known for his roles on “Will & Grace” and “Murphy Brown,” and the “black-ish” star Tracee Ellis Ross will host Tuesday’s announcement.What should I watch for?After their Directors Guild nominations, “Belfast,” “Dune,” “Licorice Pizza,” “The Power of the Dog” and “West Side Story” are safe bets in the best picture category. But now that the academy has determined that there will be 10 nominations, no matter what (in past years it was up to 10), we could be in for some surprises.In the best director category, if Jane Campion scores a nod for her Netflix western, “The Power of the Dog,” she would become the only female director ever nominated more than once. And, if Spielberg gets in for “West Side Story,” we could be in for a rematch of their 1994 duel, when Spielberg’s Holocaust drama, “Schindler’s List,” won out over Campion’s period classic, “The Piano.”Also in play: If 90-year-old Rita Moreno is nominated for best supporting actress — far from a sure thing given the crowded category this year — she could become the oldest performer ever to be nominated for an Academy Award. Beyoncé could also earn her first Oscar nomination, in the best original song category, for “Being Alive,” which she wrote with Dixson for “King Richard.”Who do we think will make the cut?Kyle Buchanan, our Projectionist columnist, is predicting a best actor nomination for Benedict Cumberbatch’s standout performance and a supporting actor nod for the breakout star Kodi Smit-McPhee, both in “The Power of the Dog.” He also thinks Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Nicole Kidman (“Being the Ricardos”) and Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”) will probably square off for best actress, while Ariana DeBose is the favorite in the supporting actress category for “West Side Story.”But he’s also forecasting some stunners: A Spielberg best director snub for “West Side Story,” which underperformed at the box office, and a supporting actress nomination for Judi Dench in “Belfast.”Can we talk about Bruno?No, no, no. Studios had to submit their choices before the TikTok darling became a surprise chart topper, and Disney chose another song written by Lin-Manuel Miranda from “Encanto,” “Dos Oruguitas,” instead. But, if it’s any consolation, you could spend a delightful three-and-a-half minutes listening to this Miranda impressionist recreate what the demo track where Miranda sang all 10 parts must’ve sounded like. More