Neill Blomkamp’s District 9, which was nominated for four Academy Awards on Tuesday, will be competing against nine other films in an extended best picture category at this year’s Oscars ceremony on March 7. Hollywood’s best film of 2009/2010 could be a low-budget South African sci-fi thriller. by Estelle Sinkins
The film’s rivals are Avatar, The Blind Side, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, A Serious Man, Up and Up in The Air.
Blomkamp and his writing partner, Terri Tatchell, will also be hoping for success in the best adapted screenplay category where they will be up against An Education, In the Loop, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and Up in the Air.
The film’s other two nominations were for visual effects and film editing.
District 9, a gritty, low-budget thriller, tells the story of an extraterrestrial race who are forced to live in slum-like conditions in Johannesburg after their ship stalled over the city 20 years earlier, marooning them on Earth.
Category
Things get nasty when the state decides to forcibly move them, and, to make things even more complicated, the agent sent to oversee the task is exposed to alien biotechnology and finds himself the target of his bosses.
Made for a modest (by Hollywood standards) $30m, District 9 took $37m in its opening weekend in the US and received rave reviews from critics.
Another film with a South African connection, Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, received two nominations. Morgan Freeman, who played Nelson Mandela in the film about the Springboks winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup, will be competing in the best actor category against Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).
His co-star, Matt Damon, will contest the best supporting actor category against Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Christopher Plummer (The Last Station), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds).
Streep
The best director category will be contested by Katheryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), James Cameron (Avatar), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Lee Daniels (Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire) and Jason Reitman for Up in the Air.
Contesting the best actress category are Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia).
And, in the best supporting actress category the contenders are Penélope Cruz (Nine), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) and Mo’Nique (Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire).
Nominees for the best animated feature film are Coraline, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Princess and the Frog, The Secret of Kells and Up.
