The nominations for the 2016 Academy Awards were announced Thursday morning, and of the eight films nominated for best picture, three cover a range of politically charged topics.
In 2015, Hollywood tackled hot-button issues like the housing bubble burst, U.S.-Russia relations and corruption in the Catholic Church in “The Big Short,” “Bridge of Spies” and “Spotlight,” respectively.
“The Big Short” is directed by Adam McKay based on the book of the same name by Michael Lewis. It follows two hedge fund managers, a trader and a retired banker as they take advantage of the 2007-2008 housing crisis for personal profit.
Christian Bale, who plays hedge fund manager and Scion Capital LLC founder Michael Burry, was nominated for best supporting actor. McKay was nominated for best director, and the film also picked up nominations for best adapted screenplay and film editing.
“Bridge of Spies” is directed by Steven Spielberg and recounts the true story of how American lawyer James B. Donovan helped negotiate with the Soviets during the Cold War to trade captured KGB spy Rudolf Abel for U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers, whose plane had been shot down over the Soviet Union.
The film came out during a time when relations between the U.S. and Russia were being tested once again over Russia’s intervention in the Middle East, particularly Syria.
In addition to best picture, the film picked up a supporting actor nomination for Mark Rylance’s portrayal of Abel and nominations for musical score, original screenplay, sound mixing and production design.
“Spotlight” is directed by Tom McCarthy and takes place in Boston during the late 1990s to early 2000s. It tells the true story of how four Boston Globe reporters (the “spotlight” team) slowly uncovered a Catholic Church conspiracy to cover up charges of priests molesting children that went all the way to the Vatican and affected parishes all over the world.
McCarthy picked up a best director nomination, and two of his actors — Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams, who played spotlight reporters Michael Rezendes and Sasha Pfeiffer — are up for supporting actor and actress. The film has also been honored in the film editing and original screenplay categories.
The other five films to be nominated for Best Picture were “The Martian,” “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “Brooklyn,” “Room” and “The Revenant.”
The full list of 2016 Oscar nominations is available at the Oscars website.
