Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For October

Posted on October 31, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Needless to say, I’ve been more concerned with horror than Oscars this month but still, the Awards Season approaches and that means it is time for me to post my predictions for October! If you want to see how my thinking has evolved, be sure to check out my predictions for March, April, May, June, July, August, and September!

Here are my latest predictions!

Best Picture

The Debut
Elsinore
I Play Rocky
The Invite
La Bola Negra
The Odyssey
Primetime
Project Hail Mary
Wild Horse Nine
You Can See Everything

Best Director

Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo — La Bola Negra
Jesse Eisenberg — The Debut
Phil Lord & Christopher Miller — Project Hail Mary
Martin McDonagh — Wild Horse Nine
Christopher Nolan — The Odyssey

Best Actor

Matt Damon — The Odyssey
John Malkovich — Wild Horse Nine
Robert Pattinson — Primetime
Andrew Scott — Elsinore
John Turturro — The Only Living Pickpocket In New York

Best Actress

Jeon Do-yeon — Possible Love
Sandra Huller — Rose
Ruth Madeley — Being Heumann
Julianne Moore — The Debut
Inde Navarrette — Obsession

Best Supporting Actor

Colman Domingo — Michael
Paul Giamatti — The Debut
Edward Norton — The Invite
Guy Pearce — Ink
Sam Rockwell — Wild Horse Nine

Best Supporting Actress

Colleen Camp — Club Kid
Penélope Cruz — La Bola Negra
Anne Hathaway — The Odyssey
Samantha Morton — The Odyssey
Kate O’Flynn — Tender Loving Care

Here Are The 36th Annual Gotham Nominations

Posted on October 28, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Don’t be alarmed but the first of the precursor award nominations were announced yesterday. The Gothams aren’t exactly the most reliable of the Oscar precursors and a lot of the potential Oscar nominees aren’t even eligible for a Gotham but, if you’re a low-budget indie film looking to score a Best Picture nomination, winning a Gotham is a nice way to start Awards Season.

(Winning seems to be the key here. As James Gray can attest, just getting a nomination doesn’t do much.)

Here are the 36th Annual Gotham Nominations.

Best Feature

Clarissa

Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri, directors; Arie Esiri, Chuko Esiri, Theresa Park, Nicholas Weinstock, producers (NEON)

Club Kid

Jordan Firstman, director; Michael Bloom, Alex Coco, Galen Core, Ryan Heller, producers (A24)

The Debut

Jesse Eisenberg, director; Jesse Eisenberg, Ali Herting, Dave McCary, Emma Stone, producers (A24)

Dreams in Nightmares

Shatara Michelle Ford, director; Naima Abed, Shatara Michelle Ford, Pin-Chun Liu, producers (Lunette Films)

The Invite

Olivia Wilde, director; Ben Browning, Megan Ellison, David Permut, producers (A24)

Josephine

Beth de Araújo, director; Beth de Araújo, Josh Beirne-Golden, Gemma Chan, David Kaplan, Josh Peters, Jordan Rapaport, Mark H. Rapaport, Robina Riccitiello, Marina Stabile, Channing Tatum, Crystine Zhang, producers (Sumerian Pictures)

Mouse

Kelly O’Sullivan, Alex Thompson, directors; Bonnie Comley, Pierce Cravens, Steven A. Jones, Ian Keiser, Chelsea Krant, Stewart F. Lane, Abigail Rose Solomon, Alex Thompson, Alex Wilson, producers (Independent Film Company)

Paper Tiger

James Gray, director; Andrea Bucko, Leonardo Maria del Vecchio, Gary Farkas, James Gray, Anthony Katagas, Andrea Leone, Raffaella Leone, Marco Perego, Carlo Salem, Rodrigo Teixeira, producers (NEON)

Primetime

Lance Oppenheim, director; Ari Aster, Fred Berger, William Iannaccone, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Lars Knudsen, Brighton McCloskey, Robert Pattinson, producers (A24)

Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma

Jane Schoenbrun, director; Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, producers (MUBI)

Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother

Bassam Tariq, director; Babak Anvari, Bassam Tariq, Lucan Toh, producers (Amazon MGM Studios)

Best International Feature

All of A Sudden

Ryusuke Hamaguchi, director; Julien Deris, David Gauquié, Kosuke Oshida, Yuji Sadai, producers (NEON)

Ben’Imana

Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, director; Samantha Biffot, Pierre-Adrien Ceccaldi, Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo, Marie Epiphanie Uwayezu, producers (Alexander)

Blue Heron

Sophy Romvari, director; Ryan Bobkin, Sara Wylie, Sophy Romvari, Gábor Osváth, producers (Janus Films)

Everytime

Sandra Wollner, director; David Bohun, Lixi Frank, Viktoria Stolpe, producers (1-2 Special)

Fatherland

Pawel Pawlikowski, director; Edward Berger, Lorenzo Gangarossa, Mario Gianani, Lorenzo Mieli, Ewa Puszczynska, Dimitri Rassam, Jeanne Tremsal, producers (MUBI)

Filipiñana

Rafael Manuel, director; Bianca Balbuena, Jeremy Chua, Omar El Kadi, Bradley Liew, Rafael Manuel, Alex Polunin, Nadia Turincev, producers (Kino Lorber)

La Gradiva

Marine Atlan, director; Inès Daïen Dasi, producer (1-2 Special)

Minotaur

Andrey Zvyagintsev, director; Charles Gillibert, Nathanaël Karmitz, Marco Perego, Andrey Zvyagintsev, producers (MUBI)

Possible Love

Lee Chang-dong, director; Lee Joon-dong, Lee Chang-dong, David Levine, Chadwick Prichard, producers (Netflix)

Tender Loving Care

Mike Leigh, director; Georgina Lowe, producer (Bleecker Street)

Best Documentary Feature

Closure

Michal Marczak, director; Monika Braid, Rémi Grellety, Karolina Marczak, Michal Marczak, Katarzyna Szczerba, producers (1-2 Special)

A Fox Under a Pink Moon

Soraya Akhlaghi, Mehrdad Oskouei, directors; Siavash Jamali, Mehrdad Oskouei, producers (Kino Lorber)

NAZA

Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, directors; Harry Davies, Lindsay Poulton, James Wilson, producers (NEON)

Once Upon a Time in Harlem

David Greaves, director; Anne de Mare, Liani Greaves, producers (NEON)

You Can See Everything

Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim, directors; Maggie Ambrose, Tatiana Bears, Jack Davis, Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim, producers (A24)

Best Director

Ryusuke Hamaguchi, All of a Sudden (NEON)

Sandra Wollner, Everytime (1-2 Special)

Andrey Zvyagintsev, Minotaur (MUBI)

Jane Schoenbrun, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (MUBI)

Mike Leigh, Tender Loving Care (Bleecker Street)

Breakthrough Director

Sophy Romvari, Blue Heron (Janus Films)

Jordan Firstman, Club Kid (A24)

Aleshea Harris, Is God Is (Amazon MGM Studios)

Marine Atlan, La Gradiva (1-2 Special)

Joel Alfonso Vargas, Mad Bills to Pay (or Destiny, dile que no soy malo) (Oscilloscope Laboratories)

John Early, Maddie’s Secret (Magnolia Pictures)

Best Original Screenplay

Everytime, Sandra Wollner (1-2 Special)

La Gradiva, Marine Atlan, Anne Brouillet (1-2 Special)

Possible Love, Lee Chang-dong, Oh Jung-mi (Netflix)

Tender Loving Care, Mike Leigh (Bleecker Street)

Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Adapted Screenplay

All of a Sudden, Ryusuke Hamaguchi (NEON)

Clarissa, Chuko Esiri (NEON)

The Invite, Rashida Jones, Will McCormack (A24)

Minotaur, Simon Lyashenko, Andrey Zvyagintsev (MUBI)

