The most prestigious awards of Hollywood, Oscars are just a touch away and the hype around this year’s academy awards are huge.
In fact, the 89th Academy awards are going to be remembered for a host of milestones—particularly when it comes to the push for more diversity among the honorees, noticeable strides having been made in the year since last year’s #Oscarswhite controversy.
We can expect a lot of first and great things from this year’s Oscars and due to the popular opinion here they are:
- If La La Land wins 12 Academy Awards this Sunday, let alone sweeps the 14 categories it’s nominated, it will become the most honored film in Oscar history, obviously becoming the most honored musical.
- Denzel Washington could become the first African American to win three Oscars, or his rival in the same category – Casey Affleck could bag his first Oscar this year.
- Dev patel who is nominated in the Best supporting actor category could become the first actor of Indian descent to win an Oscar in the acting category.
- This is the first time three African American writers have been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Barry Jenkins and Tarell Avin for Moonlight and playwright August Wilson, posthumously for Fences. The last time two African American writers were nominated was in 1972, when Lady Sings the Blues co-writer Suzzane de Passe was up for the equivalent of original screenplay.
- 2017 is the first year in which three of the Best Picture nominees Hidden Figures, Manchester by the Sea and Fences have African American producers (within the short list of credited producers who would take home a statue if their movie wins). Manchester’s Kimberly Stiward is only the second black woman to get a Best Picture nomination, the first being Oprah Winfrey for Selma in 2015.
- The odds may be in Emma Stone’s favor as she gains momentum in the Best Actress race. A much longer shot is Ryan Gosling for Best Actor. The last Best Actor/Actress pair from the same film to win were Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt for As Good as It Gets in 1998. Meanwhile, the last woman to win Best Actress for the eventual Best Picture winner was Hillary Swank for Million Dollar Baby in 2005.
So there is a lot can happen first time in this year’s Academy awards and one thing is for sure there are going to be a lot of surprises.
