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Ten Oscar nominations for ‘Mank’, Belgian short film not selected

David Fincher’s black and white film ‘Mank’ leads the Oscardans with ten nominations. The young Antwerp director Anthony Nti has not been selected with his short film ‘Da Yie’.

The non-selection of ‘Da Yie’ is a surprise. The short film about two children who are taken in tow by a stranger in Ghana has won numerous awards over the past two years. The prize battle of Anthony Nti, a Ghanaian who has lived in Belgium since he was ten, started at the Leuven Short Film Festival and culminated with the election as best film in Clermont-Ferrand, at the most important and largest short film festival in the world. A consolation for the 28-year-old Antwerp director: the Spanish grandmaster Pedro Almodóvar also grabbed a nomination for his short film ‘The Human Voice’.

David Fincher’s Netflix film ‘Mank’ has garnered the most nominations: ten versus six at the Golden Globes, where ‘Mank’ was left empty-handed. ‘Mank’ is the story of the colorful New York writer Herman Mankiewicz and his adventures in Hollywood in the 1930s and 40s. During that period he wrote the screenplay of ‘Citizen Kane’, one of the greatest films of all time. Leading actor Gary Oldman has been selected in the best actor category.

In the Best Picture category, ‘Mank’ competes against seven other titles, including ‘Nomadland’, ‘The Father’, ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ and ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’. Those films also receive five other nominations each.

Belgians abroad

The best foreign film category will be given a Belgian touch. Actor Johan Heldenbergh plays a supporting role in ‘Quo vadis, Aida’, a Hungarian film about the Fall of Srebrenica and the subsequent genocide committed by Bosnian Serb troops. It took the lives of more than 7,000 Muslim boys and men.

The trailer of ‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’: with Monica Bellucci (right) in addition to Koen De Bouw.

Koen De Bouw plays one of the leading roles in the Tunisian film ‘The Man Who Sold His Skin’. Monica Bellucci can also be seen in the film. In the drama, a young Syrian flees to Lebanon. In order to travel to Europe and be with the love of his life, he accepts to have his back tattooed by one of the most talked about contemporary artists in the world, played by De Bouw.

The film is inspired by an artwork by Wim Delvoye, who has a small role. Delvoye once exhibited a tattooed man who was sold as a work of art. Some scenes were also shot at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium when Delvoye had a retrospective there in 2019.

The 93rd ceremony of the Oscars will take place on April 25. The organizers hope to be able to do that partly live at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.

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