“Sound of Metal” by American director Darius Marder, a film co-produced by Belgian company Caviar, will defend its place in six categories, including the highly prized Best Film, during the Oscars ceremony which will take place on Sunday evening in the United States ( Monday around 4:00 a.m., Belgian time).The feature film traces the life of a heavy metal drummer played by rapper Riz Ahmed and confronted with the loss of his hearing. With this film, Bert Hamelinck, CEO of Caviar, at the same time becomes the first Belgian to be nominated in the category of Best Photography. In addition to Caviar, the actors Koen De Bouw and Johan Heldenbergh will also wear the colors black-yellow-red at this 93rd Oscars ceremony. The first plays in “The Man Who Sold His Skin”, by Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, while the second appears in “Quo vadis, Aida?”, By Bosnian Jasmila Zbanic. Both productions compete in the Best Foreign Film category, which currently has the Danish film “Drunk” starring Mads Mikkelsen as its favorite. “The Man Who Sold His Skin” tells the story of Sam Ali, a Syrian who fled his country at war for Lebanon. However, he hopes to join the woman he loves in Paris. To finance this trip, he had a visa tattooed on his back, from the hands of an artist played by Koen De Bouw. In the cast, we also find Monica Bellucci. “Quo vadis, Aida?” (“The voice of Aida”) has, for its part, the small Bosnian town of Srebrenica. When the Serbian army seizes it, Aida, a translator for the UN, and her family seek refuge in a UN camp, among thousands of other citizens. Johan Heldenbergh plays the supporting role of Commander Thom Karremans there, during the massacre of more than 7,000 Bosnian men. More generally, the film “Mank”, a black and white ode to the golden age of Hollywood by David Fincher, with Gary Oldman in the role of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, leads the race of this 93rd edition. of the Oscars with 10 nominations. “Mank” is nominated in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress (Amanda Seyfried) and numerous technical categories awarded by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the prestigious award. In addition to the Belgian co-production “Sound of Metal, five films also recorded six nominations:” Nomadland “by Chloe Zhao with Frances McDormand, considered the favorite by many experts after his victory at the Golden Globes,” The Father “by Frenchman Florian Zeller with Anthony Hopkins, “The Chicago Seven” by Aaron Sorkin with Sacha Baron Cohen, “Judas and the Black Messiah” with Daniel Kaluuya and “Minari.” Often criticized for its lack of representativeness, the Academy of Oscars has selected this two out of five women competing in the “Best Director” category this year, Chloe Zhao for “Nomadland” and Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman.” This is a first. Hollywood darling this year, Chloe Zhao is also the first woman to compete at the Oscars in four different categories (best film, direction, cut and screenplay). Also of note: the posthumous nomination, much awaited, of the late Chadwick Boseman, who died last year of a cancer at the age of 43, for her role in “The Blues of Ma Rainey”, a Netflix production. With its many films, whose audiences have been boosted by the confinements linked to the pandemic, the video-on-demand platform seems to be well under way for this 93rd edition of the Oscars. So far, no movie produced by a streaming platform has won the Supreme Oscar for Best Feature. Netflix, however, produced two out of eight candidates this year, including “Mank.” Due to the health crisis, the Oscars ceremony has been postponed to April 25, unprecedented. It will be held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. (Belga)
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