Denis Villeneuve, Luis Sequeira among Canadians to earn Oscar nominations

TORONTO — Several Canadians scored Oscar nominations Tuesday with Quebec writer/producer Denis Villeneuve, Toronto costume designer Luis Sequeira and Quebec producer Roger Frappier among those with strong ties to leading contenders “Dune,” “The Power of the Dog” and “Nightmare Alley.”

Villeneuve’s sprawling sci-fi epic “Dune” is among the most recognized overall with 10 nods, including nominations for the Montreal-based filmmaker in the best adapted screenplay and best picture categories, although he was omitted from the director race.

In a press statement, Villeneuve shared his excitement and one tip for all those nominated: “At the very last minute before announcements, make pancakes. It helps with the stress.”

“Now that it’s over, I can say two things: First, I could not be more proud of my whole team who got 10 nominations,”  added Villeneuve, who shares the adapted screenplay nod with Eric Roth and Jon Spaihts.

“We had an amazing morning. None of which would have been possible without our incredible cast — on behalf of the entire producing team, we thank you for your hard work in making my old dream a reality. Second, make sure you put enough eggs in the preparation, our pancakes were a disaster.”

Other “Dune” nominations include best makeup and hairstyling for Donald Mowat and best production design for Patrice Vermette, who both hail from Montreal. 

Leading the pack is Jane Campion’s suspenseful Western “The Power of the Dog” with 12 nominations. Frappier, of Saint-Joseph-de-Sorel, Que., is among the team members nominated for best picture and said it was a “huge honour” to be included in the marquee category.

“Regardless of the end result, it’s already a fantastic reward,” Frappier said in a statement that also congratulates Campion on her best director nod and all the artists “who accompany us on this magnificent adventure.”

The Toronto-born Sequeira earned his nod for best costume design on Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” which is also up for best picture for a team including Toronto producer J. Miles Dale.

Sequeira and Dale are both longtime collaborators of Del Toro’s, on projects including “The Shape of Water” which earned Dale the best picture Oscar in 2018 for producing along with director del Toro and brought Sequeira an Oscar nomination. 

Del Toro’s largely Canadian team for “Nightmare Alley” includes Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau, who received nominations for best production design.

Two Canadians landed nods in the best documentary short subject category: producer Geoff McLean for his work on “Audible,” and Nova Scotia’s Ben Proudfoot for his film “The Queen of Basketball,” which tells the story of Lucy Harris, the only woman to be drafted by the NBA and the first Black woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. 

Harris died suddenly in January at the age of 66.

“This is a very special story not only because it’s great but because we lost Lucy less than a month ago,” a “flabbergasted” Proudfoot said by phone from Los Angeles, where he is now based.

“Me and my whole team, our hearts have been on fire since we started making this film, (and) trying to get Lucy’s story out there to the world and close the gap between how important and significant her life story is and how many people know about it. 

“The warm glow of the news this morning can be a beacon of positivity for Lucy’s family as they grieve her loss. I’m happy that this gives us the opportunity to tell the story to an even wider audience … because I come from Halifax, a place that appreciates people and appreciates the tradition of oral storytelling.”

Other nominees include the National Film Board co-production “Affairs of the Art,” up for best animated short.

Villeneuve is no stranger to the Academy Awards. 

He was previously nominated for a best directing trophy for the 2016 alien-invasion film “Arrival” and his 2010 film “Incendies” was up for a best foreign language Oscar. That film was an adaptation of Lebanese-born French-Canadian Wajdi Mouawad’s 2003 play of the same name.

The interstellar story of warring families stars Timothée Chalamet as antihero Paul Atreides, Rebecca Ferguson as his mother and Oscar Isaac as his father. It is based on Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel.

Villeneuve has said he became enamoured with the book after discovering it as a sci-fi-loving teenager. 

The 94th annual Academy Awards air March 27 on CTV and ABC.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2022.

Sadaf Ahsan, The Canadian Press