The 94th Academy Awards were announced on February 8, with Jane Campion’s film The Power of the Dog leading the pack, bagging 12 nods. The film is up against Belfast, CODA, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, and West Side Story in the Best Picture category.
The Power of the Dog is based on Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel of the same name. The film stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee. Shot mostly across rural Otago, New Zealand, the film is an international co-production among New Zealand, Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. The Power of the Dog deals with themes such as love, grief, resentment, jealousy and sexuality.
Campion was the second woman ever nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards for 1993’s The Piano. Now, with The Power of the Dog, Campion has the chance to become the third woman to win Best Director Academy Award, following last year’s Chloe Zhao for Nomadland.
The Power of the Dog had its world premiere at the 78th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2021, where Campion won the Silver Lion for Best Direction. The film had a limited theatrical release in November 2021, and was released to stream worldwide on Netflix on December 1, 2021.
It was named one of the best films of 2021 by the American Film Institute. It also received seven nominations at the 79th Golden Globe Awards, winning Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for Smit-McPhee and Best Director for Campion and ten nominations at the 27th Critics’ Choice Awards, including Best Picture.