Primetime, Ajon Singh (A24)

Outstanding Lead Performance

Mahershala Ali, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (Amazon MGM Studios)

Gillian Anderson, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (MUBI)

Jeon Do-yeon, Possible Love (Netflix)

John Early, Maddie’s Secret (Magnolia Pictures)

John Malkovich, Wild Horse Nine (Searchlight Pictures)

Ian McKellen, The Christophers (NEON)

Julianne Moore, The Debut (A24)

Sophie Okonedo, Clarissa (NEON)

Andrew Scott, Elsinore (Focus Features)

John Turturro, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York (Sony Pictures Classics)

Outstanding Supporting Performance

Tom Courtenay, Queen at Sea (Greenwich Entertainment)

Esmé Creed-Miles, Sense and Sensibility (Focus Features)

Penélope Cruz, The Invite (A24)

Adam Driver, Paper Tiger (NEON)

Andrew Garfield, Artificial (NEON)

Skyler Gisondo, Primetime (A24)

Sandra Hüller, Fatherland (MUBI)

Kate O’Flynn, Tender Loving Care (Bleecker Street)

Tao Okamoto, All of a Sudden (NEON)

Channing Tatum, Josephine (Sumerian Pictures)

Breakthrough Performer

Adia, Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother (Amazon MGM Studios)

India Amarteifio, Clarissa (NEON)

Guitarricadelafuente, La Bola Negra (Netflix)

Colas Quignard, La Gradiva (1-2 Special)

Mason Reeves, Josephine (Sumerian Pictures)

Gotham Audience Award

Backrooms

Kane Parsons, director; Kori Adelson, Michael Clear, Dan Cohen, Chris Ferguson, Dan Levine, Shawn Levy, Roberto Patino, Osgood Perkins, Jenno Topping, James Wan, producers (A24)

La Bola Negra

Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo, directors; Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo, producers (Netflix)

The Drama

Kristoffer Borgli, director; Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen, Tyler Campellone, producers (A24)

The Invite

Olivia Wilde, director; Ben Browning, Megan Ellison, David Permut, producers (A24)

Michael

Antoine Fuqua, director; John Branca, John McClain, Graham King, producers (Lionsgate)

Obsession

Curry Barker, director; James Harris, Haley Nicole Johnson, Christian Mercuri, Roman Viaris, producers (Focus Features)

Project Hail Mary

Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, directors; Ryan Gosling, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Rachel O’Connor, Amy Pascal, Aditya Sood, Andy Weir, producers (Amazon MGM Studios)
You Can See Everything

Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim, directors; Maggie Ambrose, Tatiana Bears, Jack Davis, Nathan Fielder, Lance Oppenheim, producers (A24)

The winners will be revealed on November 30th, 2026.

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For September

Posted on September 30, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

We are just a few hours away from the start of our annual October Horrorthon but, before we do that, I do have one last bit of business to attend to. Here are my Oscar predictions for the month of September! If you want to see how my thinking has evolved, be sure to check out my predictions for March, April, May, June, July, and August!

As for my latest set of predictions, they’re largely shaped by the news coming out of the festivals. Digger is no longer a contender for anything. And, just as last month, I continue to suspect that Dune Part Three will not be the Oscar powerhouse that some are expecting. The first two Dune films were both nominated but it just doesn’t feel like there’s a huge sentiment out there that’s saying, “We simply have to keep honoring each new installment!”

Here are my latest predictions!

Best Picture

The Debut
Elsinore
Fjord
I Play Rocky
La Bola Negra
Mr. Irrelevant
The Odyssey
Primetime
Project Hail Mary
Wild Horse Nine

Best Director

Javier Ambrossi & Javier Calvo — La Bola Negra
Jesse Eisenberg — The Debut
Phil Lord & Christopher Miller — Project Hail Mary
Martin McDonagh — Wild Horse Nine
Christopher Nolan — The Odyssey

Best Actor

Matt Damon — The Odyssey
Anthony Ippolito — I Play Rocky
John Malkovich — Wild Horse Nine
Robert Pattinson — Primetime
Andrew Scott — Elsinore

Best Actress

Sandra Hüller — Fatherland
Ruth Madeley — Being Heumann
Julianne Moore — The Debut
Inde Navarrette — Obsession
Renate Reinsve — Fjord

Best Supporting Actor

Colman Domingo — Michael
Paul Giamatti — The Debut
Guy Pearce — Ink
Sam Rockwell — Wild Horse Nine
Jeremy Strong — The Social Reckoning

Best Supporting Actress

Colleen Camp — Club Kid
Olivia Colman — Elsinore
Penélope Cruz — La Bola Negra
Anne Hathaway — The Odyssey
Samantha Morton — The Odyssey

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For August

Posted on August 31, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

It’s that time of the month again.

It’s time for me to list my Oscar predictions. As far as wild speculation is concerned, the current Oscar race still feels like it’s off to a slow start. There seems to be a general assumption that The Odyssey is going to dominate both the nominations and the awards, and that there isn’t much point in considering what else could be nominated.

I do think The Odyssey is going to be a big contender. I also think Project Hail Mary will still be in the conversation at year’s end. Fjord won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, which has become a fairly good precursor for nominations, if not for the actual awards. As for the rest of the nominees, it’s still pretty much a guessing game at this point.

Here are a few of my guesses:

Digger will not be the powerhouse some people are predicting. Even when he was winning Oscars, Alejandro G. Iñárritu was still a dreadfully pretentious and self-important director. That tendency has only increased in the years since he won his second directing Oscar.
Michael will get a lot of hype, but it won’t be nominated for much because of the controversy around Michael Jackson’s later legal troubles. Colman Domingo might still get in, because the Academy always enjoys nominating someone for playing a bad father.
The Social Reckoning and Ink will both get middling reviews, but both will be nominated for reasons that have more to do with politics than quality.
Wild Horse Nine will be nominated but, like most of Martin McDonagh’s films, people will either love it or hate it. John Malkovich will be a strong contender for Best Actor, if only because he’s not getting any younger and this might be the Academy’s last chance to honor one of the best actors of his generation. Either Steve Buscemi or Sam Rockwell will be nominated for Supporting Actor. I went with Buscemi because he’s never been nominated before.
The Debut, I Play Rocky, and Mr. Irrelevant will benefit from being crowd-pleasers.
In the style of Siân Heder’s previous film, CODA, Being Heumann will be the nominee that nobody really thinks about until after it’s actually nominated.

You can check out my predictions from March, April, May, June, and July to see how my thinking has evolved over the year.

Best Picture
Being Heumann
The Debut
Fjord
I Play Rocky
Ink
Mr. Irrelevant
The Odyssey
Project Hail Mary
The Social Reckoning
Wild Horse Nine

Best Director
Danny Boyle, Ink
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Project Hail Mary
Martin McDonagh, Wild Horse Nine
Cristian Mungiu, Fjord
Christopher Nolan, The Odyssey

Best Actor
David Corenswet, Mr. Irrelevant
Matt Damon, The Odyssey
Ryan Gosling, Project Hail Mary
Anthony Ippolito, I Play Rocky
John Malkovich, Wild Horse Nine

Best Actress
Sandra Hüller, Fatherland
Ruth Madeley, Being Heumann
Julianne Moore, The Debut
Inde Navarrette, Obsession
Renate Reinsve, Fjord

Best Supporting Actor
Steve Buscemi, Wild Horse Nine
Matt Dillon, I Play Rocky
Colman Domingo, Michael
Paul Giamatti, The Debut
Jeremy Strong, The Social Reckoning

Best Supporting Actress
Colleen Camp, Club Kid
Anne Hathaway, The Odyssey
Sandra Hüller, Project Hail Mary
Scarlett Johansson, Paper Tiger
Samantha Morton, The Odyssey

Lisa Marie’s Oscar Predictions For July

Posted on July 31, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As you look over my latest Oscar predictions, you may notice that I’ve dropped two films that I originally had listed as major contenders. Disclosure Day opened to mixed reviews and it really seems to have vanished from the cultural conversation in the wake of the release of The Odyssey. Digger has not opened yet but I just get the feeling that this is going to be another pretentious Alejandro Iñárritu film. Whenever anyone mentions the previous victory of Birdman, it always seems to be done with a slight bit of embarrassment. I think Iñárritu’s time as an Oscar favorite might be over.

