Netflix lines up its Oscar hopefuls: ROMA, 22 July, Buster Scruggs, Kindergarten Teacher main pushes

Erik Anderson October 11, 2018

Netflix, which broke through the Oscars last season with above-the-line Academy Award nominations for Mudbound (and also establishing two pieces of Oscar history in the process) and a win in Documentary Feature with Icarus, is aiming much higher this year and it’s got the films to do it. From major Best Picture contenders to Foreign Language Film to Documentary, the streamer is covering their bases in multiple categories and making no bones about what it’s prioritizing.

At the top of the list, no surprise, is ROMA. The follow-up to Alfonso Cuarón’s Oscar-winning Gravity has played nearly every fall festival to overwhelmingly positive response and is flying the director and his stars, Marina de Tavira and first-time actress Yalitza Aparicio, to every event. At the moment there are no categories listed for the film but screenings have begun.

Next up is 22 July, which just debuted on Netflix last night after a strong festival run. The film, about the worst terrorist attack in Norway’s history, is being campaigned in 15 categories including Best Picture. The film’s terrorist villain, played by Anders Danielsen Lie, is in Best Actor with the rest of the ensemble in Supporting.

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, another festival staple this fall, is being campaigned in multiple categories although no acting placements are to be found. A largely ensemble piece, stars Tim Blake Nelson and Zoe Kazan might need to find strong actor support to earn mentions this season. There is an Original Song contender to add to your predictions: “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings.”

The Kindergarten Teacher lands on the streamer tomorrow and also finished a strong festival run this year that began at Sundance where it was bought. It looks like a strong push for Maggie Gyllenhaal to earn her second Oscar nomination is on tap.

For Foreign Language Film, three official submissions are set for campaigns; Belgium’s Girl, Denmark’s The Resistance Banker and Uruguay’s A Twelve-Year Night. Girl has had a superb festival run that began with Cannes this summer where it won multiple prizes. It’s going to be their top push.

After winning Documentary Feature earlier this year, Netflix is looking to repeat and has a slew of contenders ready for that fight. First up is Shirkers, another Sundance grab and a film they’re going deep on with pushes in Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay and more. It also gives us another Original song contender in “Tick Tick.” Quincy is also getting a big push outside of Documentary and also includes another Original Song contender, “Keep Reachin,'” from Mark Ronson (who stands to earn a nomination here and for A Star Is Born).

Check out the full list of films and where they’re being campaigned at Netflix’s awards page here.

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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.