At the 51st FEST, the domestic audience will have the opportunity to see the premiere of seven films nominated for the most prestigious film award - the Oscar: ‘Tár’, ‘Living’, ‘Women Talking’, ‘Empire of Light’, ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’, ‘EO’ and ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’.
Immediately after the world premiere in Venice, where it won the Best Actress Award (Cate Blanchett), the film ‘Tár’ was nominated for an Oscar in five more categories: for Best Motion Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay (Todd Field), Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing. Cate Blanchett is considered one of the biggest favorites at the upcoming Oscars. The Australian won the Golden Globe for this role, as well as the Critics' Choice and New York Film Critics Circle awards.
The drama ‘Women Talking’, directed by Sarah Polley based on the book of the same name by Miriam Toews, is also in the race for the Oscar - for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. The superb cast includes Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw and Frances McDormand.
The famous English actor Bill Nighy was nominated for an Oscar for the first time for the lead role in the British film ‘Living’. The film was directed by South African Oliver Hermanus from a screenplay by Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro (‘The Remains of the Day’, ‘Never Let Me Go’), for whom this is also his first Oscar nomination.
Sam Mendes' romantic drama ‘Empire of Light’ earned cinematographer Roger Deakins his 15th Oscar nomination. The leading role is played by Oscar winner Olivia Colman (‘The Favorite’).
One of the biggest favorites to win the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film, ‘All the Beauty and the Bloodshed’ by Laura Poitras was awarded the Golden Lion at the 79th Venice Film Festival as only the second documentary crowned with the highest award in the history of Mostra. Poitras won an Oscar in 2015 for ‘Citizenfour’ about Edward Snowden.
The legendary Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski (Four Nights with Anna [Cztery noce z Anną], Moonlighting), winner of the Yugoslav Film Archive Golden Seal Award at the 37th FEST, was nominated for the Oscar for the first time for Best International Feature Film for ‘EO’ with Isabelle Huppert in the lead role.
The FEST programme also includes the film ‘Marcel the Shell with Shoes On’, nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, the directorial debut of Dean Fleischer Camp.
