The 97th Academy Awards (Cláudio's Version)

by Cláudio Alves

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT | © Janus Films / Sideshow
It's been a week and change since the 97th Academy Awards. At this point, we have to start saying goodbye to the season that was and start looking ahead to a new cinematic year. And yet, there's still some business to take care of - some Fernanda Torres ruminations, the traditional Best Picture in black-and-white business, top tens and personal awards. Speaking of which, while Nathaniel is busy with the Film Bitch Awards, I thought about presenting my own ideal Oscar ballot. Those things led to great discussions in the past – remember my 1980s acting lineups? – so, let's bring that idea back. Following strict Oscar eligibility rules, my 97th Academy Awards are rather different from the real deal. Better, in my opinion, but maybe not in yours.

Across 20 feature film categories, I nominate 70 distinct projects. All We Imagine as Light is my big winner, but no single film won more than two prizes. I'm a big believer in spreading the wealth…

As previously stated, to differentiate this from my own version of the Film Bitch Awards, I'll be following the Oscar rule books and eligibility lists. Sadly, that means many of my favorite films from 2024 – whether commercially released or not – had to be left out. Nevertheless, I've included honorable mentions plus two ineligible highlights per category. Those latter ones are films that did receive US distribution – theatrical or digital – in 2024 but, for some reason or another, weren't submitted for Oscar consideration. Or weren't eligible in every race.

For example, Soundtrack to a Coup d'État could only be nominated for Best Documentary Feature. And something like Universal Language was eligible for most categories, but not Best Picture. Similar restrictions were followed in Song, Score, and all other races that depend on a more specific submission system. While I would give All We Imagine as Light the top honor, it's not nominated for Best International Film because no country submitted it. Similarly, though I would love to honor many of The Idea of You's fake boyband tunes, I'm not especially fond of its one submitted song. So, no nomination there.

Apologies for the over-explanation, but I didn't want anyone to get confused. Without further ado, here are my Oscars:

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT | © Janus Films / Sideshow

BEST PICTURE

• ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT *winner*
  Julien Graff & Thomas Hakim

• BABYGIRL
  David Hinojosa, Julia Oh & Halina Reijn

• HARD TRUTHS
  Georgina Lowe

• I'M STILL HERE
  Maria Carlota Bruno & Rodrigo Teixeira

• I SAW THE TV GLOW
  Ali Herting, Luca Intili, Dave McCary, Emma Stone & Sarah Winshall

• LAST SUMMER
  Saïd Ben Saïd

• NOSFERATU
  Chris Columbus, Eleanor Columbus, Robert Eggers, John Graham & Jeff Robinov

• QUEER
  Luca Guadagnino & Lorenzo Mieli

• THE PEOPLE'S JOKER
  Joey Lyons

• VERMIGLIO
  Francesca Andreoli, Maura Delpero, Santiago Fondevila & Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli

Honorable Mentions: FLOW, GOOD ONE, GREEN BORDER, NICKEL BOYS and THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG. 

Ineligible: DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD and SAMSARA.

ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT | © Janus Films / Sideshow

BEST DIRECTOR

• Catherine Breillat, LAST SUMMER
• Payal Kapadia, ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT *winner*
• Phạm Thiên Ân, INSIDE THE YELLOW COCOON SHELL
• Matthew Rankin, UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
• Jane Schoenbrun, I SAW THE TV GLOW

Honorable Mentions: Maura Delpero, VERMIGLIO; Mati Diop, DAHOMEY; Luca Guadagnino, QUEER; Ryusuke Hamaguchi, EVIL DOES NOT EXIST; RaMell Ross, NICKEL BOYS.

Ineligible: Kiyoshi Kurosawa, CHIME and Eduardo Williams, THE HUMAN SURGE 3

HARD TRUTHS | © Bleecker Street

BEST ACTRESS

• Léa Drucker, LAST SUMMER
• Marianne Jean-Baptiste, HARD TRUTHS *winner*
• Nicole Kidman, BABYGIRL
• Léa Seydoux, THE BEAST
• Fernanda Torres, I'M STILL HERE

Honorable Mentions: Ryan Destiny, THE FIRE INSIDE; Nisrin Erradi, EVERYBODY LOVES TOUDA; Lily Gladstone, FANCY DANCE; Soheila Golestani, THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG; Demi Moore, THE SUBSTANCE.

Ineligible: Mzia Arabuli, CROSSING and Juliette Gariépy, RED ROOMS.

EXHIBITING FORGIVENESS | © Roadside Attractions

BEST ACTOR

• Daniel Craig, QUEER
• André Holland, EXHIBITING FORGIVENESS *winner*
• Keith Kupferer, GHOSTLIGHT
• Cillian Murphy, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE
• Sebastian Stan, THE APPRENTICE

Honorable Mentions: Colman Domingo, SING DING; René Pérez Joglar, IN THE SUMMERS; Eddie Peng, BLACK DOG; Glen Powell, HIT MAN; Sebastian Stan, A DIFFERENT MAN.

Ineligible: James Norton, NOWHERE SPECIAL and Raphaël Quenard, JUNKYARD DOG.

DÌDI | © Focus Features

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Michele Austin, HARD TRUTHS
• Anna Baryshnikov, LOVE LIES BLEEDING
• Joan Chen, DÌDI *winner*
• Kani Kusruti, GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS
• Dolly de Leon, GHOSTLIGHT

Honorable Mentions: Jimena Lindo, REINAS; Sophie Okonedo, JANET PLANET; Aubrey Plaza, MY OLD ASS; Sunita Rajwar, SANTOSH; Anamaria Vartolomei, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO. 

Ineligible: Ane Gabarain, 20,000 SPECIES OF BEES and Amely Rakotoarumalala, RED ISLAND.

A DIFFERENT MAN | © A24

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Samuel L. Jackson, THE PIANO LESSON
• John Earl Jelks, EXHIBITING FORGIVENESS
• Barry Keoghan, BIRD
• Adam Pearson, A DIFFERENT MAN *winner*
• Craig Tate, NICKEL BOYS

Honorable Mentions: Ray Fisher, THE PIANO LESSON; Jonathan Hyde, SEBASTIAN; Karren Karagulian, ANORA; Héctor Medina, LOS FRIKIS; Peter Outerbridge, CLOSE TO YOU.

Ineligible: Pio Marmaï, YANNICK and Issaka Sawadogo, IO CAPITANO.

PROBLEMISTA | © A24

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• HARD TRUTHS, Mike Leigh
• JANET PLANET, Annie Baker
• JUROR #2, Jonathan Abrams
• PROBLEMISTA, Julio Torres *winner*
• THE FEELING THAT THE TIME FOR DOING SOMETHING HAS PASSED, Joanna Arnow

Honorable Mentions: ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, BABYGIRL, CHRONICLES OF A WANDERING SAINT, I SAW THE TV GLOW and UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 

Ineligible: A TRAVELLER'S NEEDS and DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD.

THE PEOPLE'S JOKER | © Altered Innocence

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• OH, CANADA, Paul Schrader
• SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING, Stefanie Abel Horowitz & Katy Wright-Mead
• THE BEAST, Bertrand Bonello, Guillaume Bréaud & Benjamin Charbit
• THE FIRE INSIDE, Barry Jenkins
• THE PEOPLE'S JOKER, Vera Drew & Bri LeRose *winner*

Honorable Mentions: HIT MAN, NOSFERATU, QUEER, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE and THE ROOM NEXT DOOR. 

Ineligible: KIDNAPPED and THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE.

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE | © Oscilloscope

BEST EDITING

• EVIL DOES NOT EXIST, Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Azusa Yamazaki
• GOOD ONE, Graham Mason
• RYUICHI SAKAMOTO | OPUS, Takuya Kawakami
• THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG, Andrew Bird
• UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, Xi Feng *winner*

Honorable Mentions: CHALLENGERS, DAHOMEY, DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS, LAST SUMMER and NICKEL BOYS. 

Ineligible: DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD and HERE.

NICKEL BOYS | © Amazon MGM Studios

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, Ranabir Adas
• INSIDE THE YELLOW COCOON SHELL, Dinh Duy Hung
• NICKEL BOYS, Jomo Fray *winner*
• TRAP, Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
• VERMIGLIO, Mikhail Krichman

Honorable Mentions: BIRD, EVIL DOES NOT EXIST, I SAW THE TV GLOW, QUEER and THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE. 

Ineligible: BANEL & ADAMA and THE SETTLERS.

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR | © Sony Pictures Classics

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

• BLITZ, Adam Stockhausen & Anna Pinnock
• PROBLEMISTA, Katie Byron & Kendall Anderson
• QUEER, Stefano Baisi & Lisa Scoppa
• THE ROOM NEXT DOOR, Inbal Weinberg & Iker Elias *winner*
• WE GROWN NOW, Marje Veski & Eric Frankel

Honorable Mentions: LONGLEGS, THE BRUTALIST, THE END, THE SUBSTANCE and UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE. 

Ineligible: CLOSE YOUR EYES and TUMBBAD.

FIREBRAND | © Roadside Attractions

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• BABYGIRL, Kurt Swanson & Bart Mueller
• FIREBRAND, Michael O'Connor *winner*
• MEGALOPOLIS, Milena Canonero
• QUEER, J.W. Anderson
• THE LAST SHOWGIRL, Jacqueline Getty & Rainy Jacobs

Honorable Mentions: BIRD, DUNE: PART TWO, MARIA, THE FALL GUY and THE SUBSTANCE. 