These predictions below are based on what’s been released, what will be playing at the major festivals, which trailers generated excitement (hello I Play Rocky!), which films are most likely to appeal to the Academy’s political biases (hello Ink and The Social Reckoning) and, as always, a lot of wishful thinking on my part. (Hello I Play Rocky again!)

To see how my thinking has or has not evolved, check out my picks for March, April, May, and June!

Best Picture

The Adventures of Cliff Booth

Being Heumann

The Debut

Dune: Part Three

Fjord

Ink

The Odyssey

Project Hail Mary

The Social Reckoning

Wild Horse Nine

Best Director

David Fincher for The Adventures of Cliff Booth

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller for Project Hail Mary

Cristian Mungiu for Fjord

Christopher Nolan for The Odyssey

Denis Villeneuve for Dune: Part Three

Best Actor

David Corenswet in Mr. Irrelevant

Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary

Anthony Ippolito in I Play Rockly

John Malkovich in Wild Horses

Robert Pattinson in Primetime

Best Actress

Ellen Burstyn in Place To Be

Sandra Huller in Fatherland

Ruth Madeley in Being Heumann

Julianne Moore in The Debut

Renate Reinsve in Fjord

Best Supporting Actor

Steve Buscemi in Wild Horse Nine

Matt Dillon in I Play Rocky

Paul Giamatti in The Debut

Guy Pearce in Ink

Jeremy Strong in The Social Reckoning

Best Supporting Actress

Pamela Anderson in Place To Be

Anne Hathaway in The Odyssey

Samantha Morton in The Odyssey

Parker Posey in Wild Hose Nine

AnnaSophia Robb in I Play Rocky

Fjord Wins At Cannes

Posted on May 23, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, another Cannes Film Festival has come to a close. Here in America, coverage of this year’s festival felt considerably more low-key than previous festivals. In fact, the conventional wisdom — again, here in America — seems to be that this year’s festival was a disappointment. Personally, I think there’s just some hurt feelings that only two American films were selected to compete this year.

Neither Paper Tiger nor The Man I Love won anything. (Fear not, I’m sure that James Gray will be back with another drama about the Russian mafia next year.) Instead, the Palme d’Or went to Fjord, a film about a traditional Catholic family that finds itself being targeted by a group of progressives. The Guardian gave Fjord a negative review so I imagine it’s pretty good. I look forward to seeing it. It should be noted that, as of the last few years, winning the Palme d’Or has been a plus when it comes to a film’s Oscar chances. (Even the now universally-derided Emilia Perez starting things off by winning at Cannes.) We’ll see if the same holds true for Fjord.

Here are the winners from Cannes:

Palme d’Or: Fjord by Cristian Mungiu
Grand Prix: Minotaur by Andrey Zvyagintsev
Jury Prize: The Dreamed Adventure by Valeska Grisebach
Best Director:
Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo for The Black Ball
Paweł Pawlikowski for Fatherland
Best Actress: Virginie Efira and Tao Okamoto for All of a Sudden
Best Actor: Emmanuel Macchia and Valentin Campagne for Coward
Best Screenplay: Emmanuel Marre for A Man of His Time

Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard Prize: Everytime by Sandra Wollner
Jury Prize: Elephants in the Fog by Abinash Bikram Shah
Special Jury Prize: Iron Boy by Louis Clichy
Best Actress: Daniela Marín Navarro, Marina de Tavira and Mariangel Villegas for Forever Your Maternal Animal
Best Actor: Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset for Congo Boy

Caméra d’Or
Caméra d’Or: Ben’Imana by Marie Clémentine Dusabejambo

Short Films Competition
Short Film Palme d’Or: For the Opponents by Federico Luis

The Academy Has Changed The Rules

Posted on May 1, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Academy has announced their new rules for the 99th Oscars. There are a few important changes.

