The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the shortlists in 10 categories for the upcoming Oscars. Meet in the Middle and High Life, both co-written by Irish film-makers John Carney for his film Flora and Son, are among 15 on the list for best original song. Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things, an Irish production from Dublin’s Element Pictures, turned up in the lists for make-up and hairstyling, original score and visual effects. There was disappointment elsewhere for domestic contenders. The Deepest Breath by Laura McGann, from Kildare, was seen as a contender in best feature documentary, but the Netflix film on free-diving was not mentioned.
Starring Eve Hewson as a single mum getting by in contemporary Dublin, Flora and Son has been on awards-watchers’ radars since selling for somewhere close to $20 million at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. “People were on their feet, clapping to the song while the movie was still playing,” he told The Irish Times. “They showed no decorum.” It is 16 years since Falling Slowly, by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, from Carney’s Once won in this category. That remains one of the great moments in Ireland’s Oscar history. Three songs from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie compete against the two Flora and Son tunes for five nomination spots at the Oscars. Also mentioned are tunes from The Color Purple, Killers of the Flower Moon and Asteroid City.
The winner in today’s preliminary skirmish was, indeed, Barbie. As well as those three song shortlistings, Greta Gerwig’s shocking-pink smash also scored in sound and original score. Unexpectedly the film is, however, already out of the “make-up and hairstyling” race.
The competitors mentioned in today’s shortlists now go forward to the Academy members. The Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23rd. The ceremony takes place on March 10th. Of the 10 categories shortlisted, most attention, at this early stage, probably goes the way of best international feature. This time last year, Colm Bairéad’s An Cailín Ciúin was mentioned on its way to a famous nomination. Stephen Gerard Kelly and Garry Keane’s fine documentary In the Shadow of Beirut, the 2024 Irish submission, sadly did not make the shortlist. The hot contenders there – each of which jumped the current hurdle – look to be Jonathan Glazer’s, from the UK (but in German and Polish); Trần Anh Hùng’s The Taste of Things, from France; Matteo Garrone’s Io Capitano, from Italy; and Wim Wenders’s Perfect Days. Wenders’s Anselm was perhaps the most surprising exclusion from the best feature documentary shortlist.
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[ Flora and Son: Eve Hewson just about convinces as an inner-city mumOpens in new window ]
There remains great potential for Irish success in races that do not feature a preliminary shortlist. Cillian Murphy seems certain to pick up a best actor nomination for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. Andrew Scott has a decent chance in the same race for Andrew Haigh’s spooky gay drama All of Us Strangers, and Paul Mescal, his costar, has an outside chance in best supporting actor. Barry Keoghan will struggle to get into best actor for Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn, but he is not out of it yet. Poor Things, co-produced by Andrew Lowe and Ed Guiney, veterans of the Irish film industry, is sure to secure nominations across the board.
Shortlists for the 2024 Academy Awards
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
American Symphony
Apolonia, Apolonia
Beyond Utopia
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
In the Rearview
Stamped from the Beginning
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
A Still Small Voice
32 Sounds
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Bear
Between Earth & Sky
Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games
Camp Courage
Deciding Vote
How We Get Free
If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Last Song from Kabul
Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó
Oasis
Wings of Dust
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Armenia, Amerikatsi
Bhutan, The Monk and the Gun
Denmark, The Promised Land
Finland, Fallen Leaves
France, The Taste of Things
Germany, The Teachers’ Lounge
Iceland, Godland
Italy, Io Capitano
Japan, Perfect Days
Mexico, Totem
Morocco, The Mother of All Lies
Spain, Society of the Snow
Tunisia, Four Daughters
Ukraine, 20 Days in Mariupol
United Kingdom, The Zone of Interest
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Beau Is Afraid
Ferrari
Golda
Killers of the Flower Moon
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Maestro
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
American Fiction
American Symphony
Barbie
The Boy and the Heron
The Color Purple
Elemental
The Holdovers
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Saltburn
Society of the Snow
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Zone of Interest
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
It Never Went Away from American Symphony
Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven) from Asteroid City
Dance The Night from Barbie
I’m Just Ken from Barbie
What Was I Made For? from Barbie
Keep It Movin’ from The Color Purple
Superpower (I) from The Color Purple
The Fire Inside from Flamin’ Hot
High Life from Flora and Son
Meet In The Middle from Flora and Son
Can’t Catch Me Now from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon
Quiet Eyes from Past Lives
Road To Freedom from Rustin
Am I Dreaming from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Boom
Eeva
Humo (Smoke)
I’m Hip
A Kind of Testament
Koerkorter (Dog Apartment)
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Once upon a Studio
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
Pete
27
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Wild Summon
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
The After
The Anne Frank Gift Shop
An Avocado Pit
Bienvenidos a Los Angeles
Dead Cat
Good Boy
Invincible
Invisible Border
Knight of Fortune
The One Note Man
Red, White and Blue
The Shepherd
Strange Way of Life
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Yellow
SOUND
Barbie
The Creator
Ferrari
The Killer
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest
VISUAL EFFECTS
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Poor Things
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
Society of the Snow
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
