Emilia Pérez and Wicked advance in Oscars shortlists

The Selena Gomez ballad Mi Camino, the Will Ferrell and Harper Steele road trip documentary Will & Harper and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s pulsating Challengers score are one step closer to an Oscar nomination.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) unveiled shortlists in 10 categories Tuesday, including for documentary, international feature, best song and score.
Two musicals,Emilia Pérez and Wicked, were well represented in the categories.
Netflix’s audacious transgender drug-lord drama Emilia Perez was most named, advancing in international feature, original score, two original songs including Mi Camino and El Mal (performed by Zoe Saldana), sound and hair and makeup.
Wicked also moved forward in several categories, like hair and makeup, original score, sound and visual effects.
The adaptation of the Broadway musical did not include original songs and therefore wasn’t eligible in that category.
The song semifinalists include several notable artists, like Pharrell Williams for Piece by Piece, Lainey Wilson for her Twisters song Out of Oklahoma, Elton John and Brandi Carlile for Never Too Late and Robbie Williams for Forbidden Road from Better Man.
Among the 15 documentaries eligible for nominations are The Bibi Files, Daughters, Eno, Frida, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, Dahomey, Union, Porcelain War and No Other Land.
There are also 15 international features advancing, including I’m Still Here (Brazil), Universal Language (Canada), The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany), Kneecap (Ireland), Vermiglio (Italy), Flow (Latvia) and Dahomey (Senegal).
Deadpool & Wolverine was singled out for both sound and visual effects, as was Alien: Romulus which also got a nod for score.
Dune: Part Two, included in visual effects, sound and makeup and hair, was notably not among the 20 score finalists. Hans Zimmer’s work was not eligible because it contained too much preexisting music from the first Dune.
The 97th Oscars, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will be held on Sunday, March 2.
Santosh shortlisted in ‘Best International
Feature Film’ category after Laapataa Ladies
misses out
Santosh, a Hindi-language international co-production set in rural north India, has found a spot in the ‘Best International Feature Film’ category. The film was sent by the United Kingdom as their official submission for the Academy Awards 2025. The movie also premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, and was well-received by critics.
India’s hopes at the 2025 Oscars now rest on Anuja, a live-action short film produced by Guneet Monga Kapoor, after Kiran Rao’s Laapataa Ladies did not make it to the next round in the International Feature Film category.
Monga’s Anuja has been shortlisted in the Best Live-Action Short Film category. (Agencies)