To me, the biggest one is that actors can now be nominated twice in the same category. In the past, a performer could only be nominated for one film per category. (Occasionally, you might have someone nominated for both the lead category and the supporting category and this led to more than few instances of category fraud, where a leading performance would suddenly be listed as a supporting performance so that someone could get two nominations.) On a practical level, this means that if Eric Roberts gives two great lead performances this year, he could end up competing against himself for Best Actor. Or, more realistically, he might take all five slots in the Best Supporting Actor category.

AI actors are not eligible to be nominated. So, Val Kilmer will not be eligible for As Deep As The Grave.

AI-written screenplays are always not eligible to be nominated and I’m sure this rule will not lead to any shadowy whisper campaigns once awards season begins. (Hopefully, the sarcasm was noted.)

Best International Feature will no longer be awarded to the winner’s country of origin. Instead, it will be awarded to the film’s director. As well, films that win awards at a select group of international film festivals will be eligible for consideration as well. I imagine this decision was made to get around the politics of the various submission committees. No longer will a Palme d’Or winner be ineligible just because it was made by someone on the outs with their country’s current government.

Here are all the rule changes:

AWARDS RULES AND CAMPAIGN PROMOTIONAL REGULATIONS
APPROVED FOR 99TH OSCARS®

Additional Submission Key Dates Announced

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy’s Board of Governors has approved awards rules, inclusion standards and campaign promotional regulations for the 99th Academy Awards®.

For Academy Awards consideration, a feature film must have a qualifying theatrical release between January 1, 2026, and December 31, 2026.

Substantive awards rules changes include:

In the Acting category, actors may be nominated for multiple performances in the same category if those performances place in the top five votes, which aligns with achievements in other award categories.
Additionally, in the Acting category, only roles credited in the film’s legal billing and demonstrably performed by humans with their consent will be considered eligible.

In the Casting category, the number of statuettes awarded will increase from a maximum of two to a maximum of three statuettes.

In the Cinematography category, the preliminary voting round will produce a shortlist of 20 films rather than 10-20.

In the International Feature Film category, there are now two ways to submit a film for consideration. In addition to a film being submitted as an official selection by a country or region via the Academy-approved Selection Committees, a non-English language film can now be submitted for consideration by winning a qualifying award at an international film festival as specified in the International Feature Film Award Qualifying Festival List. Qualifying festivals for the 99th Oscars® are the Berlin International Film Festival (Golden Bear for Best Film), Busan International Film Festival (Busan Award – Best Film Award), Cannes Film Festival (Palme d’Or), Sundance Film Festival (World Cinema Grand Jury Prize), Toronto International Film Festival (Platform Award) and Venice International Film Festival (Golden Lion).

Additionally, in the International Feature Film category, the film will be credited as the nominee rather than the country or region, and the award will be accepted by the director on behalf of the film’s creative team. The director’s name will be listed on the statuette plaque after the film title and, if applicable, the country or region.

In the Makeup and Hairstyling category, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch members must attend at least one of the two final branch meetings (roundtables) to be eligible to vote in the preliminary round.
In the Original Song category, the rules clarify a song’s eligibility when based on its placement in the end credits. For songs submitted as the first new music cue once the end credits begin, the video clip must include the last 15 seconds of the film before the credits begin.

In the Visual Effects category, all Academy members must view the three-minute Before and After reels from the Visual Effects Bake-Off to be eligible to vote in the final round.
In the Writing categories, the rules codify that screenplays must be human-authored to be eligible.

For Governors Awards recipients, a minimum of three disciplines must be represented in a given Awards year.

