NYFA Community Among Shortlist for 93rd Academy Awards

February 10, 2021

After teasing the annual announcement of shortlists for this year’s upcoming Oscar nominations, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences finally announced nine categories of shortlists on Tuesday afternoon. Included among the list in the Documentary Feature category was All In: The Fight For Democracy from NYFA alum and producer Lisa Cortés; Boys State from Documentary Cinematography instructor Claudia Raschke; and Dick Johnson is Dead from Cinematographer instructor John Foster. 

The shortlists for the 93rd Academy Awards were announced for: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, International Feature Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Visual Effects.

NYFA alum Lisa Cortés

Cortés co-directed and produced the documentary All In: The Fight For Democracy, released September 18, 2020, on Amazon Prime. The film follows Georgia’s Stacey Abrams and the struggle against voter suppression. As of February 10, 2021, the film holds an approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and has been met with widespread critical claim with Kevin Crust from the Los Angeles Times writing “All In manages the triple-E feat of being entertaining, educational, and enlightening.” 

This past year, Cortés attended the NYFA’s Rock The Vote Rally rally in October, where she brought a special sneak preview of Janelle Monae’s end-credit song, “Turntable,” song written exclusively for the film. Cortés also spoke about how her NYFA Producing education proved to be valuable in pulling together a project like All In during such challenging times. 

Lisa Cortes, Lee Daniels, and Mo’Nique (Photo Credit: WireImage.com)

The producing alum has had an extensive career prior to her success with All In. Cortés co-produced NYFA guest speaker Nicole Kassell’s film The Woodsman, co-directed The Remix: Hip Hop X Fashion, produced The Apollo, and executive produced Academy Award-winning film Precious from Lee Daniels. 

 Documentary Cinematography instructor Claudia Raschke was an additional cinematographer on the set of the shortlist contender Boys State from A24. The film follows an unusual annual experiment in Texas that joins together a thousand 17-year-old boys from across the state to build a representative government from the ground up. The film won the U.S Documentary Competition Grand Jury at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and is currently available to stream on Apple TV+.

Shortlist contender Dick Johnson is Dead was worked on by Cinematographer instructor John Foster.  The documentary film directed by Kirsten Johnson focuses on Johnson’s father Richard, who suffers from dementia, portraying different ways—some of them violent “accidents”—in which he could ultimately die. The comedic and heartfelt film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Non-fiction Storytelling. 

New York Film Academy congratulates Lisa Cortés, Claudia Raschke, and John Foster for their films making the 2021 Oscars Shortlist for Best Documentary Feature and wishes all the projects that made this year’s Academy shortlist the best of luck when the full list of nominations are announced on March 15, 2021.

The full shortlists for each announced category can be found below:

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

“All In: The Fight for Democracy”
“Boys State”
“Collective”
“Crip Camp”
“Dick Johnson Is Dead”
“Gunda”
“MLK/FBI”
“The Mole Agent”
“My Octopus Teacher”
“Notturno”
“The Painter and the Thief”
“76 Days”
“Time”
“The Truffle Hunters”
“Welcome to Chechnya”

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

“Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa”
“Call Center Blues”
“Colette”
“A Concerto Is a Conversation”
“Do Not Split”
“Hunger Ward”
“Hysterical Girl”
“A Love Song for Latasha”
“The Speed Cubers”
“What Would Sophia Loren Do?”

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Quo Vadis, Aida?”
Chile, “The Mole Agent”
Czech Republic, “Charlatan”
Denmark, “Another Round”
France, “Two of Us”
Guatemala, “La Llorona”
Hong Kong, “Better Days”
Iran, “Sun Children”
Ivory Coast, “Night of the Kings”
Mexico, “I’m No Longer Here”
Norway, “Hope”
Romania, “Collective”
Russia, “Dear Comrades!”
Taiwan, “A Sun”
Tunisia, “The Man Who Sold His Skin”

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

“Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn”
“Emma”
“The Glorias”
“Hillbilly Elegy”
“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey”
“The Little Things”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“Mank”
“One Night in Miami…”
“Pinocchio”

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)

“Ammonite”
“Blizzard of Souls”
“Da 5 Bloods”
“The Invisible Man”
“Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey”
“The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”
“The Little Things”
“Mank”
“The Midnight Sky”
“Minari”
“Mulan”
“News of the World”
“Soul”
“Tenet”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)

“Turntables” from “All In: The Fight for Democracy”
“See What You’ve Done” from “Belly of the Beast”
“Wuhan Flu” from “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
“Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”
“Never Break” from “Giving Voice”
“Make It Work” from “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey”
“Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Io Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”
“Rain Song” from “Minari”
“Show Me Your Soul” from “Mr. Soul!”
“Loyal Brave True” from “Mulan”
“Free” from “The One and Only Ivan”
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami…”
“Green” from “Sound of Metal”
“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7”

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

“Burrow”
“Genius Loci”
“If Anything Happens I Love You”
“Kapaemahu”
“Opera”
“Out”
“The Snail and the Whale”
“To Gerard”
“Traces”
“Yes-People”

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

“Bittu”
“Da Yie”
“Feeling Through”
“The Human Voice”
“The Kicksled Choir”
“The Letter Room”
“The Present”
“Two Distant Strangers”
“The Van”
“White Eye”

VISUAL EFFECTS

“Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn”
“Bloodshot”
“Love and Monsters”
“Mank”
“The Midnight Sky”
“Mulan”
“The One and Only Ivan”
“Soul”
“Tenet”
“Welcome to Chechnya”