Why 2022 is a groundbreaking year for the Oscars

The 2022 Academy awards take place on 27^th March at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. This year, the Oscar categories are dominated by two movies, The Power of the Dog and Dune, which have 22 nominations between them. The current awards are also notable for a list of firsts, as the organisers of the awards continue their quest to make the ceremony a truly global and inclusive event.

A historic year for women

For the first time in Oscars’ history, a film (The Power of the Dog) directed by Jane Campion has received more than ten nominations. Campion also became the first woman to receive a Best Director nomination, more than once having previously been in the running for The Piano in 1993, when she lost out to Steven Spielberg, who directed Schindler’s List.

Clear favourites

If the latest odds are anything to go by, The Power of the Dog is the favourite to land the Best Picture award, while Campion is odds-on at 1/8 to get the Best Director nod. Most major bookmakers listed at comparison site bonusfinder.co.uk are already offering prices across all the major categories. Offering another way to interact with this exciting event, the fact that odds are already available really demonstrates the public’s fondness for this benchmark for excellence in film.

Campion’s movie has a total of 12 nominations ahead of Dune, which has ten. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic is a favourite to pick up the gongs for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound. It was also widely acclaimed by critics and was described as this generation’s Lord of the Rings by The Independent.

A year of firsts

The rise of streaming services continues as CODA becomes the first film produced by Apple Original Films to get a nomination for Best Picture. It is also the first featuring a predominantly deaf cast, including Troy Kotsur, who also became the first deaf male actor to receive a nomination (for Best Supporting Actor). Co-star Marlee Matlin won the Best Actress category for Children of a Lesser God back in 1986 and is, at this time, the only winner of an Academy Award who is a deaf performer.

Drive My Car became the first Japanese film to be named among the nominees for Best Picture, while Flee was the first to be nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, Best International Feature Film and Best Documentary Feature.

The inclusion of Kristen Stewart and Ariana DeBose in the nominations also marks a breakthrough, as two openly LGBTQ+ actors nominated in the same year for the first time in the Oscars’ history.

Record-breaking giants

While much new ground is being broken, there are still some familiar names making waves at the 2022 awards. Kenneth Branagh’s nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for Belfast mean he has now been nominated in seven different categories – more than any other individual in the history of filmmaking.

Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg’s domination of Hollywood continues as he achieves a record-breaking 11^th Best Picture nomination, this time for his adaptation of West Side Story. Remarkably, he has now been named in that category in six consecutive decades.

Overall, the 2022 Academy Awards promises to be one of the most diverse and interesting in the award show’s history.

The editorial unit