The pair got a best documentary feature nod for their film “Sugarcane,” which follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at a residential school near Sugar Cane reserve in Williams Lake.
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A documentary that follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at a residential school near Sugar Cane reserve in Williams Lake, B.C. has been nominated for an Oscar.
“Sugarcane,” from Secwepemc filmmaker Julian Brave NoiseCat and Toronto journalist Emily Kassie is up for the best documentary feature award.
The doc is a haunting account of deaths, abuse, suicides and missing children at the former St. Joseph’s Mission Residential School.
NoiseCat appears in the film with his father Ed Archie NoiseCat, who was born at the facility. The film explores long-standing allegations that priests who fathered children with school residents sent the infants to an incinerator.
Kassie is an Emmy and Peabody-nominated investigative journalist who connected with NoiseCat to work on the film when she began looking into St. Joseph’s Mission.
Also among the Canadian nominees announced Thursday morning is Quebec-born filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, whose film “Dune: Part Two” is in the running for best picture.
The sequel to 2021’s “Dune” follows Timothee Chalamet as Paul Atreides, who joins forces with Zendaya’s Chani and the Fremen as he seeks revenge against those who destroyed his family.
Montreal’s Patrice Vermette and Dartmouth, N.S.’s Shane Vieau, who worked on the film’s production design team, also received a nomination for production design.
Meanwhile, Toronto’s Linda Muir has been nominated for best costume design for her work on “Nosferatu,” Robert Eggers’ remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent film.
Muir has worked in film, television and theatre since the 1970s, and has Canadian Screen Awards for her work on Atom Egoyan’s 1994 erotic thriller “Exotica” and John Greyson’s 1996 drama “Lilies.”
She’s worked with Eggers on previous horror films, including 2015’s “The Witch” and 2019’s “The Lighthouse,” as well as his 2022 historical action film “The Northman.”
Another “Nosferatu” creative — Newmarket, Ont.’s Traci Loader — is part of the team up for best makeup and hairstyling.
Meanwhile, Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez,” a Spanish language, French-made film, dominated the nominations with a leading 13 nominations, including best picture and best actress for Karla Sofia Gascon, making her the first openly trans actor ever nominated for an Oscar. The film also landed nominations for directing, original screenplay, two of its songs and for Zoe Saldana.
Netflix, despite its starring role in Hollywood, has never won best picture. Many of its top contenders have previously racked up large numbers of nominations (including “Mank,” “The Irishman” and “Roma”) but gone home with only a handful of trophies.
“Emilia Perez,” though, may be its best chance yet. It became the most nominated non-English language film ever, surpassing Netflix’s own “Roma,” which scored 10 nominations.
Another musical — “Wicked,” the smash Broadway adaptation _ came away with nearly as many nominations. Jon M. Chu’s lavish “Wizard of Oz” riff scored 10 nominations, including best picture and acting nods for its stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
“The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet’s postwar epic filmed in VistaVision, also came away with a commanding 10 nominations, including best picture, best director and nominations for actor Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones.
The nominees for best picture are: “Anora”; “The Brutalist”; “A Complete Unknown”; “Conclave”; “Dune: Part Two”; “Emilia Perez”; “I’m Still Here.”; “Nickel Boys”; “The Substance”; “Wicked.”
In a wide-open Oscar race, the six most honoured films — “ “Emilia Perez,” “Wicked,” “The Brutalist,” “Anora” (six nominations) “Conclave” (nine nominations) and “A Complete Unknown” (eight nominations) — all fared as expected. The biggest surprises were the Brazilian film “I’m Still Here,” which also landed Fernanda Torres a best actress nomination, and RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys,” a POV-shot drama.
The nominations had originally been planned for Jan. 17.
With files from Associated Press