Tuesday, February 8, 2022

OSCARS 94TH ACADEMY NOMINATIONS FULL LIST AND PREDICTIONS

 By José Alberto Hermosillo

Oscar Picture by Jose Alberto Hermosillo

Best Picture
“Belfast”
“CODA” ***

“Don’t Look Up”
“Drive My Car”
“Dune”
“King Richard”
“Licorice Pizza”
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West “Side Story”

Best Director

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

 

Best Actor

Javier Bardem, “Being the Ricardos”
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Power of the Dog”
Andrew Garfield, “Tick, Tick, Boom”
Will Smith, “King Richard” ***
Denzel Washington, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”

Best Actress

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

 

Best Supporting Actor

Ciarán Hinds, “Belfast”
Troy Kotsur, “CODA” ***
Jesse Plemons, “The Power of the Dog”
JK Simmons, “Being the Ricardos”
Kodi Smit-McPhee, “The Power of the Dog”

 

Best Supporting Actress

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

Best Adapted Screenplay

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

Best Original Screenplay

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

 

Best Animated Feature

“Encanto” ***
“Flee”
“Luca”
“The Mitchells vs. the Machines”
“Raya and the Last Dragon”

Best Animated Short

“Affairs of the Art”
“Bestia”
“Boxballet”
“Robin Robin” *
“The Windshield Wiper” ***

 

Best  Live Action Short

“Ala Kachuu- Take and Run”
“The Dress”
“The Long Goodbye” ***
“On My Mind”
“Please Hold”

Best Cinematography

“Dune” ***
“Nightmare Alley”
“The Power of the Dog” 

“The Tragedy of Macbeth”
“West Side Story”

 


Best Costume Design

“Cruella” ***
“Cyrano”
“Dune”
“Nightmare Alley”
“West Side Story”

Best Documentary Feature

“Ascension”
“Attica”
“Flee”
“Summer of Soul” ***
“Writing with Fire”


Best Documentary Short Subject

“Audible”

“Lead Me Home”
“The Queen of Basketball” ***
“Three Songs for Benazir”
“When We Were Bullies”

Best Editing

“Don’t Look Up”
“Dune” ***
“King Richard”
“The Power of the Dog”
“Tick, Tick, Boo”

Best 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

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

“Coming 2 America”
“Cruella”
“Dune”
“The Eyes of Tammy Faye” ***
“House of Gucci”

Best Production Design

“Dune” ***
“Nightmare Alley” 
“The Power of the Dog”
“The Tragedy of Macbeth”
“West Side Story”

Best 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 

 

Best Original Song

“Be Alive” from “King Richard”
“Dos Oruguitas” from “Encanto”
“Down to Joy” from “Belfast”
“No Time to Die” from “No Time to Die” ***
“Somehow You Do” from “Four Good Days”

 

Best Sound

“Belfast”
“Dune” ***
“No Time to Die”
“The Power of the Dog”
“West Side Story”

Best Visual Effects

“Dune” ***

“Free Guy”
“No Time to Die”
“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
“Spider-Man: No Way Home”

 

THE OSCAR NOMINATIONS BY THE NUMBERS:

The Power of the Dog: 12 nominations

Dune: 10 nominations

Belfast: 7 nominations

West Side Story: 7 nominations

King Richard: 6 nominations

Don't Look Up: 4 nominations

Drive My Car: 4 nominations

Nightmare Alley: 4 nominations

CODA: 3 nominations

Being the Ricardos: 3 nominations

Licorice Pizza: 3 nominations

Encanto: 3 nominations

Flee: 3 nominations

The Lost Daughter: 3 nominations

The Tragedy of Macbeth: 3 nominations

The Worse Person in the World: 2 nominations

Tick Tick... BOOM!: 2 nominations

Parallel Mothers: 2 nominations

Cruella: 2 nominations

No Time to Die: 2 nominations

The Eyes of Tammy Faye: 2 nominations

Four Good Days: 1 nomination.


