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Tag: Oscars

  • As gully boy paves its way to the Oscars, celebrate this moment of pride with &pictures premiere of ‘Gully Boy’ on 28th September

    As gully boy paves its way to the Oscars, celebrate this moment of pride with &pictures premiere of ‘Gully Boy’ on 28th September

    MUMBAI: Apna Time Aayega!’ This line created an emotion that spread like a wildfire in the entire nation. Giving wings to many youthful dreams, Gully Boy, an inspirational tale chronicles the journey of an underdog, who goes from an ordinary ‘gully boy’ to becoming an extraordinary rapper of India while fighting all the odds. Directed by Zoya Akhtar and produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, the film stars Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt in the lead along with Siddhant Chaturvedi, Kalki Koechlin, Vijay Raaz, Vijay Varma and Amruta Subhash in supporting roles. While the movie successfully ruled over the box office, now it is all set to charm the world with its enigmatic narrative as India’s official entry to the 92nd Academy awards a.k.a Oscars 2020 in the Best International Feature Film Category.  Celebrate this moment of pride with &pictures – Naye India Ka Blockbuster Movie Channel as it premieres Gully Boy on Saturday, 28th September at 8 pm under the channel property ‘Saturday Premiere Nights’.

    Gully Boy is a dedication to real life rappers Naezy and Divine and subtly highlights their journey of becoming the most loved rap-stars of India. The film gives voice to Mumbai’s unexplored rap culture, revealing in a beautiful narrative, real struggles of these artists. Through the infectious music and lyrics, the film brings to the fore, real life thoughts, emotions and the never die attitude of the youth of India. As a part of the movie promotion, &pictures has deviced a digital engagement activity called #ApniGullyKaGullyBoy, where fans will be sharing a rap/dance/dialogue video to a Gully boy track.

    On the groundwork that went into making Gully Boy, director Zoya Akhtar says, “When Gully Boy was in its initial stage, none of us were sure of how the film would be received. Most people were not even aware of the rap scene in the country so we just hoped what had moved us would transmit to a bigger crowd. I have to thank Naezy and Divine for letting us into their lives and sharing their stories and process. We did our best to represent these talents and their distinctive voice. We are all extremely overwhelmed with the feedback Gully Boy has received. The news of it being the official entry for the Oscars has been very exciting.”

    Siddhant Chaturvedi on playing the part of MC Sher, and on working with Ranveer Singh said, “I really believed in my character and I was completely aware of the kind of space I was in. To be a part of such a big project was absolutely earth-shattering for me. I felt blessed, lucky, and happy. I did not expect myself to come out of the cocoon in such a manner. When my dad saw the film, he was in tears. My family has already seen it multiple times and will watch it again when it premieres on &pictures. To have been given so much love and respect for the character I played, credits must, of course, go to Zoya Akhtar, but moreover, Ranveer Singh. He motivated me throughout. It was rather ironical that I play a mentor to his character Murad on-screen when in reality he was my MC Sher. He mentored and advised me throughout, even off-screen and to top it all off, my debut on the big screen got nominated as India's official entry to the Oscars, when I heard it, I was over the moon and no words can express the gratitude I feel for having been a part of such an amazing journey”

    Set against the backdrop of Dharavi slums, Gully boy traces the life of Murad Ahmed (Ranveer Singh), a young lad who is passionate, ambitious, yet emotional and is mostly seen refraining from expressing his thoughts. If a dysfunctional family was not enough, Murad has his hysterical, short-fuse girlfriend and support system, Safeena (Alia Bhatt) to contend with. But, after coming across a local rapper MC Sher (Siddhant Chaturvedi), Murad develops an inclination towards rapping which becomes an outlet for him to express his feelings. He turns his happiness, grief, discomfort and disappointment into hard-hitting lyrics which makes him an overnight internet sensation. But due to family pressures, he is torn between his passion for rapping and his responsibility towards his family. Will Murad manage to rise above all the odds?

  • Guest Column: To win and how to win – The always good question in advertising

    Guest Column: To win and how to win – The always good question in advertising

    Advertising – the shiny shop front of marketing, is famously not a fixed entity.

    It moves, morphs, adapts, transfigures, gets deformed and always rests with a new face every few months.

    Cycle. Repeat.

