Going into Thanksgiving, how many movies can Oscar and BAFTA voters watch, including includes features, documentaries and international.<\/b>
\nThe long Thanksgiving weekend provides an opportunity for awards voters to get through the first pile of screeners \u2014 or in the case of the Academy Awards and BAFTA groups, scroll through their streaming room platforms. In multiple discussions with awards voters, it\u2019s been interesting to note how few movies they\u2019ve seen at this point in the year. Perhaps it\u2019s related to the pandemic, and many of them returning to work and under the gun of deadlines, or maybe not hearing about anything that\u2019s drummed up enough passion for them to seek it out. The in-person awards screenings in Los Angeles have been brimming especially for films like Denis Villeneuve\u2019s \u201cDune\u201d and most recently, Paul Schrader\u2019s \u201cThe Card Counter,\u201d both with star Oscar Isaac in attendance. But in this first year where DVDs are barred from being sent to Oscar and Bafta voters, will each film get enough eyes on it to make enough noise? In the case of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, we are two weeks away from the opening of the shortlist voting, where ten branches will whittle down their selections to 10 or 15 films. The categories are international feature, documentary feature, makeup and hairstyling, visual effects, animated short, documentary short, live action short, original score, original song, and for the first time, best sound, which will be cut down to 10. Last year 238 documentaries were submitted for the branch to consider, which crushed the previous record of 170 back in 2017. As of last Friday, there were 128 films uploaded, with a promise by the Academy of more to come by the end of Wednesday. So we shouldn\u2019t expect the total number of entrants to surpass last year\u2019s number, but it could be somewhat in the vicinity of the hefty 2017 number. It\u2019s worth noting that there are 10 months of submissions this year, versus the standard 12, due to the pandemic. For best picture, on which the entire Academy votes, there are currently 93 features in the Academy Streaming Room. The pandemic year of 2020 produced 366 total films vying for the top category, the highest since 1970, and that\u2019s a number we could see again by the end of the year. In the international feature race, there\u2019s no official number as the Academy won\u2019t release that until a later date, but at the moment, it looks as though there are 93 countries in play, the same number as last year. Somalia is the only country that is submitting to AMPAS for the first time with \u201cThe Gravedigger\u2019s Wife,\u201d while three others are resubmitting after being disqualified last year \u2014 Algeria\u2019s \u201cH\u00e9liopolis,\u201d Bhutan\u2019s \u201cLunana: A Yak in the Classroom\u201d and Uzbekistan\u2019s \u201c2000 Songs of Farida.\u201d It\u2019s also unknown how many of the 10,000 members of the Academy opted in to vote on the shortlist, which will shrink down to 15 before the official list being voted on once more for the nominations, which will be announced on Feb.8, with the other general categories. BAFTA\u2019s View online streaming platform is sporting a whole new aesthetic and user navigation. With an ability to sort through the library by categories, film types and tags relating to the gender of the director or an underrepresented group, members can also track what they\u2019ve watched and record notes on the film. As of today, there are a total of 127 films vying for the EE British Academy Film Awards, with many more to come. It all began with Kelly Reichardt\u2019s \u201cFirst Cow\u201d from A24, the first film uploaded for consideration in categories like best film, leading actor (John Magaro) and supporting actor (Orion Lee). The most recent upload was the documentary \u201cPhil Lynott: Songs for While I\u2019m Away\u201d by Emer Reynolds. In contrast to the Academy, BAFTA has different submission criteria for best film not in the English language, making it difficult to find a correlation to the Oscar category. With 26 films so far, voters from across the pond can watch Japan\u2019s \u201cDrive My Car\u201d or Iceland\u2019s \u201cLamb\u201d over the holiday. They can also take in selections such as Pedro Almod\u00f3var\u2019s \u201cParallel Mothers\u201d from Spain or Audrey Diwan\u2019s \u201cHappening\u201d from France. Thirty-nine movies are looking for love in the outstanding British film category, including the musical \u201cEverybody\u2019s Talking About Jamie\u201d from Amazon Studios and \u201cMothering Sunday\u201d from Sony Pictures Classics. There are also a few unexpected contenders like Craig Gillespie\u2019s \u201cCruella\u201d from Walt Disney Pictures, Cate Shortland\u2019s \u201cBlack Widow\u201d from Marvel Studios and Rebecca Hall\u2019s \u201cPassing\u201d from Netflix. The final film from Roger Michell, \u201cThe Duke,\u201d which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, is also angling for posthumous attention for the beloved filmmaker who passed in September. A couple of crossovers from the last awards season could still eke their way into a lineup or two, such as IFC\u2019s \u201cThe Nest\u201d with Carrie Coon and Jude Law and Monument Releasing\u2019s \u201cThe Surrogate\u201d with Jasmine Batchelor. Other high profile films on the platform, whether voters give them their chance or not, that are worth watching include: \u201cA Quiet Place Part II\u201d (Paramount Pictures), \u201cPig\u201d (Neon), \u201cIn the Heights\u201d (Warner Bros), \u201cThe Harder They Fall\u201d (Netflix), \u201cLuca\u201d (Pixar), \u201cThe Last Duel\u201d (20th Century Studios), \u201cZola\u201d (A24), \u201cStillwater\u201d (Focus Features), \u201cShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings\u201d (Marvel), \u201cThe Eyes of Tammy Faye\u201d (Searchlight Pictures), \u201cDear Evan Hansen\u201d (Universal Pictures), \u201cAnnette\u201d (Amazon Studios) and \u201cRespect\u201d (MGM\/United Artists Releasing).<\/p>\n