The announcement of the Academy Award nominations always generates a barrage of fun facts and figures comparing, contrasting, counting and categorizing the latest lucky contenders relative to past Oscar cycles. This year is no exception and The Envelope is happy to present a select trove of trivial truths resulting from the film academy’s most recent slate of picks.
It’s also the first time that all the director contenders are also nominated for writing their pictures. “Blonde’s” Ana de Armas is only the second Cuban-born actor to earn a nomination. The first: Andy Garcia for “The Godfather III.” Two sequels are among the challengers for best picture for the first time: “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.”The exuberant “Naatu Naatu” from Indian powerhouse “RRR” marks the third time in as many years that a non-English language tune is competing for the original song award following “Io sì ” from 2020’s “The Life Ahead” and “Dos Oruguitas” from 2021’s “Encanto.”
Daniel Kwan, co-director of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” is only the third Asian American to land a directing nomination.Speaking of Daniels, they are the fourth directing pair to be nominated in their category. Their predecessors: Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins , Warren Beatty and Buck Henry , and Joel and Ethan Coen .