Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Amid the most open — and sometimes unlikely — Oscar race in several years, controversial musical Emilia Pérez emerged as frontrunner after the 2025 Academy Award nominations were announced today. Backed by Netflix and directed by Jacques Audiard, the film received 13 nominations, including one for the blue-ribbon Best Picture prize. The nomination ceremony had been delayed by the Los Angeles wildfires, giving the event an unusually sombre framing. Unusual too was the number and variety of realistic contenders, highlighted by the contrast between the two most successful films behind Emilia Pérez. Each receiving 10 nominations were Wicked, rollicking Broadway adaptation, and The Brutalist, a stark three-and-a-half-hour portrait of a Hungarian-Jewish émigré architect in postwar America. They too are both Best Picture nominees.But the morning in LA belonged to Emilia Pérez, the divisive Spanish-language tale of a Mexican cartel boss who transitions into a woman — told in song. The film has been accused of cultural insensitivity in Mexico, and faced criticism from the LGBT+ community. Audiard has apologised to those “shocked” by his film. But Oscar voters may now hand it prizes including Best Director, Best Actress for Karla Sofía Gascón and Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña.And yet perhaps a still bolder choice came with the two nominations for The Apprentice. The film is an often blunt account of the 1970s and 1980s rise of Donald Trump, in which the US president is portrayed raping his then-wife Ivana Trump. The Academy responded with a Best Actor nod for Sebastian Stan, who plays Trump, while Jeremy Strong, cast as infamous lawyer Roy Cohn, is up for Best Supporting Actor. Stan’s Best Actor rivals will include Adrien Brody, star of The Brutalist. That film was long seen as favourite for Best Picture, for which it has been nominated alongside director Brady Corbet. But it too has recently been dogged by arguments over its use of AI in production, still a source of discord in the film industry.Controversy aside, the likely winners at the March 2 award ceremony also seem notably hard to predict. Other multiple nominees are true surprise packages. Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, a satirical body horror about ageing and sexism in Hollywood, was hailed by fans as an instant cult classic on release. Even admirers, though, did not predict it would now be up for awards including Best Picture and Best Director, with star Demi Moore among the clearest favourites in any category to win Best Actress.Other nominees for that award include Gascón, Fernanda Torres, star of Brazilian political drama I’m Still Here, Mikey Madison, breakout lead of Anora, and Cynthia Erivo for Wicked, whose Ariana Grande is also up for Best Supporting Actress.If the success of Wicked speaks to the endurance of fairy tales, Madison and her anti-Cinderella story Anora were also nominated across categories including Best Picture, Best Director for Sean Baker, and Best Supporting Actor for Yuri Burisov. A major box office hit, Wicked is still only the second most successful commercial performer among Best Picture nominees: Dune: Part Two pips it there. The star of that film, Timothée Chalamet, is another Best Actor contender, but for his performance as the young Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown, also shortlisted for Best Picture and Best Director. Other Best Actor nominees are Colman Domingo for Sing Sing and Ralph Fiennes for Conclave. For Netflix, which spent much of the 2010s fruitlessly chasing Oscars, success now for Emilia Pérez will feel sweet indeed. And while traditional Hollywood still has its contenders, there will also be smiles at New York studio A24, backer of The Brutalist, and fast-rising independent Mubi, which released The Substance in the US and UK. Still, on a day when long shots took centre stage, the most unusual Oscar nomination of all may have come in the category reserved for true stories. One of the Academy’s most prestigious awards could now go to a film almost literally from outside the system — No Other Land, about the destruction of Palestinian villages in the West Bank, is up for Best Documentary despite no US distributor having chosen to release it. The Oscars ceremony will air on ITV/ITVX in the UK and ABC and Hulu in the US, oscars.orgFull list of nominees:Best PictureAnoraThe BrutalistA Complete UnknownConclaveDune: Part TwoEmilia PérezI’m Still HereNickel BoysThe SubstanceWickedDirectorJacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)Sean Baker (Anora)Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)James Mangold (A Complete Unknown)ActorAdrien Brody (The Brutalist)Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)ActressCynthia Erivo (Wicked)Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez)Mikey Madison (Anora)Demi Moore (The Substance)Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here)Supporting ActorYura Borisov (Anora)Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)Supporting ActressMonica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown)Ariana Grande (Wicked)Felicity Jones (The Brutalist)Isabella Rossellini (Conclave)Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)International Feature FilmEmilia Pérez (France)Flow (Latvia)The Girl with the Needle (Denmark)I’m Still Here (Brazil)The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany)Documentary Feature FilmBlack Box DiariesNo Other LandPorcelain WarSoundtrack to a Coup d’EtatSugarcaneAnimated Feature FilmFlowInside Out 2Memoir of a SnailWallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most FowlThe Wild RobotOriginal ScreenplayAnoraThe BrutalistA Real PainSeptember 5The SubstanceAdapted ScreenplayA Complete UnknownConclaveEmilia PérezNickel BoysSing SingCinematographyThe BrutalistDune: Part TwoEmilia PérezMariaNosferatuEditingAnoraThe BrutalistConclaveEmilia PérezWickedProduction DesignThe BrutalistConclaveDune: Part TwoNosferatuWickedCostume DesignA Complete UnknownConclaveGladiator IINosferatuWickedMake-up and HairstylingA Different ManEmilia PérezNosferatuThe SubstanceWickedOriginal ScoreThe BrutalistConclaveEmilia PérezWickedThe Wild RobotOriginal Song“El Mal” (Emilia Pérez)“The Journey” (The Six Triple Eight)“Like a Bird” (Sing Sing)“Mi Camino” (Emilia Pérez)“Never Too Late” (Elton John: Never Too Late)SoundA Complete UnknownDune: Part TwoEmilia PérezWickedThe Wild RobotVisual EffectsAlien: RomulusBetter ManDune: Part TwoKingdom of the Planet of the ApesWickedLive Action Short FilmA LienAnujaI’m Not a RobotThe Last RangerThe Man Who Could Not Remain SilentDocumentary Short FilmDeath by NumbersI Am Ready, WardenIncidentInstruments of a Beating HeartThe Only Girl in the OrchestraAnimated Short FilmBeautiful MenIn the Shadow of the CypressMagic CandiesWander to WonderYuck!
