Looks like there was very little love for Canada at this year’s Oscars ceremony
The red carpet at the 1988 Academy Awards (Alan Light via Wikimedia Commons)
By Sarah Grishpul
Oh… Canada.
If you’ve been following along with the Academy Awards, you’ll notice a distinct lack of Canadian winners. Despite nine nominations, only one took home an award during this year’s ceremony.
Here are the nominees from Canada who just didn’t make the cut:
Canadian sweetheart Ryan Gosling ignites the “Ken-ergy” of the room with his performance of “I’m Just Ken”
Anywhere else he’d be a 10—just not at the Oscars.
While “I’m Just Ken” of the Barbie (2023) soundtrack did not take home the award for Best Original Song, (an honour bestowed upon Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” from the same film), Gosling’s performance stole the show.
Donned in a pink, bedazzled suit, oozing with what could only be described as Ken-ergy, Gosling was joined onstage by his fellow Kens, recreating the iconic dance sequence from Marilyn Monroe’s "Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend." He even had his Barbie co-stars and director, Greta Gerwig, Margot Robbie, and America Ferrara belting into the microphone.
The production also featured a cameo from Slash—yes, the lead guitarist of Guns N’ Roses—who emerged on a platform below the stage to accompany Gosling in his big finale.
It was clear the entire crowd of wealthy Hollywood talent and executives were enjoying the show. One in particular was critically acclaimed filmmaker, Martin Scorcese, who was shown to be smiling and clapping along during the performance in a video posted by his daughter.
Who needs a golden statue to determine the worth of a song? If Scorcese likes it, then that should be Kenough.
Killers of the Flower Moon snubbed by the Academy, while Canadian musician Robbie Robertson commemorated in a memoriam segment
One of the biggest surprises of the night was when Emma Stone beat Lily Gladstone for Best Actress, a clear shocker to both the audience and Stone herself.
It wasn’t just Gladstone’s performance that had been snubbed, but Killers of the Flower Moon had left the ceremony with zero wins under their belt, despite their many nominations.
Robbie Robertson’s work composing the film’s score lost to Academy-favourite Oppenheimer, which took home several awards including Best Actor, Best Director and Best Picture.
Aside from collaborating with Scorsese on many films, Robertson was well-known for his musical presence as lead guitarist and songwriter for The Band, backing Bob Dylan in the late sixties to mid-seventies.
Robertson unfortunately passed away in August of 2023 and wasn’t able to witness his nomination nor his loss at this year’s Oscars. However, his legacy will continue to live on through his work, golden statue be damned.
Much like the film’s central themes, the love for Past Lives was unrequited
Much like Killers of the Flower Moon, Celine Song’s Past Lives was kicked to the curb at this year’s ceremony. The film lost Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture to Anatomy of a Fall and Oppenheimer, respectively.
Past Lives was Korean-Canadian director Celine Song’s debut feature film, which made its nominations all the more impressive. The film follows two childhood lovers who are pulled in and out of each other’s lives—some by choice, others by circumstance.
In an interview for The Hollywood Reporter on the red carpet, Song spoke on the impact her film had on audiences, and how one in particular expressed how much they needed to see a story like that on screen.
“The fact that you get to make a movie that at least one person needs, to me I’m like ‘ah, what an amazing amazing dream,’ so that means a lot to me.”
It’s a delicate and wounding film that makes it one of the quieter entries into this year’s awards race. Yet, it still deserves recognition and your attention.
To Kill a Tiger loses “Best Doc” but wins Netflix streaming distribution
One of the bigger awards Canada was betting on winning was for Best Feature Documentary, with Indian-born Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja’s film, To Kill a Tiger.
You’ve likely seen the posters for this documentary plastered on the walls of the subway stations in downtown Toronto. The film documents the story of a father in India fighting to protect his 13-year-old daughter after she is raped by several men in their village.
Pahuja spoke on the importance of spreading awareness about sexual violence and rape, not just in India, but on a global scale. The film supports the #StandWithHer campaign in challenging gender roles and helping survivors speak out and seek justice.
According to producer Cornelia Principe, it took eight years for Pahuja to make this documentary.
