{"id":128804,"date":"2026-03-13T09:43:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T13:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-article&p=128804"},"modified":"2026-03-13T09:46:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T13:46:21","slug":"oscars-predictions","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/news\/articles\/2026\/oscars-predictions\/","title":{"rendered":"From Sinners to Hamnet to BU’s Nominees, This Year’s Oscar Race Could Offer Lots of Surprises"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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The films nominated for this year\u2019s Academy Award for Best Picture.\u00a0Photos via IMDb<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFrom Sinners<\/em> to Hamnet<\/em> to BU’s Nominees, This Year’s Oscar Race Could Offer Lots of Surprises\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

CFA\u2019s Harvey Young and COM\u2019s Debbie Danielpour offer predictions on\u00a0who will win and who got snubbed ahead of Sunday\u2019s Academy Awards Ceremony<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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March 13, 2026<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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This article was originally published in BU Today<\/a><\/em> on March 12, 2026. By John O’Rourke<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EXCERPT<\/h4>

Even before a single envelope has been opened at this year\u2019s Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday, March 15, this year\u2019s Oscars race is already proving to be historic. And Boston University will be well represented, too. Ryan Coogler\u2019s supernatural horror film Sinners<\/em> notched 16 nominations, 2 more than the record held by All About Eve, Titanic<\/em>, and La La Land<\/em>. Chlo\u00e9 Zhao became the first person of color to be nominated twice for best director for helming Hamnet<\/em> (she won in 2021 for Nomadland<\/em>). And for the first time in years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has added a new competitive category, achievement in casting<\/a>.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, BU alum Josh Safdie (COM\u201907) is up for four Academy Awards\u2014best picture, best director, best original screenplay, and best achievement in film editing for Marty Supreme<\/em><\/a>. And another BU alum, Andrew E. Freedman (CAS\u201978), has been nominated for best animated short film for Retirement Plan<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BU Today<\/em> spoke with two film experts\u2014Harvey Young<\/a>, dean of the College of Fine Arts and a College of Arts & Sciences professor of English, and Debbie Danielpour<\/a>, a screenwriter and a College of Communication assistant professor of film and television and director of COM\u2019s Cinematheque series, for their insights on the awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Harvey Young, dean of the College of Fine Arts, and Debbie Danielpour, a College of Communication assistant professor of film and television and director of COM\u2019s Cinematheque series, offer their predictions for who will take home gold during Sunday\u2019s 2026 Academy Awards ceremony. Photo by Cydney Scott
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Q&<\/span>A<\/h2>

with Harvey Young and Debbie Danielpour<\/h4><\/div>\n

BU Today:<\/span> Sinners <\/em>earned 16 nominations, but it\u2019s a supernatural horror film, a genre the Academy often overlooks. What was it about this film that resonated with Academy voters?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Harvey Young: <\/strong>It\u2019s a perfect storm of goodness: dashing lead actor, auteur director who\u2019s clearly the next Spielberg (Hon.\u201909), a high art film with vampires.

Debbie Danielpour: <\/strong>It\u2019s true, only six or seven horror films have ever been nominated for Best Picture in Academy history, and only Silence of the Lambs <\/em>(1991) won. Regarding Sinners, <\/em>I teach a class for screenwriting graduates about American genres and I must say I can\u2019t remember one film with this combination of genres and subjects, a blend that\u2019s been beautifully achieved: Southern Gothic horror\/vampire, fantasy, supernatural, and it\u2019s even a historical thriller, set in the 1930s Jim Crow South. But it\u2019s also musician<\/em>\u2013steeped inAfrican American blues. I think that combination is what resonated\u2026and the fact that it\u2019s an examination of the country\u2019s original sin.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BU Today:<\/span> What surprised you the most about this year\u2019s nominees?<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Young: <\/strong>Surprisingly, the live arts are palpable. There\u2019s Jessie Buckley watching Hamlet <\/em>in Hamnet; <\/em>Ethan Hawke, Oklahoma! <\/em>in Blue Moon; <\/em>Gwyneth Paltrow, ping-pong in Marty Supreme; <\/em>Michael B. Jordan watching Buddy Guy playing the blues in Sinners;<\/em> and everyone watching the art and science of F1 racing in F1. <\/em>The films are saying \u201cthank you\u201d and \u201cwe see you\u201d to their audiences.

Danielpour: <\/strong>I was surprised by four things: first, the number of non\u2013English language films, mainly in the acting categories that were nominated; two, the omission of Kelly Reichardt\u2019s The Mastermind <\/em>in any category; three, the fact that Guillermo del Toro didn\u2019t score a directing nomination for Frankenstein<\/em>, one of my favorite films of the year; and four, that F1<\/em> got a best picture nomination. I haven\u2019t seen it after hearing my graduate students\u2019 assessment, but I hear the climax sequence makes it all worth it. Hopefully, some of your readers can convince me to see it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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Surprisingly, the live arts are palpable. There\u2019s Jessie Buckley watching Hamlet\u00a0<\/em>in\u00a0Hamnet;\u00a0<\/em>Ethan Hawke, Oklahoma!\u00a0<\/em>in\u00a0Blue Moon;\u00a0<\/em>Gwyneth Paltrow, ping-pong in\u00a0Marty Supreme;\u00a0<\/em>Michael B. Jordan watching Buddy Guy playing the blues in\u00a0Sinners;<\/em>\u00a0and everyone watching the art and science of F1 racing in\u00a0F1.\u00a0<\/em>The films are saying \u201cthank you\u201d and \u201cwe see you\u201d to their audiences.<\/div>