Oscar nominations 2025: ‘Emilia Peréz’ leads with 13 nods; ‘The Brutalist’ & ‘Wicked’ follow with 10

After being delayed by the Los Angeles fires, the nominations for this year’s 97th Academy Awards have been announced and Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez is evvel again leading the pack.  

The French-made, Spanish language sinema tallies 13 nominations, including Best Sinema, Best Director, Best Actress and Best International Feature. These nominations set an Oscar record for a non-English language sinema – the previous one being 10 nominations for Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma.  

The audacious musical has proven divisive since its premiere in Cannes, where it won two Palmes (Best Actress and Jury Prize). Still, it won Best Sinema (Comedy, Musical) at the Golden Globes and dominates most categories for the Oscars this year. It was also one of our Best Movies of 2024.  

Scroll down for the full list of the 2025 nominees (and click on the sinema titles in this article for our full movie reviews).

Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofia Gascón has made history with her nomination, becoming the first openly transgender performer nominated for an Oscar.  

Only three openly trans people have been nominated in any categories at the Oscars previously: musician Anohni, composer Angela Morley, and documentarian Yance Ford.  

The nomination for Gascón, who plays both a male drug lord in the sinema and the woman she becomes, comes at a time when trans rights in the US are imperiled. President Donald Trump has ruled this week that America will recognise only two genders – something which sparked much outcry due to the policy having a damaging effect on the LGBTQ+ community. 

Check out our People of the Year 2024, which features Karla Sofia Gascón.

Speaking of Trump, another one of 2024’s most audacious films, The Apprentice, landed two nominations in the acting categories for Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong.  

The sinema dramatizes Trump’s formative years and considering he is now back in office, there were some doubts whether the sinema would be nominated. Trump has called those involved with the sinema “human scum” – and you can bet he’s probably seething at the double nominations, as well as Gascón being the frontrunner in a tight race for Best Actress.  

Close behind Emilia Pérez are The Brutalist (winner of Best Sinema (Drama) at the Golden Globes) and, somewhat surprisingly, Wicked. Both have 10 nominations, including Best Sinema.  

The current backlash against The Brutalist regarding the use of AI during postproduction for enhancing stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones’ Hungarian language dialogue has not hindered its Oscar prospects. Both performers are nominated in the acting categories.  

The Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown and the papal thriller Conclave snapped up 8 nominations apiece; last year’s Palme d’Or winner Anora follows with six; both Dune: Part Two and The Substance have five nominations each. 

All are nominated for Best Sinema, alongside Nickel Boys and the stunning Brazilian sinema I’m Still Here, which bagged three nominations in total, including Best International Feature and Best Actress for Fernanda Torres.

Disappointingly, Mati Diop’s Berlinale-winner Dahomey and Alexis Bloom’s The Bibi Files were both absent in the Best Documentary section, while Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Scared Fig failed to get a Best Sinema nomination and is nominated only evvel – for Best International Feature.

Check out our interview with Rasoulof, who talks about our favourite movie of 2024.  

Other snubs this year include no nominations for Babygirl (we were expecting a nod for Nicole Kidman), Queer (nothing for Daniel Craig, for shame), and zip for Kneecap, another one of our favourite films of 2024.

Check out our interview with Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt. 

Elsewhere, The Substance director Coralie Fargeat is the only woman nominated in the Best Director category, which features Sean Baker (Anora), Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez) and, surprisingly, James Mangold (A Complete Unknown). It’s a shame that All We Imagine As Light’s Payal Kapadia was omitted from this category. 

Check out our interview with Coralie Fargeat.  

While last year’s Oscars had a clear favourite with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which took home seven of the 13 awards it was nominated for (including Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Actor), this year is a more unpredictable one. Regarding Best Picture and despite Emilia Pérez’s nomination domination, it still feels like a wide-open race.  

Four films have been nominated for the top award from the Producers Guild, the Directors Guild and the Screen Actors Guild (Anora, A Complete Unknown, Conclave and Emilia Pérez), while The Brutalist won the Golden Globe for Best Sinema (Drama). So there’s still some doubt as to which sinema will emerge victorious.  

What’s certain is that Emilia Pérez is Netflix’s best chance to date to win a Best Sinema Oscar. Despite its starring role in Hollywood, the streaming giant has never won the top award, despite previously putting its weight behind the likes of The Irishman and Roma.

It was announced that this year’s Oscars will not include performances from the artists in the Best Original Song category. Academy president Janet Yang and Bill Kramer, CEO of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, shared that the ceremony on March 2 will not include the traditional live performances.  