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Thursday, February 3, 2022

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Children Bhutan's Hidden Treasure

By José Alberto Hermosillo

“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” an unforgettable “Journey of Hope” to the Himalayas, sublime and heartfelt.  

Ugyen Dorji (Sherab Dorji) is an educated and determined young teacher from Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan. 

Ugyen, like many other blossoming adults, enjoys modern music, karaoke bars, and nights out with friends. His ultimate goal is to abandon the national schooling system, emigrate abroad, and become a famous rock star. However, being bound to a long-term contract, his ambitious plans fail, and to settle his commitment to the State, he is sent to the world’s most remote school to instruct children in need.

As a mentor, Ugyen is aware of climate change and global warming. However, he must experience firsthand the importance of maintaining a harmonious balance between the earth, people, and mother nature. The mountain will mold his attitude; he must find the “karmic connection.”

In Bhutan, villages are so isolated that they can only be reached in five or more walking days. Lunana has only 56 residents, and the school is high at 4,800 meters in altitude.

For Ugyen, meeting the children, their quaint schoolhouse, their yak-centered world, and hearing an enchanting song high above helped him decide.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Bhutan's Hidden Treasure

Despite the filmmaking fright opposed to working with children or animals, director Pawo Choyning Dorji had a sacred yak ruminating freely inside the classroom, becoming an essential part of the story. He also worked with a group of incredible children who had never watched a movie before yet were charismatic and enthusiastic.

Filming remotely also compelled the director and crew to adapt to limited logistics. The only electrical power source there was unpredictable local solar – as we see Ugyen’s MP3 player drying up – it affected the filmmakers. They had to shoot everything without watching dailies, making the editing and post-production more challenging.

Bhutan has no funding for arts and crafts, much less any budget for filmmaking. Choyning Dorji had to look for help overseas and received some economic aid and equipment from India, Japan, and Australia. His next project is called “Once Upon a Time in Bhutan...”

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Bhutan's Hidden Treasure

The First Amendment of Bhutan’s Constitution states: “It is the government’s responsibility to make its citizens happy, and if the government fails, the government has no right to exist.” Bhutan is the happiest country on earth and also one of the poorest.

“Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” is Pawo Choyning Dorji’s exceptional first movie as a writer, director, and producer – it also became the opportunity to expose his art and creativity to the world regardless of his country’s limitations. Pawo learned his skills working as a cameraman and producing for the award-winning monk and filmmaker Norbu.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Bhutan's Hidden Treasure

After traveling around the international film festival circuit and being nominated for the 94th Academy Awards in the category of Best International Feature Film, a modest and yet beautiful project from Bhutan has attained unprecedented exposure - even among the locals, schoolchildren, and monks in the remote temples and monasteries who also experienced and embraced the film journey joyously.

The Oscar-nominated Bhutanese film “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” is a study of symbolism where dress codes accentuate styles and status between women and men - peasants and leaders. The dress codes are required nationally in public buildings and ceremonies based on modesty and traditional Buddhist respect.

The dialog is meaningful, and the semantics convey political and religious connotations that help the public learn more about Bhutan, an independent country protected by India from China’s interest after China annexed Tibet and the Buddhist leaders left in 1959.

Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, Bhutan's Hidden Treasure

To avoid dwelling on the common stereotypes of snowy mountains, the film’s breathtaking cinematography focuses on landscapes with people, especially in children’s faces, as a mirror that reflects their purest emotions.

Songs and music provide a rewarding companion to the story; the lyrics connect the land, the people, and the spirits of the mountain. Who would have guessed a movie from Bhutan could be so transcendental in our days of isolation during the pandemic?

Watch “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom” and let your inner teacher come out and live through the wonder felt by the children of this magnificent movie.

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IF YOU ARE READING FROM A MOBILE DEVICE, CLICK: view web version FOR OTHER COOL FEATURES SUCH AS TRANSLATE POWERED BY GOOGLE, AN INTERACTIVE FILM FESTIVAL CALENDAR, AND MORE AWESOME ARTICLES.

 Festival in LA ©2022

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