The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 89th Annual Academy Awards Jan. 24.
Among the nominees for Best Picture was the Black LGBT-themed film Moonlight, which garnered a total of eight nominations. Director Barry Jenkins was among those who were nominated; he received an additional nomination for his screenplay, which he adapted from the novel In Moonlight, Black Boys Look Blue along with Tarell McCraney.
Additional nominations for the film included Naomie Harris for Best Supporting Actress and Mahershala Ali for Best Supporting Actor. Moonlight also received nominations for Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography.
Jenkins and McCraney's screenplay was nominated alongside August Wilson's screenplay for Fences, the first time three African Americans were nominated in that category. Last year's Oscars drew widespread criticism for the overall lack of African American representation among the nominees.
The critically acclaimed musical La La Land was also nominated for Best Picture; it racked up a grand total of 14 nominations, tying it with All About Eve and Titanic for the most nominations for a single picture.
The other seven Best Picture nominees are Manchester by the Sea, Arrival, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures and Lion. The Academy can nominate between five and 10 films in that category, depending on the distribution of voting. This year, nine films were mentioned.
Other Best Director nominees included Damian Chazelle for La La Land, Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea, Denis Villeneuve for Arrival and Mel Gibson for Hacksaw Ridge.
Gibson has for many years flown lower on Hollywood's radar following anti-Semitic remarks he made during a traffic-stop. Widely known for his ultraconservative views, we made anti-LGBT remarks in the early '90s and drew fire for homophobic depictions in 1995's Braveheart.
Best Actor nominations included Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea, Andrew Garfield for Hacksaw Ridge, Ryan Gosling for La La Land, Viggo Mortenson for Captain Fantastic and Denzel Washington for Fences.
Best Actress nominations included Isabelle Huppert for Elle, Ruth Negga for Loving, Natalie Portman for Jackie, Emma Stone for La La Land and Meryl Streep for Florence Foster Jenkins. This is Streep's twentieth nomination.
Besides Ali, Best Supporting Actor nominations include Jeff Bridges for Hel or High Water, Lucas Hedges for Manchester by the Sea, Dev Patel for Lion, and Michael Shannon for Nocturnal Animals. Nocturnal Animals was directed and written by openly gay fashion designer and filmmaker Tom Ford, whose last film was 2009's A Single Man.
Besides Harris, Best Supporting Actress nominations include Viola Davis for Fences, Nicole Kidman for Lion, Octavia Spencer for Hidden Figures and Michelle Harris for Moonlight. Three of this year's nominees in this category are Black.
Below is a statement from Ruth Negga, Academy Award nominee for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for Focus Features' LOVING.
"I am truly humbled by the news this morning, and I thank the Academy for this recognition, which I share with my co-collaborators Jeff Nichols and Joel Edgerton. It has been such an honor to have been given the opportunity to tell the incredible story of Richard and Mildred Loving, who serve as an inspiration that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. The Lovings fought quietly yet tirelessly, and changed the course of American legal history. Today, to be among such extraordinary women - my fellow nominees, my peers with films this year, and the legendary performers whose work of years past has long inspired me...this means a great deal to me." — Ruth Negga, Academy Award nominee for Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role (LOVING)