“I think only Nisha could have survived eight years in making a film because she’s so determined and doesn’t give up,” she said in a red-carpet interview with Etalk.
Despite losing the Oscars to 20 Days in Mariupol, a film documenting the horrors of the war in Ukraine, To Kill a Tiger is now available to watch on Netflix for all audiences to engross themselves in.
Godzilla crushes Canadian nominees in “Best Visual Effects” category
“A living nuclear weapon destined to walk the Earth forever. Indestructible.”
Secret agents and Marvel superheroes are no match for the VFX behemoth that is Godzilla Minus One. The visual effects team behind this latest, and one of the best, Godzilla films even brought along mini figurines of the monster himself onstage to accept their award.
“The moment we were nominated, we thought that, like Rocky Balboa, we were welcomed into the ring being equals by our biggest rivals which was already a miracle. But here we stand,” said filmmaker and visual effects supervisor, Takashi Yamazaki. “To all the VFX artists outside Hollywood, Hollywood was listening and this, all of this, is proof that everyone has a chance.”
They even thanked their former producer, Shuji Abe, who had passed away a couple of months before the ceremony and was renowned for his work in the Japanese film industry.
While it was disappointing to see Canadian nominees Jeff Sutherland (Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One) and Stephane Ceretti (Guardians of the Galaxy 3) lose in this category, Yamazaki and his team were definitely deserving of this win.
In a category alongside Wes Anderson, the cards were firmly stacked against this Canadian short film
Montreal filmmaker Vincent René-Lortie was inspired by the passing of his friend to create Invincible, a story following the last 48 hours of a boy before his death.
In an interview with CityNews, René-Lortie spoke about how he hoped to spread the word about mental health and humanizing people who died by suicide through his work.
“For me, the film wasn’t about [the death] it was about the character itself, it was about what he was going through,” he said. “It wasn’t about how he passed away and how tragic that event was.”
The short was bested by Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, a tough one to beat given the director’s revered status in Hollywood.
Ah well, there’s always the Canadian Screen Awards, where Invincible is nominated for both Best Live-Action Short Drama and Best Performance in a Live-Action Short Drama.
Until then, the film is currently available to watch in its entirety over on Vimeo.
Nimona remains the underdog in the awards race
It was no surprise to anyone that Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron claimed the Oscar win for Best Animated Feature. As the writer and producer of Across the Spiderverse, Chris Miller tweeted: “Well, if you’re gonna lose, might as well lose to the GOAT.”
But, honestly, I wish there was a little more love for Nimona.
Following the corporate acquisition of Blue Sky Studios in 2021, the adaptation of ND Stevenson’s queer-coded graphic novel was seemingly cancelled. Luckily for us, the film was picked up by Annapurna and Netflix, who revived the project and gave us the delightfully demonic movie that is Nimona.
As a fan of the comic, I must admit that I was a tad biased in my desire to see this film take home an Oscar. Its messaging around gender identity hit close to home, and the themes surrounding questioning authority are important to instill among viewers of any age.
In an interview for Little Black Book with Canadian-born co-director, Troy Quane, he called their Oscar nomination the comeback story of the decade.
“The nomination hopefully just means more people will hear about the film and watch it. I also hope it sends a message to the studios that audiences are not only ready for but demanding unique, original, diverse and inclusive stories.”
Netflix even released the film in its entirety on YouTube before the award show, a particularly daring move for a streaming service that relies on paid subscriptions. Yet, it helped ensure that anyone, regardless of monetary constraints, was able to access and appreciate this movie.
Couldn’t be prouder of this Halifax filmmaker!
No one was as delighted to walk up to that Oscars stage as Porche Brinker.
The 12-year-old musician and one of the stars of Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers’ short film, The Last Repair Shop, received a standing ovation as the three walked down the aisle.
“The Last Repair Shop is about the heroes in our schools who often go unsung, unthanked and unseen,” said Bowers during his speech. “Tonight, you are sung, you are thanked, you are seen.
This is Ben Proudfoot’s second Oscar win (and only win for Canada this year). The film tells the tale of how a group of people in LA worked to provide public school children with free repair services for their musical instruments.
The Last Repair Shop took home the award for Best Documentary Short, and the entirety is currently available to watch on YouTube.