Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.

Photo by Jeff Harris.

Yes, it’s Oscar time again, albeit a few months late, and selected from a much smaller pool since most movie theatres have been closed for a year now, and distributors are sitting on their big-ticket blockbusters.

But hey, however you slice it, it’s still the Oscars. What are the biggest changes this year? Are the Oscars a tired warhorse that should be put out pasture? Or is it an always fresh and always surprising look at the past year’s best movies?

Well to answer some of these questions, to look at the nominations, and to give you a taste of what’s to come, I’m going to join today’s guest in a discussion about the Oscars. Jeff Harris is a Toronto-based photographer, former Photo editor at Maclean’s, and is continuing a twenty-year long art project of self portraits taken each day. You may also know him since he takes the photos that accompany my interviews at Hot Docs and TIFF. Most recently he completed a music video for Toronto musician Regina Gently released later this month.

I spoke with Jeff Harris on April 13th, 2021 via Zoom.

The Academy Awards will be broadcast on April 25th. 

My predictions:

Best Picture: Nomadland ✓

Best Director: Chloe Zhao ✓

Best Actress: Frances McDormand ✓

Best Actor: Riz Ahmed Anthony Hopkins X

Best Supporting Actress: Youn Yuh-jung ✓

Best Supporting Actor: Daniel Kaluuya ✓

Best International Film: Quo Vadis, Aida? Another Round X