Written by Ashley Wehrs, Image sourced from the Oscars
The Academy Awards are my Super Bowl. Every year leading up to the ceremony, I try my best to watch all the nominated works and jot down my votes. I might not be a member of the Academy, but my DIY ballot and ridiculous color-coding strategy say otherwise.
On March 5, the Academy began their six-day voting period on their favorite works released between January 2020 and February 2021. These results curate the final nominations list that will be released to the public on March 15. As we anxiously await the 93rd annual Academy Awards nominations, I reached out to SCAD students to hear their predictions, critiques and what the ceremony means to them.
The Academy Awards is the one awards show Kyla Rys, a second-year photography student, said she will watch. “My mom and I would get kind of dressed up, by dressed up I mean my nicest T-shirt, and then we would make shrimp cocktail,” Rys said, “If anything, the Oscars was a reason to feel special and important and watch what movies are being awarded.”
Gwyn Newcomb, a second-year film student, said she looks at the Oscars and Academy through a filmmaker’s eyes. “I think it’s super dope for filmmakers to get recognition by their peers, and I feel like the Oscars gives people that opportunity,” Newcomb said. Despite this positive, Newcomb said she doesn’t shy away from the Academy’s issues with racism, sexism and a diverse voting pool. “They’ve said that they’re going to work on it,” Newcomb said.
Alex Neal, a third-year dramatic writing student, is extremely passionate about film history and how nominations reflect the culture of each year. “[The Academy Awards] sparks conversation about what film as both an art form and an entertainment medium means to the culture,” Neal said. “They’re cool little snapshots of film history.”
When given the opportunity to award their dream Best Picture awards, “Uncle Frank,” “Soul,” “One Night in Miami,” “Get Duked!” and “First Cow” were highlighted.
Newcomb saw “Uncle Frank” at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival. “It was phenomenal,” Newcomb said. “I thought it was a great coming of age piece. It’s funny, heart-warming and very sad, but at the same time it’s all very good.” Although she said she doesn’t believe it will receive much Academy recognition, she highly recommends it.
Also at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, Newcomb saw “Minari.” “I appreciated the storyline,” Newcomb said, “[but] I didn’t feel like full character developments were there.”
Neal said she anticipates “Trial of the Chicago 7” will be nominated for many categories, but she isn’t thrilled about it. “Aaron Sorkin is a good writer … but he was not the right person to write that story,” Neal said. She said she looks forward to comparing the nominations and awards received by “Judas and the Black Messiah” and “Trial of the Chicago 7,” which both take place during the civil rights movement in the late-60s.
“It’s so exciting that movies like ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ are finally admitting that the Black Panthers were right. It shows such a divide in … the environment [and] the culture that something like ‘Judas in the Black Messiah’ is going up against ‘Trial of the Chicago 7,’” Neal said. She praised that “Judas and the Black Messiah” was a movie that took the Black Panther Party seriously, while “Trial of the Chicago 7” let viewers be too comfortable. “Which one gets more praise from the institutions will be interesting,” Neal said.
This year’s Academy Awards will air live on Sunday, April 25 from multiple locations to maintain COVID-19 safety precautions and guidelines.
