Oscars 2020: What you should know

The Academy Awards ceremony airs today, Feb, 9. It is the night when the global audience, including Tanzania, gravitates to Hollywood to witness another historic moment in cinema.

For those keen on what will unfold, here’s what you might want to know about the Oscars ahead of Sunday’s ceremony.

Who is hosting the show this year?

Nobody. When the Academy Awards went hostless after the Kevin Hart debacle last year, ratings actually improved — not that the bar was high, of course, as 2018′s nearly four-hour ceremony turned out to be the least-watched telecast in Oscars history. The boost in viewership could have been due to curiosity piqued by Hart’s ousting — the result of widespread criticism over tweets seen as homophobic — or maybe because 2019′s films had a slightly higher profile. Either way, forgoing a host didn’t work for ABC and the academy. So they’re doing it again.

How were all these nominees chosen? What about the winners?

While presenting this year’s Oscar nominees, actors John Cho and Issa Rae made a point of clarifying that the names were selected by members of each respective academy branch. Cinematographers vote for best cinematography nominees, directors for best director, etc. But everyone can vote for best picture.

When it comes time to select the Oscar winners, those restrictions are lifted. All academy members can vote on all categories, meaning cinematographers can now weigh in on directing, and vice versa. (Voters can abstain from certain categories if they haven’t seen the nominated projects, of course.)

Hollywood diversity progress

According to AFP, women and minorities made major gains in Hollywood acting roles last year, but key behind-the-scenes jobs such as directing remain shockingly low for diversity, a study found Thursday.

The annual report was published three days before the Oscars, which have been slammed for overlooking minorities -- Cynthia Erivo is the sole non-white acting nominee.

The 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report reveals progress in the broader movie industry beyond award shows.

Women and minorities “are within striking distance of proportionate representation when it comes to lead roles and total cast,” said co-author Darnell Hunt, of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) social sciences division. Women had 44.1 per cent of lead acting roles in blockbusters last year.

People of color -- slightly more than 40 per cent of the US population, including black, latino and Asian people -- had 27.6 per cent of leading roles. But statistics on the dearth of diversity in directing, editing and executive jobs show “a very different story,” suggesting Hollywood’s progress is limited to on-camera roles.

Which movie will win best-picture?

Arguably one of the most important categories at every Academy award ceremony is that of ‘Best-picture’. These are the best contenders for this top honour:

“Joker”

“Joker” features several elements that are appealing to academy voters. For one, Joaquin Phoenix underwent a staggering physical transformation — including marked weight loss — that the actor later said helped him channel Fleck’s descent into psychological madness. And because academy voters have been historically averse to standard comic-book fare, there’s something to be said for the film’s function as a Joker origin story that gives occasional nods to the villain’s comic-book roots without being beholden to them.

“1917”

Let’s set aside the fact that this is a prestige war movie, something of a nectar for academy voters. The movie is shot to look as though it’s happening in real-time, which required the entire film to be painstakingly outlined beforehand.

Mendes and his team set up camp in an enormous field and mapped out the entire film, plunking down different coloured flags to show where this actor or that camera should be when shooting commenced. The dialogue was precisely timed; the sets built with a set of strict guidelines in place. The movie is a true technical feat.