    Whenever one tries to make an educated guess about a fundamental characteristic of something that is defined by constant variability, it's like randomly pointing a camera at a crowd and expecting to find a familiar face in the photograph.

    The more people you know, better your chances of finding a familiar face. ‘How much you know’ then becomes a coveted skill.

    The fundamental hypothetical to ponder today is
    'what will win an award?'

    Before daring to design a blueprint for this conceptual palace called ‘award-winning campaign’, I find it’s always better to first walk around the house that advertising already lives in –the house called ‘culture’.

    Every cornerstone of cultural taste-making has undergone an upheaval in the recent past. From the glamour-stricken winners of the Oscars and the Grammys to the casually serious rules of who gets to be a YouTube/Instagram celebrity and even the matter-of-fact question of which type of scientific research gets awarded the big grants and which branch of science and scientist gets more air time; we will find a thread running across and even, remotely, connecting each and every sphere – a craving for gravitas.

    Gravitas, that can lift one above the din that’s created by rote abuse of the pithy mantra 'content is king' to the extent that we are all serfs to shallow engagement.

    There's a growing awareness and an exponentially increasing proof that the mirror has finally become the subject – that society has started reflecting advertising as much as an ad poaches from society.

    With great power is supposed to come great responsibility only after one realises that responsible wielding of power is actually an option.

    The ad-world at large seems to have acknowledged and accepted its role in the cultural spotlight.

    Here are three simple thumb rules that I've found to be effective not just in creative award-thinking but also in putting every creative in a state of existential paralysis on the way to a breakthrough campaign idea.

    Strive for genuine NOT just new

    There’s no shortage of novelty ideas and innovations. If an idea is not based on ‘genuine’ insight aiming for ‘genuine’ impact, it’s just ‘new’ for ‘new’s sake

    Be transformative NOT participative

    It’s increasingly easy for everyone to participate. Not just in ones and twos but en-masse. One more participant will not make a difference and only ads that make a difference are worth their wins. The aim should be to change the way something is perceived or re-write the rules of normal

    Memorable, yes, but memorable for what?

    What is the ‘one’ thing about the ad that will stay long after the ad is over? Is that ‘one’ thing deserving of accolades?

    All of this is written with the knowledge that data will show the way, but planning, media and copy will have to walk the way together.

    Big Data has given way to Big Culture.

    Just as an algorithm can find the most important piece of information in seeming junk data, well-intuited advertising can point to hidden sense in the most obscure and absurd piece of culture by elevating it to the heights of artistic merit and genuine impact.

    So, to all the media planners, copywriters and data scientists working unsurely on the next campaign; if you hold in your hands a thread that no one but you could have found, just give it a bold and confident tug.

    Awards will come.

    (The author is the AVP, Creative Strategy – WATConsult. The views expressed are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them)

  • AXN celebrates international women’s day in style with ace shows, movies and activities

    AXN celebrates international women’s day in style with ace shows, movies and activities

    MUMBAI: AXN, the no.1 channel in the English general entertainment category (GEC), is also the consistent leader in Female viewership with 26% share. To celebrate the day dedicated to its loyal fan base, AXN has used the mix on-ground activities, movies and shows to mark the International Women’s Day.

    In a one-of-a-kind initiative, AXN is honoring all women employees in workplaces across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The channel has set up rejuvenation zones in multiple trade and media offices where all women employees can indulge in special makeovers by hair stylists and nail artists. In addition to this, all employees are encouraged to write a Thank-you message to the one woman who has inspired them in the workplace. The best message will win exciting AXN goodies.  

    Apart from the stimulating on-ground activity, AXN is airing movies with strong, powerful and inspirational women characters every weekend in the month of march. Watch women who slayed the Oscars Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer in the movie The Help as they set new friendship goals. Witness the startling chemistry between legendary actresses Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts as they showcase the story of an unlikely friendship between two remarkable women in the movie ‘Step Mom’. Meryl Streep and Amy Adams will surely bring out the inner chef in you with the inspiring real life story – ‘Julie and Julia’. Witness the remarkable Julia Roberts once again in a never seen before avatar with the legal drama ‘Erin Brockovich’.

    Also watch the leading ladies of the biggest shows being aired on AXN who are also game changers. Katheryn Winnick, protagonist of the most talked about show, Vikings marks her debut as a director in season 5. Elizabeth Moss’ who was nominated six times at Emmy awards, finally won the Primetime Emmy for her gripping role in ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. Elizabeth McCord broke all the stereotypes by portraying the role of United States secretary of state in ‘Madam Secretary’.

