Fil-Am cinematographer receives Oscar nomination for ‘Maestro’

Filipino American cinematographer Matthew Libatique has received an Oscar nomination for his work on “Maestro.” Image: team.deakins/IG

BEVERLY HILLS – Filipino American cinematographer Matthew Libatique has received an Oscar nomination for his work on “Maestro,” starring Bradley Cooper.

“Maestro” is Libatique’s third Oscar-nominated film. He also received Academy Award for Best Cinematography nominations for his work on “A Star Is Born,” his first project with Cooper, in 2018 and “Black Swan” in 2010, for which he won his second Independent Spirit award.

He has also won best cinematography awards from the LA Film Critics Association, NY Film Critics Online and SF Film Critics.

Libatique’s notable films include blockbusters such as “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2.”  He is also known for his collaborations with director Darren Aronofsky on the films “Pi” (1998), “Requiem for a Dream” (2000), “The Fountain” (2006), “Black Swan” (2010), “Noah” (2014) and “Mother!” (2017).

Libatique was born in Elmhurst, Queens, New York City,  to Filipino immigrant parents Georgina and Justiniáno Libatique. His father was from Dagupan, and his mother was from Lucena.

Libatique studied sociology and communications at California State University, Fullerton, before earning an MFA in cinematography at AFI Conservatory.

`Oppenheimer’ leads the way

“Oppenheimer” continued its roll through the Hollywood awards season today, snagging a leading 13 Academy Award nominations, including for best picture, best actor, best director and best supporting actor and actress – while “Poor Things” was next with 11 nods, followed by “Killers of the Flower Moon” with 10 and “Barbie” with eight.

Joining “Oppenheimer” in the best picture category were “American Fiction”; “Anatomy of a Fall”; “Barbie”; “The Holdovers”; “Killers of the Flower Moon”; “Maestro”; “Past Lives”; “Poor Things” and “The Zone of Interest.”

Best picture is the only one of the academy’s 23 categories with 10 nominees. All the others have five apiece.

“Maestro” is Matthew Libatique’s third Oscar-nominated film. He also received Academy Award for Best Cinematography nominations for his work on “A Star Is Born,” his first project with Bradley Cooper, in 2018 and “Black Swan” in 2010, for which he won his second Independent Spirit award. Image: American_cinematographer/IG

Cillian Murphy captured a best actor nomination for “Oppenheimer” — the story of atomic bomb mastermind J. Robert Oppenheimer – and was joined in that category by Bradley Cooper in “Maestro”; Colman Domingo in “Rustin”; Paul Giamatti in “The Holdovers” and Jeffrey Wright in “American Fiction.”

Nominees for best actress were Annette Bening in “Nyad”; Lily Gladstone in “Killers of the Flower Moon”; Sandra Huller in “Anatomy of a Fall”; Carey Mulligan in “Maestro”; and Emma Stone in “Poor Things.”

“Oppenheimer” director  Christopher Nolan took a nod in that category, joining Justine Triet for “Anatomy of a Fall”; Martin Scorsese for “Killers of the Flower Moon”;  Yorgos Lanthimos for “Poor Things” and Jonathan Glazer for “The Zone of Interest.”

Scorsese’s nomination was the 10th of his career, moving him past Steven Spielberg for most by a living director. (The late William Wyler had 12 nods, including three wins.) “Killers” also made history Tuesday as Gladstone became the first Native American to capture a nomination in an acting category.

“Oppenheimer” co-stars Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt captured nominations for best supporting actor and actress.

Matthew Libatique was born in Elmhurst, Queens, New York City to Filipino immigrant parents Georgina and Justiniáno Libatique. In photo: Libatique (left) with Ruben Nepales, former chair of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Image: rubenvnepales/IG

In the best supporting actor category, Downey was joined by Sterling K. Brown in “American Fiction”;  Robert De Niro in “Killers of the Flower Moon”; Ryan Gosling in “Barbie” and Mark Ruffalo in “Poor Things.”

Joining Blunt in the best supporting actress competition were Danielle Brooks in “The Color Purple”; America Ferrera in “Barbie”; Jodie Foster in “Nyad” and Da’vine Joy Randolph in “The Holdovers.”

“Barbie” director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie were two of the most noteworthy snubs of Tuesday morning’s announcements, failing to capture nods for best director and best actress, respectively – though Gerwig did take a nomination for best adapted screenplay along with her co-writer, Noah Baumbach.

Leonardo DiCaprio also missed out on a best actor nod for “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

Besides its five nominations for picture, actor, director and supporting actor and actress, “Oppenheimer” drew nods for cinematography, costume design, film editing, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design, sound and adapted screenplay.

In addition to its best picture, best actress and directing nominations, the Frankenstein-like tale “Poor Things” will compete for best supporting actor (Mark Ruffalo), cinematography, costume design, film editing, makeup and hairstyling, original score, production design and adapted screenplay “Killers of the Flower Moon” also garnered nominations for cinematography, costume design, film editing, original score, original song and production design.

Besides best picture, the acting nominations for Gosling and Ferrera and the adapted screenplay nod for Gerwig, “Barbie,” drew recognition for costume design, original song, and production design.

