Oscars 2020 - Finding a way in
Hello readers. It feels good to be back. For 10 years I wrote about the Oscars at Awards Wiz, my Oscars website with a mission to remain positive, be entertaining and let the films guide me in my analysis of the Oscar race. Last year I decided to end Awards Wiz and refocus here at brianwhisenant.com.
Last Oscar season I didn’t really participate, other than one or two essays, some misguided predictions and a small gathering on Oscar night with a good friend. I knew the moment the show ended that I was coming back this year.
Then COVID-19 hit. I had already planned to do things differently, but without a traditional festival season, how does one even navigate the early stages of Oscar season.
We did have Sundance, which brought us a few titles, and although Sundance isn’t often an Oscar harbinger for narrative films, many of their docs find themselves nominated on Oscar nom morning.
In 2017 Sundance did have future Best Picture nominees and Oscar screenplay winners “Call Me By Your Name” and “Get Out,” although neither played in competition. That year Sundance awarded “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore,” a film I enjoyed and cannot remember.
Many of us had hopes that last year’s “The Farewell,” which played in US Narrative competition might sneak in for a Best Picture and Best Actress nomination, but sadly, neither happened.
Documentaries at Sundance, however, are a whole other beast.. The same year as CMBYN and “Get Out” the Documentary award went to “Dina,” which beat eventual Oscar winner, “Icarus.”
In 2018 soon to be Oscar nominees “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” and “Minding the Gap” showed in competition (both winning Special Jury Prizes), while “RGB” premiered out of competition.
And last year, eventual Oscar winner “American Factory” competed in the US Doc category, although beaten by eventual Oscar nominee “One Child Nation.” Also in competition last year at Sundance was “Apollo 11,” which was snubbed for the Oscar. In the World Doc category the winner was “Honeyland,” a double Oscar nominee for International Film and Doc Feature.
See my point?
It would make sense to look deep into the docs that played at Sundance this year to get an idea of what might be nominated for an Oscar. The US doc winner was “Boys State” which was picked up by A24, which beat “Crip Camp” which is now showing on Netflix. More on that in a bit.
The other films are just a big list to me right now, having not attended Sundance. I obviously recognize “On the Record” which was infamously backed and unbacked by Oprah as well as directors Ron Howard and Ryan White.
Moving on…
Last year’s big Oscar winner, “Parasite” had its world premiere at Cannes, winning the Palme d’or. It had been years since a Cannes winner went on to win the Best Picture Oscar, which meant all eyes were on the festival in 2020. Until it didn’t happen.
Tribeca Enterprises & YouTube announced the “We are One: a Global Film Festival, which would be curated by Berlin, Venice and Cannes…but digging deeper into the press release, my hope that this would include some of this year’s players is now a bit dampened. No one knows what is going to show at this free festival, but with over 20 festivals participating, I wonder if it will be films of years past. No one knows…at least outside of the likes of Robert De Niro.
So, now what? How do I even begin to talk about this year’s race when we don’t quite know what is going to happen with the festivals or releases. The Academy is going to allow films that play outside of theaters to be eligible, but with the battle brewing between Regal/AMC and Universal - what might Oscar contenders do with their films. That being said…a smaller competition pool also means a better chance at winning, no?
I recently watched both “Circus of Books” and “Crip Camp” on Netflix. Both docs are fantastic, and could easily be Oscar contenders, particularly considering how Oscar voters might direct their gaze. With a Global Pandemic (hopefully) in the rear view mirror are Oscar voters going to go with their usual array of films or might they skew a bit more hopeful. Could Netflix find their way in with 2 nominees? Perhaps. With Universal currently the Big Bad of this Oscar season (for now) Netflix actually comes out a hero…saving us all from quarantined isolation.
Also on deck for Doc Feature are previously mentioned “Boys State” as well as “Epicentro” which won the World Doc Competition prize at Sundance. I reached out to A24 to see if I might get a look at “Boys State” before writing this, but I haven’t heard anything yet.
Then we have some narratives to consider. “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” “The Assistant,” and “The Half of It,” which won the US Narrative prize at Tribeca and is already on Netflix.
Tribeca, a festival I attended and worked at for years has never had much of an Oscar presence and has often been considered a red-headed festival stepchild for quite some time. Particularly by those who exhaustively lionize the likes of Sundance and Telluride. But in a 2020/2021 world where we NEED connection and togetherness, perhaps it’s time to look at the festival that was born out of tragedy in a different light. Netflix and Tribeca…who knows? Maybe they do have an Oscar contender with “The Half of It.”
One thing we know for sure. It’s available and eligible.
Till next time.