A glass of water, a Valium and bed: How one Australian Oscar nominee celebrated
There was none of the boringly conventional unrestrained joy when Australian director Adam Elliot learnt he had been nominated for an Academy Award for Memoir of a Snail. Instead of cracking open a bottle of champagne or throwing himself in the pool, he greeted the early-morning announcement with “a glass of water and a Valium”. Then he went to bed.
Celebrated his Oscar nomination with a glass of water and a Valium: Adam Elliot.Credit: Simon Schluter
After six weeks promoting the film in Europe, Elliot had just arrived home, exhausted from a flight, when he watched the announcement on YouTube in his pyjamas, with his partner and their dog. “My brain collapsed,” he said. “I think I’ve only had five hours’ sleep in the last 48 hours. It was all very unglamorous.”
The Melbourne animator and his Memoir of a Snail producer Liz Kearney will be joined at the Oscars by fellow Australians Guy Pearce, who is nominated for best supporting actor for historic drama The Brutalist, Greig Fraser, who is up for best cinematography for the sci-fi epic Dune: Part Two, and Maya Gnyp, who produced director Smriti Mundhra’s documentary short film I Am Ready, Warden.
Nominated: Demi Moore in The Substance.Credit: Mubi via AP
The visual effects team for the Robbie Williams Australian biopic Better Man is also in the running at the 97th Academy Awards in March.
While there had been hopes for Nicole Kidman’s gutsy performance in Babygirl earlier in Hollywood’s awards season, both she and Angelina Jolie (Maria) were squeezed out by a strong field of best-actress nominees: Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Karla Sofia Gascon (Emilia Perez), Mikey Madison (Anora), Demi Moore (The Substance) and Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here).
The inventive musical Emilia Perez led the nominations with 13, followed by hit musical Wicked and The Brutalist with 10 each. Papal thriller Conclave and Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown both had eight nominations.
They are joined in the best-picture field by Dune: Part Two, wild Russian mobster sex drama Anora, Brazilian political drama I’m Still Here, body-horror film The Substance and a historical drama little-known in Australia so far, Nickel Boys, about two African-American boys who are sent to an abusive reform school.
While American politics swung firmly towards conservatism with the election of Donald Trump, the nominations show that Hollywood is holding out. While Wicked is conventional for a contemporary musical, the leading contenders for best picture, film’s biggest prize, are defiantly liberal stories centring on diverse characters.