Ineligible: OMEN and THE BEAST IN THE JUNGLE.

THE SUBSTANCE | © MUBI

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING

• A DIFFERENT MAN, Mike Marino, David Presto & Crystal Jurado
• LONGLEGS, Felix Fox, Werner Pretorius & Madelaine Hermans
• NOSFERATU, David White, Traci Loader & Suzanne Stokes-Munton
• THE BIKERIDERS, Ashleigh Chavis, Lee Gren & Tony Ward
• THE SUBSTANCE, Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon & Marilyne Scarselli *winner*

Honorable Mentions: ALIEN: ROMULUS, BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE, QUEER, THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO and WICKED. 

Ineligible: IN A VIOLENT NATURE and THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.

STOPMOTION | © IFC Films

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• BETTER MAN, Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft & Peter Stubbs
• DUNE: PART TWO, Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe & Gerd Nefzer
• FURIOSA: A MAD MAX SAGA, Dan Bethell, Andrew Jackson, Andy Williams & Eric Whipp
• KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story & Rodney Burke
• STOPMOTION, Dan Martin, Daniel Karlsson & Andy Biddle *winner*

Honorable Mentions: ABIGAIL, CHALLENGERS, GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, THE PEOPLE'S JOKER and THE WILD ROBOT. 

Ineligible: HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS and THE VOURDALAK.

CHALLENGERS | © MGM Amazon Studios

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

• BLITZ, Hans Zimmer
• CHALLENGERS, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross *winner*
• RUMOURS, Kristian Eidnes Andersen
• THE BRUTALIST, Daniel Blumberg
• THE END, Josh Schmidt & Marius de Vries

Honorable Mentions: BABYGIRL, HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA – CHAPTER 1, PROBLEMISTA, QUEER and THE ROOM NEXT DOOR. 

Ineligible: EVIL DOES NOT EXIST and DISCO BOY.

I SAW THE TV GLOW | © A24

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

• "Better the Devil" from STRANGE DARLING, Z Berg
• "Claw Machine" from I SAW THE TV GLOW, Haley Dahl *winner*
• "Harper and Will Go West" from WILL & HARPER, Sean Douglas & Kristen Wiig
• "New Brain" from SMILE 2, Alexis Kesselman, Paul Bogum & Keven Wolfsohn
• "Sick in the Head" from KNEECAP, Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara & DJ Próvai

Honorable Mentions: "A Country Dance" from BETWEEN THE TEMPLES, "Folie à Deux" from JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX, "Huele a Fraude" from PROBLEMISTA, "My Pledge" from MEGALOPOLIS, "Winter Coat" from BLITZ. 

Ineligible: "Dance Before We Walk" from THE IDEA OF YOU and "Where Did She Go" from TRAP.

BLITZ | © Apple Studios

BEST SOUND

• BLITZ, Paul Cotterell, Samir Foco, James Harrison & Kevin Penney *winner*
• CIVIL WAR, Howard Bargoff, Mary H. Ellis & Glenn Freemantle
• DAHOMEY, Nicolas Becker & Cyril Holtz
• JANET PLANET, Paul Hsu & Allison Jackson
• LOVE LIES BLEEDING, Paul Davies & Andrew Stirk

Honorable Mentions: CUCKOO, DUNE: PART TWO, FLOW, MARIA and NICKEL BOYS. 

Illegible: MUSIC and SAMSARA.

LOOK BACK | © GKIDS

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• FLOW
  Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens & Gregory Zalcman 

• LOOK BACK *winner*
  Kiyotaka Oshiyama & Kazuto Matsumora 

• MARS EXPRESS
  Jérémie Périn, Marc Jousset, Guillaume Natas & Florent Steiner

• THE COLORS WITHIN
  Naoko Yamada, Eunyoung Choi, Yoshihiro Furusawa, Genki Kawamura & Kôhei Sakita

• THE WILD ROBOT
  Chris Sanders & Jeff Hermann

Honorable Mentions: ART COLLEGE 1994, CHICKEN FOR LINDA!, MEMOIR OF A SNAIL, SIROCCO AND THE KINGDOM OF WINDS and WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL.

Ineligible: FOUR SOULS OF COYOTE and THE MISSING.

SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ÉTAT | © Kino Lorber

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM

• DAHOMEY
  Mati Diop, Judith Lou Lévy & Eve Robin 

• GAUCHO GAUCHO
  Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Cameron O'Reilly, Matthew Perniciaro & Grazka Taylor.

• NO OTHER LAND
  Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal & Rachel Szor

• QUEENDOM
  Agniia Galdanova & Igor Myakotin 

• SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ÉTAT *winner*
  Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius & Rémi Grellety

Honorable Mentions: DAUGHTERS, ERNEST COLE: LOST & FOUND, FROM GROUND ZERO, MERCHANT IVORY and SUGARCANE. 

Ineligible: RYUICHI SAKAMOTO | OPUS and YOUTH (HOMECOMING).

GRAND TOUR | © MUBI

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

• DAHOMEY, Senegal
• GRAND TOUR, Portugal *winner*
• I'M STILL HERE, Brazil
• UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE, Canada
• VERMIGLIO, Italy

Honorable Mentions: CLOUD, Japan; FLOW, Latvia; JULIE KEEPS QUIET, Belgium; SUJO, Mexico; THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG, Germany.

Ineligible: ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT and SAMSARA.

QUEER | © A24

In the end, All We Imagine as Light is the most honored film, with two Oscars. Queer and Hard Truths are the nomination leaders, four apiece. However, only the latter gets a prize in the form of Marianne Jean-Baptiste's Best Actress win. For the curious, you can find a ranked list of every 2024 US release I watched on my Letterboxd.

So, what do you think of these Oscars of mine? Would you be interested in seeing my ballots for other years?

Comments

[Mr Ripley79]

My list is more academy friendly I suppose but i've not seen The Last Showgirl,The Brutalist,I'm Still Here or A Complete unknown.

I'll just do acting as that's what i'm most interested in

Actor
Daniel Craig Queer
David Dastmalchian Late Night With The Devil
Colman Domingo Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes Conclave
Sebastian Stan The Apprentice Winner

Actress

Karla Sofia Gascon Emilia Perez
Regina King Shirley
Demi Moore The Substance Winner
Saoirse Ronan The Outrun
Kate Winslet Lee

Supp Actor

Kieran Culkin A Real Pain
Harris Dickinson Babygirl
Clarence Maclin Sing Sing Winner
Adam Pearson A Different Man
Jeremy Strong The Apprentice

Supp Actress

Michelle Austin Hard Truths
Joan Chen DiDi Winner
Ariana Grande Wicked
Lesley Manville Queer
Zoe Saldana Emilia Perez

[NATHANIEL R]

our top ten list is 3/10 -- is this a record for us lol.
(i realize the academy eligible caveat here)

but it's hilarious to me that our most agreement is in Best Original Song. (3/5)

honestly I wish every person alive was required to do this each year. It's so fun and it also teaches you that you have to make hard choices so you're less likely to make the kind of constant complaints of "they should have been nominated for that!" as if 25 things can be nominated for everything.

[DK]

I feel like if Luca had released CHALLENGERS as the end-of-year awards play and QUEER as the weird mid-year curiosity, you'd have seen a lot of nominations for Challengers.

[Mr Ripley79]

Over to you FilmBitch.

[Kelly Garrett]

You and Nathaniel are bosses for the Better the Devil song love. Best movie song of 2024.

[Bella hadid]

I do believe this is an excellent website. I stumbled upon it I may revisit once again since I saved as a favorite it. JPMCB Card

[Domenic Martha]

This is an incredibly detailed and thoughtful breakdown of an alternate Oscars! It's fascinating how you've not only considered eligibility rules but also spread recognition across numerous films and categories, allowing for diverse representation. Your CommonLit Com emphasis on "spreading the wealth" showcases a unique philosophy compared to the real awards.

[Peggy Sue]

James Norton will always be eligible:in my heart.

[César Gaytán]

What a shame you just included films from eligibility list of Oscar, I found funnier to leave possibilities more open to include any kind of film.

I suspect the selections are from a perspective of "what I consider the best" instead of "the films I enjoy most" because had a lot of coincidences with other lists which is not bad, but I would like to know more about personal tastes

I understand but not love the nomination of Yura Borisov in Oscars and makes more sense for me that the Team Experience Awards chooses Mark Eydelshteyn among the nominees, but as you, the suporting male performance I enjoy most from Anora is Karren Karagulian

What a fun presence he has since appears on screen

[momo docho]

My list leans more towards Academy-friendly choices, though I haven't seen The Last Showgirl, The Brutalist, I'm Still Here, or A Complete Unknown. Since acting is what interests me most, I'll just focus on that.

Best Actor
Daniel Craig – Queer
David Dastmalchian – Late Night With The Devil
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Winner: Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

Best Actress
Karla Sofia Gascon – Emilia Perez
Regina King – Shirley
Winner: Demi Moore – The Substance
Saoirse Ronan – The Outrun
Kate Winslet – Lee

Best Supporting Actor
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Harris Dickinson – Babygirl
Winner: Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Morse Code Translator
Adam Pearson – A Different Man
Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

Best Supporting Actress
Michelle Austin – Hard Truths
Winner: Joan Chen – DiDi
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Lesley Manville – Queer
Zoe Saldana – Emilia Perez

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