Giamatti has already collected Golden Globe and Critics Choice awards for his leading-actor work in “The Holdovers.”  Stone won the Golden Globe for best actress in a musical/comedy for her work, along with the Critics Choice prize for best actress. Gladstone won the Globe for best actress in a drama film.

The announcements were made by actors Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The 96th Oscars will be presented March 10 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood in a ceremony hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

Here is a complete list of the nominees:

Best picture

“American Fiction”
“Anatomy of a Fall”
“Barbie”
“The Holdovers”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Maestro”
“Oppenheimer”
“Past Lives”
“Poor Things”
“The Zone of Interest”

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Bradley Cooper in “Maestro”
Colman Domingo in “Rustin”
Paul Giamatti in “The Holdovers”
Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer”
Jeffrey Wright in “American Fiction”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Sterling K. Brown in “American Fiction”
Robert De Niro in “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Robert Downey Jr. in “Oppenheimer”
Ryan Gosling in “Barbie”
Mark Ruffalo in “Poor Things”

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Annette Bening in “Nyad”
Lily Gladstone in “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Sandra Hüller in “Anatomy of a Fall”
Carey Mulligan in “Maestro”
Emma Stone in “Poor Things”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Emily Blunt in “Oppenheimer”
Danielle Brooks in “The Color Purple”
America Ferrera in “Barbie”
Jodie Foster in “Nyad”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph in “The Holdovers”

Best animated feature film of the year

“The Boy and the Heron” / Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
“Elemental” / Peter Sohn and Denise Ream
“Nimona” / Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary
“Robot Dreams” / Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” / Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal

Achievement in cinematography

“El Conde” / Edward Lachman
“Killers of the Flower Moon” / Rodrigo Prieto
“Maestro” / Matthew Libatique
“Oppenheimer” / Hoyte van Hoytema
“Poor Things” / Robbie Ryan

Achievement in costume design

“Barbie” / Jacqueline Durran
“Killers of the Flower Moon” / Jacqueline West
“Napoleon” / Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
“Oppenheimer” / Ellen Mirojnick
“Poor Things” / Holly Waddington

Achievement in directing

“Anatomy of a Fall” / Justine Triet
“Killers of the Flower Moon” / Martin Scorsese
“Oppenheimer” / Christopher Nolan
“Poor Things” / Yorgos Lanthimos
“The Zone of Interest” / Jonathan Glazer

Best documentary feature film

“Bobi Wine: The People’s President” / Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp
and John Battsek
“The Eternal Memory” / Nominees to be determined
“Four Daughters” / Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha
“To Kill a Tiger” / Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim
“20 Days in Mariupol” / Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney
Aronson-Rath

Best documentary short film

“The ABCs of Book Banning” / Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic
“The Barber of Little Rock” / John Hoffman and Christine Turner
“Island in Between” / S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien
“The Last Repair Shop” / Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
“Nai Nai & Wai Pó” / Sean Wang and Sam Davis

Achievement in film editing

“Anatomy of a Fall” / Laurent Sénéchal
“The Holdovers” / Kevin Tent
“Killers of the Flower Moon” / Thelma Schoonmaker
“Oppenheimer” / Jennifer Lame
“Poor Things” / Yorgos Mavropsaridis

Best international feature film

“Io Capitano” / Italy
“Perfect Days” / Japan
“Society of the Snow” / Spain
“The Teachers’ Lounge” / Germany
“The Zone of Interest” / United Kingdom

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

“Golda” / Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue
“Maestro” / Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell
“Oppenheimer” / Luisa Abel
“Poor Things” / Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
“Society of the Snow” / Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“American Fiction” / Laura Karpman
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” / John Williams
“Killers of the Flower Moon” / Robbie Robertson
“Oppenheimer” / Ludwig Goransson
“Poor Things” / Jerskin Fendrix

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot” / Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie” / Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
“It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony” / Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon” / Music and Lyric by Scott George
“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”/ Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell

Achievement in production design

“Barbie” / Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“Killers of the Flower Moon” / Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
“Napoleon” / Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Elli Griff
“Oppenheimer” / Production Design: Ruth De Jong; Set Decoration: Claire Kaufman
“Poor Things” / Production Design: James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek

Best animated short film

“Letter to a Pig” / Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter
“Ninety-Five Senses” / Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess
“Our Uniform” / Yegane Moghaddam
“Pachyderme” / Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius
“WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko” / Dave Mullins and Brad Booker

Best live action short film

“The After” / Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham
“Invincible” / Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron
“Knight of Fortune” / Lasse Lyskj*r Noer and Christian Norlyk
“Red, White and Blue” / Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane
“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” / Wes Anderson and Steven Rales

Achievement in sound

“The Creator” / Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
“Maestro” / Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” / Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
“Oppenheimer” / Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O’Connell
“The Zone of Interest” / Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn

Achievement in visual effects

“The Creator” / Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould
“Godzilla Minus One” / Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3″ / Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek
“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” / Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould
“Napoleon” / Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould

Adapted screenplay

“American Fiction” / Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson
“Barbie” / Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
“Oppenheimer” / Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan
“Poor Things” / Screenplay by Tony McNamara
“The Zone of Interest” / Written by Jonathan Glazer

Original screenplay

“Anatomy of a Fall” / Screenplay – Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
“The Holdovers” / Written by David Hemingson
“Maestro” / Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer
“May December” / Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik
“Past Lives” / Written by Celine Song

(With CNS report)