2021 Oscar Nominations: Everything You Need To Know

On March 15, 2021, actor-producer Priyanka Chopra Jonas (The White Tiger) and singer, songwriter, and actor Nick Jonas (Kingdom) announced the nominations for the 93^rd Academy Awards. Mank received the most nominations among all the Oscar nominees this year, with ten, including nominations in the categories of Actor in Leading Role, Best Picture, and Directing.

Other Oscar nominees with multiple nominations this year include Judas and the Black Messiah, Nomadland, The Father, Sound Of Metal, Minari, and The Trial of the Chicago 7 with six nominations each.

The 2021 Oscars will air LIVE Sunday, April 25, on ABC and be televised live in over 225 countries and territories worldwide. Before the 2021 Oscars air, take some time off the best sports betting sites and read these few things you should know.

The Most Diverse Oscar Nominations

For the 2021 Oscars, six Black actors and actresses have been nominated, equalling the record set in 2017. Kaluuya, Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis Davis joined Andra Day, LaKeith Stanfield and Leslie Odom Jr, who is also nominated for best original song.

Davis has been shortlisted for playing the role of a 1920s blues singer in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. It is the fourth nomination of her career, making her the most-nominated Black actress ever.

Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) became the first actor of Pakistani descent to get an Oscar nomination and the first Muslim to be nominated under the best actor category. Similarly, Yuh-Jung Youn became the first South Korean actress to be up for an Oscar. “Never in my dreams did I ever think a Korean actress would be nominated for an Oscar,” she said about her nomination. Steven Yeun, her Korean-American co-star who has been nominated for best actor, will join her at the ceremony.

Minari has also received an Oscar nod with her nomination for the Academy Awards’ top prize, the best picture given to a film’s producer. Among the movie’s rivals for the award are Judas and the Black Messiah, which has also scored a nomination under the best picture category.

Female Directors Make History

In Oscars history, only five women have ever been nominated for the best director before, and only one has won—Kathryn Bigelow for The Hunt Locker in 2010. However, two of the five contenders for this award are female this year, with Chinese-born, US-based Chloé Zhao being a hot favorite for her story of a woman (played by Frances McDormand) who lives a nomadic life in a van.

Additionally, Zhao is also up for a total of four awards this year—best-adapted screenplay, best picture, best director, as well as the best editing. In case she wins them all, she will set a record similar to the one set by Walt Disney, who is the only other person to have won four Oscars on the same night.

Furthermore, Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) became the first-ever British woman to be nominated for the best director category. A few even predicted a third female best director nominee this year, tipping Regina King for One Night in Miami. Back in 2019, she has bagged an Oscar for her acting for If Beale Street Could Talk but didn’t get a directing award to go with it this year.

To put it short, the Oscars did a great job by nominating 76 women this year.

When Will the 2021 Oscars Take Place?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 93^rd Academy Awards got postponed from February 28 to April 25, 2021.

The date change meant a temporary change to the Oscars’ eligibility criteria, with the deadline being extended to February 28 from December 31. Films released up until that date has qualified for recognition by the awarding body.