Image by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images

By Talya Zax January 24, 2017

Nominees for the 2017 Academy Awards, announced this morning, include Natalie Portman and Andrew Garfield. Portman was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her take on the title role in “Jackie,” and Garfield was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in Mel Gibson’s “Hacksaw Ridge.”

Gibson was nominated for Best Director, his first individual nomination since he delivered an anti-Semitic rant while being arrested for driving under the influence in 2006.

“Joe’s Violin,” the tale of a Holocaust survivor’s prized instrument’s journey, was nominated for Best Documentary Short Subject; The Forward’s Thea Glassman spoke to the titular Joe in 2015.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

“Life, Animated,” which follows the family of journalist Ron Suskind as they deal with a son’s autism, was nominated for Best Documentary Feature. Curt Schleier, reviewing the film, remarked “There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.”

“La La Land” led the field with 14 nominations, the same record number accrued by “Titanic” and “All About Eve.” The film’s director, Damien Chazelle — also given a nod for Best Director — grew up Catholic, but, as the Jewish Journal reported, spent years in Hebrew school. The film’s score by composer Justin Hurwitz was also nominated; two of its songs, with music by Hurwitz and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, were nominated for Best Original Song.

The Oscars will be broadcast on February 26. A full list of nominees is available here.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount