Nominations for the 94th Oscars Award Show were released on Feb. 8 by the Academy, a group of individuals active in the film industry, with noticeable changes to the favored films on the list. The famous award show will give out honors to the best films, filmmakers and actors/actresses of the 2021 calendar year.
The Oscar nomination list is unusual compared to previous years. With the help of the COVID-19 a new genre for films leads the way in nominations, films that are family themed dominate the list this year. The pandemic affected many families with losses and separations, and this opened the door for family-based films to create a strong attraction from viewers at home.
The famous award ceremony has also made a monumental change allowing for films not featured in theaters to still be in the running to receive awards. Senior Dylan Ollendieck states his positive thoughts regarding the criteria. “I saw the news about the Oscars giving films the opportunity to be in the running for nominations without being in theaters and I thought this was a great choice by the Academy,” he said. “I think this gives all filmmakers and actors a chance to receive high praise from the academy.”
Receiving a nomination from the well-known award show is a desired goal for many in the film industry, but the public has not always seen it that way. The Oscars have received lots of backlash from critics about the lack of diversity in their nomination selections. Fans at home also do not like how the academy runs the selection process for the nominations and want a different system.
Senior Connor Riley is a frequent Oscar ceremony watcher and thinks the process for selections should be altered. “The award show does not have a good selection method, it gives the true audience of the films no say in the voting. People at home are the most important viewers for the films and their opinion needs to be favored more,” he said.
The Oscar nominations and official winners are currently decided by the Academy. As of right now, viewers do not get to provide input regarding the films being selected. The COVID-19 pandemic has already altered the criteria needed for films to be eligible for nominations, and the voting process may be next.
