Will pop superstars like Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga take the stage at next year’s Oscars? That possibility became more likely when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its shortlist for best original song on Wednesday.
Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” (from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) made the cut, as did Swift’s “Carolina” (“Where the Crawdads Sing”) and Lady Gaga’s anthem “Hold My Hand” (“Top Gun”). : independent thinking person”).
Other shortlisted songs include “My Mind & Me” by Selena Gomez from the documentary about her; the Weeknd song “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from the new “Avatar” sequel; and “New Body Rhumba,” the tune James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem wrote for “White Noise.”
Also on the list is the “Spirited” tune “Good Afternoon” from the songwriting team of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. They’re household names for Oscar voters: in 2017, they won Best Original Song for “City of Stars” from “La La Land.” A nomination next month would be their fourth in this category.
The shortlist for documentary film included biographical studies such as “All the Bloodshed and the Beauty” (about the photographer Nan Goldin) and “Moonage Daydream” (David Bowie), as well as historical investigations such as “Descendant” (focusing on the Clotilda, the last known ship to bring enslaved Africans to the United States) and “The Janes” (named for a collective that provided abortions in the years before Roe v. Wade).
In the meantime. the shortlist of international feature films is filled with festival favorites from around the world, including Park Chan-wook’s South Korean noir ‘Decision to Leave’; “Bardo” (Mexico), directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu; and “Saint Omer” (France) by Alice Diop, based on a true story. The Pakistani “Joyland” also made the cut: it is about a relationship with a transgender woman and was temporarily banned in that country.
In total, the academy has released shortlists for 10 categories – including visual effects, score, sound, and hair and makeup – ahead of nominations on Jan. 24. Here are the shortlists for singing, documentary and international feature film. For the rest of the categories, visit oscars.org.
Original song
“Time” from “Amsterdam”
“Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength)” from “Avatar: The Way of Water”
“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once”
“Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Til You’re Home” from “A Man Called Otto”
“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR”
“My Mind & Me” from “Selena Gomez: My Mind & Me”
“Good Afternoon” from “Spirited”
“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman”
“Arise” from “Until”
“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick”
“Dust & Ash” from “The Voice of Dust and Ash”
“Carolina” from “Where the Crawdads Sing”
“New Body Rhumba” from “White Noise”
Documentary feature
“Everything That Breathes”
“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed”
“Bad Axe”
“Children of the Fog”
“Descendant”
“Fire of Love”
“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song”
“Hidden Letters”
“A house made of splinters”
“The Janes”
“Last flight home”
“Moonage Daydream”
“Navalny”
“Retrograde”
“The Territory”
International function
Argentina, “Argentina, 1985”
Austria, “Corsage”
Belgium, “Close”
Cambodia, “Back to Seoul”
Denmark, “Holy Spider”
France, “Saint Omer”
Germany, “All Quiet on the Western Front”
India, “Last Film Show”
Ireland, “The Quiet Girl”
Mexico, “Bardo, false chronicle of a handful of truths”
Morocco, “The Blue Caftan”
Pakistan, “Land of Joy”
Poland, “EO”
South Korea, “Decision to Leave”
Sweden, “Cairo Conspiracy”