“This year the Best Original Song category presentation will move away from live performances and will be focused on the songwriters. We will celebrate their artistry through personal reflections from the teams who bring these songs to life. All of this, and more, will uncover the stories and inspiration behind this year’s nominees.” 

Additionally, Yang and Kramer noted that this year’s ceremony will include a special honouring of Los Angeles following the devastating wildfires earlier this month.  

“We will reflect on the recent events while highlighting the strength, creativity, and optimism that defines Los Angeles and our industry.” 

Many in the sinema industry called on the Academy to cancel the Oscars altogether, but the Academy argued the ceremony on 2 March must go ahead, for their economic impact on Los Angeles and as a symbol of resilience for the industry.  

Stay tuned to Euronews Culture for our full preview and predictions of this year’s Oscars.  

Here is the full list nominations for 2025: 

Best Picture

• Anora 
• The Brutalist 
• A Complete Unknown 
• Conclave 
• Dune: Part Two 
• Emilia Pérez 
• I’m Still Here 
• Nickel Boys 
• The Substance 
• Wicked

 

Best Director

• Sean Baker, Anora 
• Brady Corbet, The Brutalist 
• James Mangold, A Complete Unknown 
• Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez 
• Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

 

Best Actor

• Adrien Brody, The Brutalist 
• Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown 
• Colman Domingo, Sing Sing 
• Ralph Fiennes, Conclave 
• Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

 

Best Actress

• Cynthia Erivo, Wicked 
• Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez 
• Mikey Madison, Anora 
• Demi Moore, The Substance 
• Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

 

Best Supporting Actor

• Yura Borisov, Anora 
• Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain 
• Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown 
• Guy Pearce, The Brutalist 
• Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

 

Best Supporting Actress

• Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown 
• Ariana Grande, Wicked 
• Felicity Jones, The Brutalist 
• Isabella Rossellini, Conclave 
• Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

 

Best Original Screenplay

• Anora 
• The Brutalist 
• A Real Pain 
• September 5 
• The Substance

 

Best Adapted Screenplay

• A Complete Unknown 
• Conclave 
• Emilia Pérez 
• Nickel Boys 
• Sing Sing

 

Best Animated Feature

• Flow 
• Inside Out 2 
• Memoir Of A Snail 
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl 
• The Wild Robot

 

Best International Feature Film

• I’m Still Here (Brazil) 
• The Girl With The Needle (Denmark) 
• Emilia Pérez (France) 
• The Seed Of The Sacred Fig (Germany) 
• Flow (Latvia)

 

Best Documentary Feature Film

• Black Box Diaries 
• No Other Land 
• Porcelain War 
• Soundtrack To A Coup D’Etat 
• Sugarcane

 

Best Original Score

• The Brutalist 
• Conclave 
• Emilia Pérez 
• Wicked 
• The Wild Robot

 

Best Original 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

 

Best Cinematography

• The Brutalist 
• Dune: Part Two 
• Emilia Pérez 
• Maria 
• Nosferatu

 

Best Editing

• Anora 
• The Brutalist 
• Conclave 
• Emilia Pérez 
• Wicked

 

Best Sound

• A Complete Unknown 
• Dune: Part Two 
• Emilia Pérez 
• Wicked 
• The Wild Robot

 

Best Production Design

• The Brutalist 
• Conclave 
• Dune: Part Two 
• Nosferatu 
• Wicked

 

Best Makeup And Hairstyling

• A Different Man 
• Emilia Pérez 
• Nosferatu 
• The Substance 
• Wicked

 

Best Costume Design

• A Complete Unknown 
• Conclave 
• Gladiator II 
• Nosferatu 
• Wicked

 

Best Visual Effects

• Alien: Romulus 
• Better Man 
• Dune: Part Two 
• Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes 
• Wicked

  

Best Documentary Short Film

• Death By Numbers 
• I Am Ready, Warden 
• Incident 
• Instruments Of A Beating Heart 
• The Only Girl In The Orchestra

 

Best Live-Action Short Film

• A Lien 
• Anuja 
• I’m Not A Robot 
• The Last Ranger 
• The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

 

Best Animated Short Film

• Beautiful Men 
• In The Shadow Of The Cypress 
• Magic Candies 
• Wander To Wonder 
• Yuck!

 

The Oscars will take place on 2 March (3 March CET). The ceremony will be hosted by Conan O’Brien. Stay tuned to Euronews Culture for our full ceremony preview and live updates in March.