Under Eligibility (Rule Two) regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence, the Academy reserves the right to request more information about the nature of the use and human authorship.
Awards submission deadlines and additional key dates are as follows:

Thursday, August 13, 2026: First submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Feature Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories

Thursday, September 17, 2026: First submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture and Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form

Wednesday, September 30, 2026: Submission deadline for International Feature Film

Thursday, October 8, 2026: Final submission deadline for Animated Short Film, Documentary Short Film and Live Action Short Film categories

Wednesday, October 14, 2026: Submission deadline for Music (Original Song)

Thursday, October 15, 2026: Final submission deadline for Documentary Feature Film

Wednesday, November 4, 2026: Submission deadline for Music (Original Score)

Thursday, November 12, 2026: Final submission deadline for General Entry categories, Animated Feature Film, Best Picture and Representation and Inclusion Standards Entry (RAISE) form

January 8 – 10, 2027: Casting, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound and Visual Effects voting events (bake-offs)

Here’s The 2026 Cannes Lineup

Posted on April 9, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The lineup for this year’s Cannes film festival was announced earlier today. There’s only one American film in the official competition. We’re all rooting for you, Ira Sachs!

Here’s the line-up:

Opening film:
LA VÉNUS ÉLECTRIQUE
Pierre SALVADORI
(Out of Competition)

Competition:

AMARGA NAVIDAD Pedro ALMODÓVAR
PARALLEL TALES Asghar FARHADI
A WOMAN’S LIFE Charline BOURGEOIS-TACQUET
LA BOLA NEGRA Javier CALVO & Javier AMBROSSI
COWARD Lukas DHONT
DAS GETRÄUMTE ABENTEUER Valeska GRISEBACH
ALL OF SUDDEN HAMAGUCHI Ryusuke
THE UNKNOWN Arthur HARARI
ANOTHER DAY Jeanne HERRY
SHEEP IN THE BOX KORE-EDA Hirokazu
HOPE NA Hong-jin
NAGI NOTES FUKADA Koji
GENTLE MONSTER Marie KREUTZER
NOTRE SALUT Emmanuel MARRE
FJORD Cristian MUNGIU
THE BIRTHDAY PARTY Léa MYSIUS
MOULIN László NEMES
FATHERLAND Pawel PAWLIKOWSKI
THE MAN I LOVE Ira SACHS
EL SER QUERIDO (THE BELOVED) Rodrigo SOROGOYEN
MINOTAUR Andrey ZVYAGINTSEV

