Colman Domingo of the A24 drama “Sing Sing,” Cynthia Erivo of the Universal Pictures musical “Wicked,” Zoe Saldaña of Netflix’s Spanish-language musical “Emilia Pérez,” and filmmaker RaMell Ross of the Orion Pictures drama “Nickel Boys” were among the eight Black nominees for the 97th annual Academy Awards, whose nominations were announced in a live event today in Los Angeles. The winners will be announced on March 2 at a ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. ABC will have the U.S. telecast of the show, which will be hosted by Conan O’Brien and livestreamed on Hulu. “Emilia Pérez”—about a transgender female gangster-turned-philanthropist—scored the most nominations (13) for the 2025 Academy Awards.
There were no Black nominees in the major categories of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Original Screenplay. Another alarming fact: Black women were completely shut out of nominations for non-acting categories for filmmakers.
Black representation for Oscar nominations came mostly from “Sing Sing,” with four Black people getting nominations in three Oscar categories. “Sing Sing” (inspired by real people and true events) is about a predominantly Black group of incarcerated men in a theater group at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining, New York. The screenplay is based on John H. Richardson’s 2005 nonfiction Esquire article “The Sing Sing Follies” and Brent Buell’s original play “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code.”
The four Black people nominated for “Sing Sing” are Domingo and first-time Oscar contenders John “Divine G” Whitfield, Clarence Maclin, and Abraham Alexander. Domingo is nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for portraying theater group leader John “Divine G” Whitfield, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and illegal weapon possession. It’s the second Oscar nod for Domingo, who was nominated in the same category in 2024 for portraying civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the 2023 Netflix biopic “Rustin.”
Whitfield and Maclin (a “Sing Sing” cast member) are contenders for Best Adapted Screenplay, a nomination that they share with “Sing Sing” director Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley, who are both white. “Sing Sing” songwriter Alexander is nominated for Best Original Song (for “Like a Bird”), a nomination that he shares with songwriter Adrian Quesada, who identifies as Latino.
Directed by Ross, “Nickel Boys,” which is based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2019 novel “The Nickel Boys,” is primarily about two Black teenage boys who become friends while incarcerated at an abusive reform school in Florida. “Nickel Boys” is nominated for Best Picture, an award that goes to a film’s eligible producers. Although the producers getting this “Nickel Boys” Oscar nomination have not yet been determined and will be announced at a later date, all of the producers of the movie are white: Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and David Levine.
Ross is the only Black person from “Nickel Boys” who was nominated for an Oscar. Ross and Barnes share a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. This is Ross’ second Oscar nod. He was previously nominated for Best Documentary Feature Film, for directing 2018’s “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” distributed by the Cinema Guild.
Another Black artist who received an Oscar nomination in 2025 is composer Kris Bowers of DreamWorks Animation/Universal Pictures’ “The Wild Robot,” in the category of Best Original Score. This is Bowers’ third Oscar nomination. As a co-director, he was previously nominated for Best Documentary Short Film, for 2021’s “A Concerto Is a Conversation” and 2023’s “The Last Repair Shop.” He won an Oscar for “The Last Repair Shop.”
Best Actress in a Leading Role contender Erivo is nominated for portraying the green-skinned witch Elphaba Thropp in “Wicked.” This is Erivo’s third Oscar nomination. Her two previous nods were for Focus Features’ 2019 Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet”: Best Actress in a Leading Role and Best Original Song (“Stand Up”). First-time Oscar nominee Saldaña, who’s in the awards race for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, portrays morally conflicted attorney Rita Morena Castro in “Emilia Pérez.”
The Academy Award nominations and winners are voted for by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which has more than 10,500 members worldwide and are described by the Academy as “film industry artists and leaders.” The Academy does not release statistics on the number of Black members it has and instead publicly identifies its racial categories for members as “white” and “non-white.” According to a 2022 report by data company Statista, 81% of Academy members identify as white, and 19% identify as non-white.
Noticeable Oscar snubs for Black artists
Denzel Washington (who holds the record for the Black person with the most Oscar nominations) was snubbed for his supporting role as ruthless arms dealer Macrinus in Paramount Pictures’ “Gladiator II,” even though Washington received a Golden Globe nomination for his role in the movie. Washington is also a producer of the Netflix drama “The Piano Lesson,” which was completely shut out of this year’s final Oscar nominee list, despite “The Piano Lesson” getting nominated at other awards shows, such as the NAACP Image Awards and Film Independent Spirit Awards. The 2024 movie version of “The Piano Lesson” is based on August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play and is family project for Washington: His youngest son, Malcolm Washington, made his feature-film directorial debut with “The Piano Lesson” and co-wrote the adapted screenplay. John David Washington (Denzel’s eldest child) starred in the movie, whose other cast members included Danielle Deadwyler, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ray Fisher.
In the category for Best Documentary Feature Film, a noticeable snub was for Netflix’s “Daughters,” directed by Angela Patton (who is Black) and Natalie Rae. This Sundance Film Festival prize-winning movie is about Black American daughters of incarcerated men who reunite for a Date With Dad father/daughter dance held at the prison where the men are incarcerated. MUBI’s documentary “Dahomey,” directed by Senegalese French filmmaker Mati Diop, was also snubbed for an Oscar nomination, even though “Dahomey” won the Golden Bear (top prize) at the 2024 Berlin International Film Festival. “Dahomey” chronicles the journey of Kingdom of Dahomey artifacts being returned to their homeland after being stolen by French colonials.
A complete list of nominees for the 2025 Academy Awards can be found on the official website.
