Oscar 2017 remains the mystery of the year in the terms of its possible whitewashing. The cinema insiders and observers are trying to anticipate how white will Oscar be this year?
In 2016, the world of cinema has demonstrated an explosion of really good movies, which easily can be included into the short-list of the American Academy. Among these Oscar-caliber films, which are directed by black professionals and focused on the African-American vision, are “I Am Not Your Negro,” “Hidden Figures,” “The Queen of Katwe,” “O.J.: Made in America”.
Undoubtedly, these movies are just great, but will they be able to win Oscar award? If not, Oscar 2017 is still pretty white, male and straight. Even the story about gay African-American youth (Moonlight) is hard to win the Oscar statuette this year.
Oscar 2017: the preparation has begun
Oscar 2017: nominations and predictions
While the African-American directors are making the serious movies like “O.J.: Made in America”, the entertaining musical “La La Land” is winning its portion of the Golden Globes and aiming at another portion of Oscars.
The predictions regarding this funny and perspective film are more that modest, indeed. In fact, the Academy does not have a separate category for musical or comedy. So, let’s wait some time and look at other nominations, e.g. “Manchester by the Sea” by Casey Affleck. This director demonstrates the maturity, seriousness and deepness in his debut.
In addition to Stone and Negga (“Loving”), other top contenders for nominations in the sizzling Best Actress category include Viola Davis (“Fences”), Natalie Portman (“Jackie”), Golden Globe winner Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”) and Amy Adams (“Arrival”). Some intriguing long shots include Meryl Streep (“Florence Foster Jenkins”), Annette Benning (“20th Century Women) and Taraji P. Henson (“Hidden Figures”).