Un Certain Regard

TEENAGE SEX AND DEATH AT CAMP MIASMA Jane SCHOENBRUN
Opening Film

ELEPHANTS IN THE FOG Abinash
BIKRAM SHAH 1st film

IRON BOY Louis CLICHY

BEN’IMANA Marie-Clémentine DUSABEJAMBO
1st film

CONGO BOY Rafiki FARIALA

CLUB KID Jordan FIRSTMAN
1st film

UĻA Viesturs KAIRIŠS

LA MÁS DULCE (STRAWBERRIES) Laïla MARRAKCHI

EL DESHIELO (THE MELTDOWN) Manuela MARTELLI

SIEMPRE SOY TU ANIMAL MATERNO (FOREVER YOUR MATERNAL ANIMAL) Valentina MAUREL

YESTERDAY THE EYE DIDN’T SLEEP Rakan MAYASI

I’LL BE GONE IN JUNE Katharina RIVILIS
1st film

WORDS OF LOVE Rudi ROSENBERG

EVERYTIME Sandra WOLLNER

ALL THE LOVERS IN THE NIGHT SODE Yukiko

Out of Competition

LA BATAILLE DE GAULLE : L’ÂGE DE FER Antonin BAUDRY

KARMA Guillaume CANET

DIAMOND Andy GARCIA

L’ABANDON Vincent GARENQ

L’OBJET DU DÉLIT Agnès JAOUI

HER PRIVATE HELL Nicolas WINDING REFN

Midnight Screenings
FULL PHIL Quentin DUPIEUX

SANGUINE Marion LE CORROLLER
1st film

ROMA ELASTICA Bertrand MANDICO

JIM QUEEN Marco NGUYEN & Nicolas ATHANÉ
1st film

GUN-CHE (COLONY) YEON Sang-ho
Cannes Première

LA TROISIÈME NUIT Daniel AUTEUIL

THE MATCH Juan CABRAL & Santiago FRANCO

KOKUROJO (THE SAMURAI AND THE PRISONER) KUROSAWA Kiyoshi

HEIMSUCHUNG (VISITATION) Volker SCHLÖNDORFF

PROPELLER ONE-WAY NIGHT COACH John TRAVOLTA

Special Screenings

REHEARSALS FOR A REVOLUTION Pegah AHANGARANI
1st film

LES MATINS MERVEILLEUX Avril BESSON
1st film

L’AFFAIRE MARIE-CLAIRE Lauriane ESCAFFRE & Yvo MULLER

AVEDON Ron HOWARD

LES SURVIVANTS DU CHE Christophe Dimitri RÉVEILLE
1st film

JOHN LENNON : THE LAST INTERVIEW Steven SODERBERGH

CANTONA David TRYHORN & Ben NICHOLAS

A Quick Review Of The 98th Oscar Ceremony

Posted on March 16, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In a word: Boring.

It wasn’t quite as dull as the COVID Oscars. The 2021 ceremony set a standard for dullness that will probably never be matched. This year, the ceremony actually took place in a theater and it actually had a host who, for the most part, knew what he was doing. That’s not to say that Conan O’Brien was a particularly exciting host but at least the opening monologue went by quickly. When Jimmy Kimmel came out to present the Best Documentary Oscar, we were reminded of just what an improvement O’Brien was on previous hosts.

It’s funny when you think about it. We always bemoan stuff like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock or Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announcing that the wrong film had won Best Picture but the Oscar ceremony is pretty dull without any of that. Last night’s show ran relatively smoothly and only went over by a few minutes. It probably would have been livened up by a slap or two.

The acceptance speeches were okay. I prefer arrogant Paul Thomas Anderson to sincere Paul Thomas Anderson but at least he finally won the Oscars that he probably should have first won many years ago. Anderson is one of our best filmmakers so it’s unfortunate that he won for one of his least interesting films. But that’s the way it often goes with the Academy. Martin Scorsese didn’t win for Goodfellas or Raging Bull or even The Aviator. He won for The Departed.

What happened to all that Sinners momentum? Looking back, the majority of that momentum was a mirage of wishful thinking. A lot of people — myself included — wanted something unexpected to happen to liven up what had been a pretty boring Oscar season. In the end, Michael B. Jordan emerged as Best Actor, over the early favorites. The momentum was less for the film and more for the actor.

The In Memoriam segment was well-handled, though I would have liked to have seen Robert Duvall also get an individual segment. That said, I imagine that Duvall died after the segment had already been planned out. In the end, we all know what a great actor Robert Duvall was and that’s the important thing. Bud Cort, Joe Don Baker and Brigitte Bardot were left out of the In Memoriam montage. I can’t say why Cort and Baker were left out. Brigitte Bardot was undoubtedly left out because of her politics and shame on the Academy for that.

Sean Penn was not at the ceremony, so we were spared a Penn speech. Fortunately, for fans of wealthy celebrities bloviating about politics, Javier Bardem showed up wearing a big ugly button that looked like it was made by an 8 year-old.

There was a lot of talk about how AI will never replace real movies and it felt a bit desperate. I don’t want AI to replace real movies but, sad to say, I think we can all see where things are heading. Perhaps if the real movies were a little bit better, AI wouldn’t be such a threat.

I haven’t seen the ratings yet. Ten years ago, the Oscars dominated social media. This year, things felt much different.

Finally, my Oscar tweet received a review of their own last night.