10 Mar Final 2023 Oscar Predictions: Animated Feature, International Feature, Documentary Feature
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
This is one of those categories that you really can’t overthink. Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio has won every single major precursor in this category and will be winning this Oscar as well. It will be the third Oscar of his career. I feel like this year sneakily had one of the best animated feature slates of the last few years. ‘Pinocchio’, ‘Marcel’, and ‘Puss’ all are some of the top 15 films of the year and are all fantastic in their own right.
Nominees:
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – GG, BAFTA, PGA, Annie, CCA
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Annie (Indie)
Turning Red
The Sea Beast
Pick: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
This one seems pretty obvious. All Quiet on the Western Front is the only Best Picture nominee of the bunch and is a serious contender in multiple other categories as well; it has this in the bag.
Nominees:
All Quiet on the Western Front – BAFTA (Best Film as well)
Argentina, 1985 – GG
Close
The Quiet Girl
EO
Pick: All Quiet on the Western Front
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No winner in this category in the past seven years has won without a nomination at both BAFTA and DGA and a win in one of the genre documentary categories at the Critics Choice Awards, and the only nominees that fit that criteria is Navalny and Fire of Love. The Academy has also shown a bias against films composed mostly of archival material in this category which hurts Fire of Love and gives the edge to Navalny, which feels like exactly the type of political documentary the Academy likes to award here.
Nominees:
Navalny – PGA, BAFTA
Fire of Love – DGA, ACE
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
All That Breathes
The House Made of Splinters
Pick: Navalny