Oscars 2024: What to Know About the 96th Academy Award Nominations

Included in the 2024 Academy Awards Best Picture nominees are three features helmed by Female Directors

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Jimmy Kimmel is set to host the 2024 Oscars on March 10 at The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, marking the 96th award ceremony where outstanding films and performances are celebrated. While the Best Picture category has 10 nominees, other categories only feature five contenders. Let’s take a look at what beloved films from the last year were nominated by the Academy voters.  

The 2024 Best Picture nominees include “American Fiction,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Oppenheimer,” “Poor Things,” “The Zone of Interest,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Barbie,” and “Past Lives.” Notably, the last three are directed by women, a historic first for three Best Picture nominees.

Christopher Nolan’s biopic based on the man who developed the atomic bomb, “Oppenheimer,” leads the nominations with an impressive total of 13. Following closely is Yorgos Lanthimos’ dark comedy “Poor Things” with 11 nominations and Martin Scorsese’s true crime epic, “Killers of the Flower Moon” with 10, including Scorsese’s 10th nomination for Best Director, solidifying his status as the most nominated living person in that category.

“Killers of the Flower Moon” made history with first-time nominee Lily Gladstone, the first Native American woman to be nominated for Best Lead Actress. As the fourth indigenous actress to be nominated in the category, if she secures a win, Gladstone would become the first to do so. However, notable absences from the “Killers” nominations include Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Actor and Martin Scorsese and Eric Roth, who could’ve been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay as the movie is based on the true crime book written by Davin Grann.

The 2023 box-office hit “Barbie” received eight nominations, including Best Picture, but some expressed disappointment over perceived losses. Not comprehending the discourse on the alleged Barbie snubs was amateur cinephile Cortneii Samuels who expressed, “I didn’t think that movie was that good. I thought Margot’s acting was very basic.” Margot Robbie is absent from the Best Actress category, although she secured a nomination as a producer for Best Picture. Barbie co-writers Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach received nominations for Adapted Screenplay, yet Gerwig did not receive a Best Director nomination, which would’ve made it her second time in the category–the most ever for a woman. Also recognized for their supporting performances are Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera.

Barbie grossed $1.446 billion in the box office and has been hailed as a film that defines girlhood. Filmmaker James Cameron – who is also linked to “Titanic” and “Avatar” – praised the film, stating that it “captures thousands of years of the female dilemma.” Regarding the surrounding controversy on the film not getting its proper accolades, movie enthusiast Asha Taylor remarked, “I feel like white people are trying to find ways to develop culture because a lot of entertainment culture derives from Black and queer culture. And so, Barbie was an ode to a toy that held a lot of significance to young girls who were white and didn’t really represent a lot of women. I don’t think the movie had much substance in terms of talking about the issues that are pressing to the majority of people they are trying to represent globally.”

French filmmaker Justine Triet becomes the eighth woman ever nominated for Best Director in Academy history with French courtroom drama “Anatomy of a Fall,” which marks the fifth consecutive year the Academy has nominated a female director.

Among the list of first-time nominees is Danielle Brooks for “The Color Purple,” the sole nomination for the film. Also in the running for Supporter Actress is Da’vine Joy Randolph, who emerged as a front-runner for her role in Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers,” which received  acclaim and numerous critics’ prizes.

Set by the precursor awards, Robert Downey Jr. seems to be the clear choice for Best Supporting Actor with his role in “Oppenheimer,” marking his first significant success post-Ironman. The supporting actor race initially featured Charles Melton for “May December” – a Todd Haynes film loosely based on the life of Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau – but he didn’t receive nominations. Sterling K. Brown garners his first nomination for “American Fiction.” The film, directed by Cord Jefferson, also has first-time nominations for Best Lead Actor (Jeffrey Wright) and Best Picture, standing as the only film of the group with a Black director. The movie also stars Issa Rae, who acted in three Best Picture nominees: “American Fiction,” “Barbie,” and “Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse.”

Colman Domingo earned a Best Actor nomination for his portrayal as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in “Rustin,” making him the first Afro-Latino nominated in the category. Celine Song also breaks glass ceilings by becoming the first Asian woman to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay.

The 2024 Oscars is set to air on March 10 on ABC. Read the full list of 2024 Academy Award Nominees here.