AwardsWatch - 2022 Oscar Nominations: ‘The Power of the Dog’ leads with 12, ‘Flee’ makes Oscar history

The 2022 Oscar nominations for the 94th Academy Awards were announced and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog led the way with 12 mentions, including Best Picture, Best Director and four acting nods. Couple Jesse Plemmons and Kirsten Dunst earned their first-ever nominations together alongside previous nominee Benedict Cumberbatch and another first-timer, Kodi Smit-McPhee. Jane Campion made Oscar history today as the first woman to receive a second Best Director nomination. She previously received a nomination for 1993’s The Piano and at the time was only the second woman ever to earn one. The Power of the Dog is the only Best Picture nominee this year to earn directing, acting, writing and editing nominations.

Dune was close with 10 nominations but missed out on Best Director for Denis Villeneuve, just as he did at BAFTA. The film swept up the technical nominations. Belfast and West Side Story were next with seven nominations apiece and King Richard came in with six. Rounding out the Best Picture nominees are CODA, Drive My Car, Licorice Pizza and Nightmare Alley.

Steven Spielberg receives his eleventh nomination for Best Picture, a record for an individual producer (since 1951 when producers were first named as nominees).

Nightmare Alley joins 2011’s War Horse, 2014’s Selma, 2018’s Black Panther and 2019’s Ford v Ferrari as the only films in the expanded era to earn a Best Picture nomination without a corresponding one for acting, writing or directing.

With Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s nomination, this is the fourth consecutive year that the director of a film nominated in the International Feature Film category has also received a nomination in the Directing category.

In the acting categories, a 41-year streak has fallen in Best Actor as every nominee is a previous winner (Javier Bardem, Denzel Washington) or previous nominee (Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield, Will Smith). Wild upsets and snubs ripped through Best Actress, which saw zero crossover with BAFTA as Oscar made no room for Lady Gaga or Alana Haim and instead nominated Jessica Chastain, Olivia Colman, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and first-time nominee Kristen Stewart. Supporting Actress Oscar winner Judi Dench, who came in with no precursor support at all, replace her co-star Caitríona Balfe, who came in with all of them. The Lost Daughter’s Jessie Buckley repeated her BAFTA nomination with one here.

Nine performers are first-time nominees (Jessie Buckley, Ariana DeBose, Kirsten Dunst, Aunjanue
Ellis, Ciarán Hinds, Troy Kotsur, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Kristen Stewart). Seven of the nominees are previous acting winners (Javier Bardem, Olivia Colman, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, J.K. Simmons and Denzel Washington). Olivia Colman is the only acting nominee who was also nominated last year.

The LGBTQ+ animated documentary Flee made Oscar history today with nominations in three separate feature categories: Animated, Documentary and International (representing Denmark).

More Oscar history was made when husband and wife and previous winners Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos) and Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers) were nominated together, joining Plemmons and Dunst, giving us two sets of couples and/or husband/wife acting nominees for the first time in Academy Awards history.

Perennial nominee Diane Warren earned her 13th Oscar nomination today for her original song “Somehow You Do” from the film Four Good Days. This marks the 5th year in a row she has received a nomination in this category, an Oscar record.

Kenneth Branagh made Oscar history with Best Picture and Original Screenplay, his sixth and seventh nominations, putting him ahead of George Clooney and Walt Disney as the individual with the nominations in the most categories.

With his nomination this year for Best Live Action Short Film, Riz Ahmed becomes the fifth person to have nominations in both an acting category and a short film category (not necessarily in the same year). Previous nominees were Peter Sellers, Dyan Cannon, Kenneth Branagh, and Christine Lahti, who won for Best Live Action Short Film in 1995.

Ari Wegner (The Power of the Dog) is the second woman to be nominated for Cinematography. The first was Rachel Morrison, who was nominated for Mudbound (2017).

For the first time in almost 20 years, there is no screenplay nominee as the sole representation for its film.

This year’s nominations were announced by actors/comedians Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Jordan, who were assisted by healthcare workers and film and Oscar enthusiasts to reveal the nominees. This year’s Oscar theme is ‘Movie Lovers Unite’ and the Academy Awards will offer audience members a chance to vote on their favorite movie and movie moment of the year. Oscar winner voting begins March 17 and lasts through March 22.

The 94th Academy Awards will be held in-person at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 27, 2022 and will be televised live on ABC at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Here is the complete list of nominations.

BEST PICTURE

“Belfast” (Focus Features) Laura Berwick, Kenneth Branagh, Becca Kovacik and Tamar Thomas, Producers
“CODA” (Apple Original Films) Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi and Patrick Wachsberger, Producers
“Don’t Look Up” (Netflix) Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers
“Drive My Car” (Sideshow/Janus Films)Teruhisa Yamamoto, Producer
“Dune” (Warner Bros/HBO Max) Mary Parent, Denis Villeneuve and Cale Boyter, Producers
“King Richard” (Warner Bros/HBO Max) Tim White, Trevor White and Will Smith, Producers
“Licorice Pizza” (MGM/UAR) Sara Murphy, Adam Somner and Paul Thomas Anderson, Producers
“Nightmare Alley” (Searchlight Pictures) Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale and Bradley Cooper, Producers
“The Power of the Dog” (Netflix) Jane Campion, Tanya Seghatchian, Emile Sherman, Iain Canning and Roger Frappier, Producers
“West Side Story” (20th Century Studios) Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers

DIRECTING

“Belfast” Kenneth Branagh
“Drive My Car” Ryusuke Hamaguchi
“Licorice Pizza” Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Power of the Dog” Jane Campion
“West Side Story” Steven Spielberg

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

Javier Bardem in “Being the Ricardos”
Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Power of the Dog”
Andrew Garfield in “tick, tick…BOOM!”
Will Smith in “King Richard”
Denzel Washington in “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

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

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Ciarán Hinds in “Belfast”
Troy Kotsur in “CODA”
Jesse Plemons in “The Power of the Dog”
J.K. Simmons in “Being the Ricardos”
Kodi Smit-McPhee in “The Power of the Dog”

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

Jessie Buckley in “The Lost Daughter”
Ariana DeBose in “West Side Story”
Judi Dench in “Belfast”
Kirsten Dunst in “The Power of the Dog”
Aunjanue Ellis in “King Richard”

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

“CODA” Screenplay by Siân Heder
“Drive My Car” Screenplay by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe
“Dune” Screenplay by Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve and Eric Roth
“The Lost Daughter” Written by Maggie Gyllenhaal
“The Power of the Dog” Written by Jane Campion

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

“Belfast” Written by Kenneth Branagh
“Don’t Look Up” Screenplay by Adam McKay; Story by Adam McKay & David Sirota
“King Richard” Written by Zach Baylin
“Licorice Pizza” Written by Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Worst Person in the World” Written by Eskil Vogt, Joachim Trier

FILM EDITING

“Don’t Look Up” Hank Corwin
“Dune” Joe Walker
“King Richard” Pamela Martin
“The Power of the Dog” Peter Sciberras
“tick, tick…BOOM!” Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum

CINEMATOGRAPHY

“Dune” Greig Fraser
“Nightmare Alley” Dan Laustsen
“The Power of the Dog” Ari Wegner
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” Bruno Delbonnel
“West Side Story” Janusz Kaminski

PRODUCTION DESIGN

“Dune” Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos
“Nightmare Alley” Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
“The Power of the Dog” Production Design: Grant Major; Set Decoration: Amber Richards
“The Tragedy of Macbeth” Production Design: Stefan Dechant; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
“West Side Story” Production Design: Adam Stockhausen; Set Decoration: Rena DeAngelo

COSTUME DESIGN

“Cruella” Jenny Beavan
“Cyrano” Massimo Cantini Parrini and Jacqueline Durran
“Dune” Jacqueline West and Robert Morgan
“Nightmare Alley” Luis Sequeira
“West Side Story” Paul Tazewell

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

“Don’t Look Up” Nicholas Britell
“Dune” Hans Zimmer
“Encanto” Germaine Franco
“Parallel Mothers” Alberto Iglesias
“The Power of the Dog” Jonny Greenwood

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Be Alive” from “King Richard”
Music and Lyric by DIXSON and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter
“Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto”
Music and Lyric by Lin-Manuel Miranda
“Down To Joy” from “Belfast”
Music and Lyric by Van Morrison
“No Time To Die” from “No Time to Die”
Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
“Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days”
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

SOUND

“Belfast” Denise Yarde, Simon Chase, James Mather and Niv Adiri
“Dune” Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett
“No Time to Die” Simon Hayes, Oliver Tarney, James Harrison, Paul Massey and Mark Taylor
“The Power of the Dog” Richard Flynn, Robert Mackenzie and Tara Webb
“West Side Story” Tod A. Maitland, Gary Rydstrom, Brian Chumney, Andy Nelson and Shawn Murphy

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

“Coming 2 America” Mike Marino, Stacey Morris and Carla Farmer
“Cruella” Nadia Stacey, Naomi Donne and Julia Vernon
“Dune” Donald Mowat, Love Larson and Eva von Bahr
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh
“House of Gucci” Göran Lundström, Anna Carin Lock and Frederic Aspiras

VISUAL EFFECTS

“Dune” Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer
“Free Guy” Swen Gillberg, Bryan Grill, Nikos Kalaitzidis and Dan Sudick
“No Time to Die” Charlie Noble, Joel Green, Jonathan Fawkner and Chris Corbould
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Christopher Townsend, Joe Farrell, Sean Noel Walker and Dan Oliver
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Kelly Port, Chris Waegner, Scott Edelstein and Dan Sudick

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

“Encanto” Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer
“Flee” Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
“Luca” Enrico Casarosa and Andrea Warren
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines” Mike Rianda, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Kurt Albrecht
“Raya and the Last Dragon” Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Osnat Shurer and Peter Del Vecho

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“Ascension” Jessica Kingdon, Kira Simon-Kennedy and Nathan Truesdell
“Attica” Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry
“Flee” Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen and Charlotte De La Gournerie
“Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent and David Dinerstein
“Writing with Fire” Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

“Drive My Car” Japan
“Flee” Denmark
“The Hand of God” Italy
“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” Bhutan
“The Worst Person in the World” Norway

ANIMATED SHORT

“Affairs of the Art” Joanna Quinn and Les Mills
“Bestia” Hugo Covarrubias and Tevo Díaz
“Boxballet” Anton Dyakov
“Robin Robin” Dan Ojari and Mikey Please
“The Windshield Wiper” Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

“Audible” Matt Ogens and Geoff McLean
“Lead Me Home” Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk
“The Queen of Basketball” Ben Proudfoot
“Three Songs for Benazir” Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei
“When We Were Bullies” Jay Rosenblatt

LIVE ACTION SHORT

“Ala Kachuu – Take and Run” Maria Brendle and Nadine Lüchinger
“The Dress” Tadeusz Łysiak and Maciej Ślesicki
“The Long Goodbye” Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed
“On My Mind” Martin Strange-Hansen and Kim Magnusson
“Please Hold” K.D. Dávila and Levin Menekse

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.