The 93rd Oscars ceremony is tonight, starting at 2 a.m., French time, Monday April 26. In France, it can be followed live on Canal +, the channel taking the air from 11:50 pm on the red carpet. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, and unlike the recent Golden Globes, the Academy Awards will finally be presented in the presence of some of the nominees, during an evening organized on several sites, orchestrated by director Steven Soderbergh and hosted by de big names like Brad Pitt, Reese Witherspoon or Harrison Ford. The presentation of the prestigious awards for American cinema should be marked this year by a strong predominance of films produced by streaming platforms, and perhaps by statuettes collected by “The Father”, a film directed by Frenchman Florian Zeller.
Great French chances
With his six nominations for “The Father”, adapted from his play “Le Père”, the playwright, writer, and now director Florian Zeller, since it is his first film, will allow France to shine throughout. throughout this 93rd ceremony. The film, shot in English and which describes the mental degeneration of an old man - played by Anthony Hopkins - losing all his bearings, competes in the categories of best film, best adapted screenplay, best editing, best setting, for Best Supporting Actress (Olivia Colman), and Best Actor. For the latter category, Hopkins, who won the same prize at the recent Bafta (the English Oscars), has a good chance of winning, even if he is in direct competition with another big favorite, Chadwick Boseman, the hero. of "Black Panther",passed away last year, and nominated posthumously for "Le Blues de Ma Rainey".
But since his victory at the Bafta, several articles in the American press campaign for Anthony Hopkins, 83, breathtaking in “The Father”, to win the award. While the New York Times recently went up in flames for Florian Zeller's screenplay, hoping he wins the statuette. It smells very good, therefore, for the French playwright, to such an extent that he has become the man of the moment in Hollywood: on Wednesday, we learned that he was going to direct his second film, “The Son”, also adapted from one of his successful plays, as part of a new Franco-British production, and with two stars headlining: the Australian Hugh Jackman and the American Laura Dern.
Two other French productions may surprise you during this Oscar night: the animated short film "Genius Loci", by Adrien Mérigeau, and the exceptional Franco-Tunisian feature film "The Man Who Sold his skin ”by Kaouther Ben Hania, in the race for the best film in a foreign language.
Without forgetting the particular case of Colette Marin-Catherine, 92, retired from Caen (Calvados) and protagonist of the American documentary short “Colette”, also named for a statuette, who follows her in the footsteps of her brother who disappeared in deportation .
Netflix and Disney in the spotlight
This is the main effect of the pandemic and the low volume of cinema film releases in 2020 on the ceremony: the streaming platforms, whose conditions of access to the Oscars had been lightened for the occasion, are taking over the ceremony. most of the nominations, at the expense of the big Hollywood studios.
Netflix is in the lead with ten nominations for "Mank" (including best film, best director for David Fincher, best actor for Gary Oldman ...), six nominations for "The Chicago Seven", five including two prestigious for "The Blues of Ma Rainey ”(best actress for Viola Davis and best actor for the late Chadwick Boseman), four for“ The Mission ”, by Paul Greengrass, and many more…
Disney + is also leading the productions in the running for a statuette, with six nominations, including best film, best director (Chloé Zhao) and best actress (Frances McDormand) for the extraordinary and big favorite “Nomadland” (launched on the platform). -form in the United States but scheduled in theaters in France on June 9).
While other films from the studio with big ears will be present at the ceremony, such as "Soul", "En avant", "The one and only Ivan", "Mulan" ... Amazon Prime Video is also doing very well. , with a nice batch of nominations for “Borat 2” and “One Night in Miami”.
Films already visible in France
Always "thanks" to the health crisis which has led to the release of many films on platforms, and unlike in previous years, when you had to wait long months to discover the Oscar-winning feature films in France, we can already spend the day and the evening, while waiting for the ceremony, watching the main nominees at home.
Netflix subscribers can feast on “Mank”, “The Chicago Seven”, “The Blues of Ma Rainey”, “The Mission”, “An American Ode”, “Da 5 Bloods”, “Pieces of a woman "," Voyage to the Moon "," The White Tiger "and" Eurovision Song Contest ", all in contention tonight. Those at Disney + can do the same with "Mulan", "Soul", "The One and Only Ivan" or "Onward", while "One Night in Miami" and "Borat 2" are available to Amazon subscribers. Prime Video. Finally, Canal + will program from Tuesday evening the excellent "Judas and the Black Messiah", which could also collect prizes ...