'Joker', 'The Irishman' and '1917' lead 2020 Oscar nominations

The 92nd Academy Award nominations have been announced. While Joker leads the pack with 11 nods, a number of films from the Mena region are competing for the coveted Oscars. Among them, two acclaimed films from Syria will vie for Best Documentary.

Directed by Feras Fayyad, The Cave tells the story of female doctors working in Ghouta as they battle sexism and limited resources amid air strikes. Multi award-winner For Sama, directed by Waad Al-Kateab and Edward Watts, was also nominated. The film, which tells the story of Al-Kateab’s time as a mother in Aleppo, already won the Prix L’Oeil d’Or for Best Documentary at the Cannes Film Festival last year, and four prizes at the British Independent Film Awards, including Best Picture.

Two short films from the region will compete in the Live Action Short Film category. Brotherhood, by Meryam Joobeur, tells the story of a prodigal son returning to his Tunisian family with his mysterious new bride. Also nominated is another Tunisian story, Yves Piat’s Nefta Football Club, the tale of two brothers who encounter a missing donkey while playing football on a makeshift pitch.

In the category for Best Documentary Short, Carol Dysinger’s Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) also received a nomination. The film is about young Afghan girls learning to read, write and skateboard in Kabul.

With Todd Philips’s comic book tale Joker scoring 11 nominations, making it the film to beat, three other movies come close behind. Tied on 10 nominations each are Martin Scorsese’s gangster picture The Irishman, Sam Mendes’s First World War drama 1917 and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood. All four titles were nominated for Best Picture, and each will compete in the screenplay categories.

Other films running these close include Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story and Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, which both scored six nominations, including Best Picture. Baumbach was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay, while Gerwig will compete for Best Adapted Screenplay – her third Oscar nomination, after the two received for 2017’s Lady Bird. Both, however, missed out on a Best Director nod.

Also with six nominations is New Zealand director Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, his anti-hate satire in which he plays Adolf Hitler as a figment of a boy’s imagination. Also up for Best Picture, Waititi will compete with Gerwig in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, whilst Scarlett Johansson – also nominated in the Best Actress category for Marriage Story – is up for Best Supporting Actress.

One of the biggest successes was Korean director’s Bong Joon-ho’s social satire Parasite, which backed up its success at the Golden Globes – where it won in the foreign language category – with six nominations. While it will be a clear favourite to scoop the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film, it went much further, with a Best Picture nomination, as well as nods for Film Editing, Original Screenplay, Directing and Production Design.

Undoubtedly, there will be criticisms from some quarters, due to the lack of diversity, with actors of colour largely ignored. In the acting categories, only British black actress Cynthia Erivo was nominated – for her role as the slave-turned-freedom fighter Harriet Tubman in the film Harriet. She will compete against Renee Zellweger, whose turn as Judy Garland in Judy has made her the bookmaker’s favourite.

In the Best Actor category, Joaquin Phoenix will be the favourite for his performance in Joker, while there were nominations for Leonardo DiCaprio (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), Adam Driver (Marriage Story) and first nods for Jonathan Pryce (The Two Popes) and Antonio Banderas (Pain and Glory).

In the Supporting Actor categories, Golden Globe winner Laura Dern will be the hot favourite for Marriage Story. There was also a first nod for British actress Florence Pugh for Little Women and a surprise nomination for previous Oscar winner Kathy Bates for Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell. Best Supporting Actor, meanwhile, is a gallery of riches, with five former Oscar winners: The Irishman’s Al Pacino and Joe Pesci; Tom Hanks (A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood), Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood) and Anthony Hopkins (The Two Popes).

Among the notable nominations, veteran composer John Williams has been nominated for a record-breaking 52nd time for his work on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. British cinematographer Roger Deakins, who finally broke his Oscar duck two years ago at the 14th time of asking, when he won for Blade Runner 2049, now stands the chance to win again, with a nod for his stirring work on 1917.

The 2020 Academy Award nominees in full:

Best picture

Ford v Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

1917

Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Parasite

Best director

Martin Scorsese, The Irishman

Todd Phillips, Joker

Sam Mendes, 1917

Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Bong Joon-ho, Parasite

Best actress

Cynthia Erivo, Harriet

Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story

Saoirse Ronan, Little Women

Charlize Theron , Bombshell

Renee Zellweger, Judy

Best actor

Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory

Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Adam Driver, Marriage Story

Joaquin Phoenix, Joker

Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes

Best supporting actress

Kathy Bates , Richard Jewell

Laura Dern, Marriage Story

Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit

Florence Pugh, Little Women

Margot Robbie, Bombshell

Best supporting actor

Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes

Al Pacino, The Irishman

Joe Pesci, The Irishman

Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Best international feature film

Corpus Christi (Poland)

Honeyland (North Macedonia)

Les Miserables (France)

Pain and Glory (Spain)

Parasite (South Korea)

Best documentary feature

American Factory

The Cave

The Edge of Democracy

For Sama

Honeyland

Best original score

Joker, Hildur Gudnadottir

Little Women, Alexandre Desplat

Marriage Story, Randy Newman

1917, Thomas Newman

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, John Williams

Best original song

I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away from Toy Story 4. Music and lyrics by Randy Newman

(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again from Rocketman. Music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin

I'm Standing With You from Breakthrough. Music and lyrics by Diane Warren

Into the Unknown from Frozen 2. Music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

Stand Up from Harriet. Music and lyrics by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo

Best costume design

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Best adapted screenplay

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

The Two Popes

Best original screenplay

Knives Out

Marriage Story

1917

Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Parasite

Best animated feature

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

I Lost My Body

Klaus

Missing Link

Toy Story 4

Best cinematography

The Irishman

Joker

The Lighthouse

1917

Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Best editing

Ford v Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Parasite

Best make-up and hairstyling

Bombshell

Joker

Judy

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

1917

Best production design

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

1917

Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Parasite

Best sound editing

Ford v Ferrari

Joker

1917

Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best sound mixing

Ad Astra

Ford v Ferrari

Joker

1917

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

Best visual effects

Avengers: Endgame

The Irishman

The Lion King

1917

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best animated short

Dcera (Daughter)

Hair Love

Kitbull

Memorable

Sister

Best documentary short

In the Absence

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)

Life Overtakes Me

St Louis Superman

Walk Run Cha-Cha

Best live action short

Brotherhood

Nefta Football Club

The Neighbors' Window

Saria

A Sister

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The 92nd Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, February 9 in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre