VOA Special English
The Shape of Water Leads with 13 Oscar Nominations

    2018/1/23

    The small-budget film The Shape of Water has earned 13 Oscar nominations, including one for best picture – the most of any 2017 film.

    The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the award nominations in Los Angeles, early Tuesday morning. Eight other films were nominated for best picture including small-budget projects Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Lady Bird.

    Three Billboards received a total of nine nominations. The big-budget World War II movie Dunkirk came next with seven nominations, including best picture.

    The other candidates for the top academy award are Get Out, The Post, Darkest Hour, Call Me By Your Name and Phantom Thread.

    Greta Gerwig, who directed Lady Bird, became the fifth woman nominated for best director. Get Out director Jordan Peele was the fifth African-American director so honored.

    Rachel Morrison, director of photography for the movie Mudbound, made history as the first woman ever nominated for an Oscar in cinematography.

    Meryl Streep received her 21st Oscar nomination for her work in The Post. She plays former Washington Post newspaper publisher Katharine Graham. Streep has won three Oscars, one fewer than Katherine Hepburn.

    Christopher Plummer received a best supporting actor nomination for his part in All the Money in the World. Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey who was removed from the movie after accusations of sexual wrongdoing. Plummer was added to the film in reshoots little more than a month before the film’s release.

    Filmmaker Rachel Morrison
    Filmmaker Rachel Morrison

    Winners will be named at the Academy Awards ceremony March 4 in Hollywood, California. More than 30 million people are expected to watch the live television broadcast of the event.

    Last year, the broadcast ended with an envelope mix-up that led to La La Land being wrongly announced as the best picture winner. Officials quickly corrected the mistake and presented the award to makers of the film Moonlight.

    This year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has barred those who handle the envelopes from using cellphones or social media during the show.

    I’m Jonathan Evans.

    ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE NOMINEES

    Timothee Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name

    Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread

    Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

    Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour

    Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.

    Daniel Kaluuya
    Daniel Kaluuya

    ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE NOMINEES

    Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project

    Woody Harrelson, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

    Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water

    Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World

    Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

    Christopher Plummer
    Christopher Plummer

    ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE NOMINEES

    Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water

    Frances McDormand, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

    Margot Robbie, I, Tonya

    Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird

    Meryl Streep, The Post

    Saoirse Ronan
    Saoirse Ronan

    ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE NOMINEES

    Mary J. Blige, Mudbound

    Allison Janney, I, Tonya

    Lesley Manville, Phantom Thread

    Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

    Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

    Octavia Spencer
    Octavia Spencer

    CINEMATOGRAPHY NOMINEES

    Blade Runner 2049, Roger A. Deakins

    Darkest Hour, Bruno Delbonnel

    Dunkirk, Hoyte van Hoytema

    Mudbound, Rachel Morrison

    The Shape of Water, Dan Laustsen

    DIRECTING

    Dunkirk, Christopher Nolan

    Get Out, Jordan Peele

    Lady Bird, Greta Gerwig

    Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson

    The Shape of Water, Guillermo del Torro

    Greta Gerwig
    Greta Gerwig

    FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM NOMINEES

    A Fantasic Woman, Chile

    The Insult, Lebanon

    Loveless, Russia

    On Body and Soul, Hungary

    The Square, Sweden

    BEST PICTURE NOMINEES

    Call Me by Your Name

    Darkest Hour

    Dunkirk

    Get Out

    Lady Bird

    Phantom Thread

    The Post

    The Shape of Water

    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

    Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on AP news reports. Caty Weaver was the editor.

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    Words in This Story

    cinematography - n. the art, process or job of filming movies