Get ready for the 96th Oscars

Society Correspondent

THE Oscar fever has hit the film industry as final preparations are under way for the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

The 96th edition of the show will be screened on DStv on March 11.

According to MultiChoice Zimbabwe, the “1AM Club” or simply the early birds can tune in to the live broadcast while a second prime-time broadcast will be at 9pm.

Local fans can, as usual, enjoy live and rebroadcast coverage of the ceremony, which will be available on M-Net Channel 101.

MultiChoice Zimbabwe head of corporate affairs and public relations Charity Njanji said many movie followers regard the Academy Awards (Oscars) as the leading accolades in the film world.

“We are excited to be able to enjoy live coverage, and also to be able to present a rebroadcast on Movie Magic 1 for those people not so keen on an early morning start,” she said. The Academy Awards have been arranged and hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1928 to recognise excellence in filmmaking.

The event will take place in the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood. “Coverage of the live show will include the red carpet arrivals. It is expected that the show will run to its usual three to four hours’ length, so dedicated film enthusiasts will have an early start with the 1am screening,” added Njanji.

“We hope the excitement surrounding the awards will be rewarded with an enjoyable show and a great set of award wins.”

The epic “Oppenheimer” has the highest number of nominations for awards, with an enviable 13 possible wins; followed by Poor Things (11); and Killers of the Flower Moon (10). The show host for this year is comedian and late night presenter Jimmy Kimmel. The show director is Britain’s Hamish Hamilton, best known for his “Super Bowl” half-time show.

Live performances will come from the five best song nominees that include Ryan Gosling (I’m Just Ken from Barbie), Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell (What Was I Made for? from Barbie), Becky B (The Fire Inside from Flamin’ Hot), Jon Batiste (It Never Went Away from American Symphony), Scott George and The Osage singers (Wahzhazhe from Killers of the Flower Moon).

Nominees for best 2023 picture are “American Fiction”, “Anatomy of a Fall”, “Barbie”, “The Holdovers”, “Killers of the Flower Moon”, “Maestro”, “Oppenheimer”, “Past Lives”, “Poor Things” and “The Zone of Interest”.

Best director nominees are Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall), Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest). In the leading actor category, the nominees are Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Colman Domingo (Rustin), Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers), Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) and Jeffery Wright (American Fiction).

Leading actress nominees are Annette Bening (Nyad), Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon), Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall), Carey Mulligan (Maestro) and Emma Stone (Poor Things).

There are several other categories.

Predictions are that the awards will be evenly spread across a number of films, with “Oppenheimer” the odds-on favourite for best picture. There have been 95 previous winners of the film world’s most coveted prize. There could be upsets in the leading actor and actress categories, as the Oscars have in the past been known to differ from the awards events leading up to it — the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and various United States guild awards. It is unlikely that one film will dominate, like the three holders of the “most Oscars won” to date — “Ben-Hur”, “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, with 11 wins each.