Contenders Film: The Nominees Kicks Off Today As Awards Season Hits High Gear

deadline.com:

The awards season is winding down, the nominations are out and the final stretch of the race that concludes at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with the 97th annual Oscars is on.

That means it’s time for Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees, our annual virtual nominees showcase that kicks off this morning at 9 a.m.

PT. In a season in which the Los Angeles wildfires tragedy have also affected the race — postponing some precursor ceremonies, delaying Oscar voting and the nominations announcement and putting into question whether the large number of voters in the area have had time to even see the movies, much less vote — Contenders offers one-stop shopping for a cross-section of nominated movies and designed to get voters more engaged and excited, and maybe even to catch up in this troubled season.

Although Emilia Pérez led the Oscar nominations with a near-record 13, recent unearthing of past social media posts by its Best Actress-nominated star Karla Sofía Gascón, the first-ever trans acting nominee at the Oscars, has made a hard-to-call race even harder to call, and has by extension made a one of the most wide-open races in years even tighter.