Why the Academy Awards Matter for Original Movies
Amidst the debate over radical shifts in digital media, one principal benefit is that the history of cinema, past and present, is more tangible than ever. Films made worldwide and across the spectrum of genres, especially new releases, can be discovered at a whim. New, non-blockbuster films may not always be marketed the most efficiently, but even if many of them fail at the box office (undeserved for many great films such as The Green Knight and The Fabelmans), critics, film fans, and awards institutions can almost always be counted on.
While I was critical of pre-ceremony decisions made before the 94th Academy Awards, the 95th Academy Awards fared better with a deftly presented, heartfelt ceremony that made leaps and bounds for representation and enriched us with why the best films of 2022 deserve all their accolades.
Three of the five nominees for Best Original Screenplay are American productions: Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, and Tár. Despite the miraculous box office success of the Daniels’ underdog sophomore hit, The Fabelmans and Tár didn’t fare as well with audiences. Five nominees can only scratch the surface of original films that are released every year by American and European studios, but their nominees and the category make all the difference for 82 years worth of original filmmaking (the category’s first award went to The Great McGinty in 1941).
Despite the harmful notion that “Hollywood doesn’t have original ideas anymore,” the truth is that original Hollywood films have been in front of us for years including this current decade. Institutions such as the Academy Awards, Writers Guild of America, and the Hollywood Critics Association dedicate categories every year to honoring original screenplays.
Despite the harmful notion that “Hollywood doesn’t have original ideas anymore,” the truth is that original Hollywood films have been in front of us for years, including this current decade. Institutions such as the Academy Awards, Writers Guild of America, and the Hollywood Critics Association have yearly categories dedicated to original screenplays.
Over the past decade since 2013, eight of the ten recipients of Best Original Screenplay by the Academy Awards are American releases: Her, Birdman, Spotlight, Manchester by the Sea, Get Out, Green Book, Promising Young Woman, and Everything Everywhere All At Once. In the same time span, five original films from the American film industry have won Best Picture: Birdman, Spotlight, The Shape of Water, Green Book, and Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Despite past problematic practices of the Academy Awards and the ongoing mission to improve diversity within the academy and for films they nominate and award, they have made considerable strides with representation and platforming originality across cinema.
As an independent filmmaker and aspiring film critic, I encourage viewers to seek out original films in theaters and streaming services and read up on the history of original screenplays. As a bonus, this month of June alone has five original films Past Lives, Elemental, Asteroid City, and No Hard Feelings. (The Blackening, based on a short film, is also astounding.)