    AXN dedicates the month of March to the women who not only love edgy content but derive inspiration from the future-defining characters.

  • Oscars vote: 20 Indians & NRIs including Big B invited

    Oscars vote: 20 Indians & NRIs including Big B invited

    NEW DELHI: Actor-producer Aamir Khan is the only producer of an Oscar nominee among around 20 Indians or people of Indian origin including megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra who have been invited to join the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to vote for the Oscars.

    Interestingly, Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan are the only father and daughter-in-law in the list of 774 persons invited from 57 countries.

    The total includes some persons – like eminent directors Mrinal Sen and Goutam Ghose – who have figured in more than one category in the total, as director and writer. Priyanka Chopra, Irfan Khan and Deepika Padukone who have also featured in international cinema are also in the list, which includes actor Salman Khan.

    Designers include Arjun Bhasin who designed the costumes of  “Monsoon Wedding” (which was also nominated); the renowned Mrinal Sen; Indian origin designer Geeta Gandbhir whose films include “The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington” and “Music by Prudence”, and award-winning director Anand Patwardhan.

    The list includes visual effects and animation filmmaker Mohit Kallianpur –“Frozen,” “Tangled” and Indian origin filmmaker Mahesh Ramasubramanian – “Home,” “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” in the short feature category.

    The award-winning directors Buddhadeb Das Gupta and Sooni Taraporevala figure in the list of writers of films they directed.

    Others include executive Abhijay Prakash and film curator Rajendra Roy apart from Ujwal Narayan Nirgudkar.

    “We’re proud to invite our newest class to the Academy. The entire motion picture community is what we make of it,” Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Academy President, said in a statement.

    Some eminent international personalities include Fatih Akin, Kim-ki-Duk, Garth Davis, Lav Diaz, Tom Ford, Anna Hui, Takashi Miike, and Guy Ritchie among others.

    Also Read :

    Five Indian films to be screened at Hollywood CineFest

    Brooke Bond India’s transgender band sizzles Cannes stage

    Colors to air live Saif & Karan-hosted IIFA awards on 16 July

  • Tug of war between AVoD & SVoD, who will win?

    MUMBAI: Content is the king and distribution is the queen. The year 2016 saw this phrase being used several times by the Over-the-top (OTT) players. But, does the struggle end there? Not really.

    While content remains to be crucial, changing consumption patterns is inevitable. Having the right content mix is still a challenge for the players in the digital eco-system.

    Discussing the importance of content and what can work well at the CASBAA OTT Roundtable Summit 2017 were Zee Entertainment Z5 India Business head of digital Archana Anand and Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi, moderated by TriLegal partner Nikhil Narendran, the session kick-started with the two leading players discussing their evolution.

    While Anand spoke about the ‘BeesKaTV’ app in detail, Gandhi mentioned how the year 2016 saw OTT players burning cash to acquire consumers while it was a fabulous year for them.

    “There is a a lot of demand for content consumption on mobile devices. As an advertising-led video-on-demand (VOD) service, we want to play on our strengths. Acquiring users comes with a heavy cost. There is a streaming cost, technology cost, content cost, etc. A platform has to bare the cost of a stream per user. Voot rides on four pillars – fandom around our reality and drama content available on our TV channel, Kids, Original play, and various languages content. We have built ourselves around content, and are still learning. The market can have 5-6 players with different strategies and we are enjoying a nice slice of the market,” said Gandhi.

    Today, OTT is not just limited to mobile, and the fact that linear TV is not going away yet cannot be denied. How do the consumers consume content is important for which discovery is essential. “Content is crucial and discovery continues to be important. It is beneficial to throw recommendations around one type of content. Curation of original content requires humongous marketing strategy. In the recent Oscars, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video grabbed several awards. What better way to applaud the OTT industry than this,” added Anand.

    It is given that, more than discovery or being a device-agnostic platform, there is a mindset shift required. Making people pay for content remains to be one of the many challenges for the SVOD players. With the data prices coming down, more and more people are going to consume digital video. Though, there is a segment of people who are not part of the data bandwagon, but they have consumed content. So, does it lead to the exit of linear TV in India? Perhaps, not.

    “The next 24 months are going to be crucial for the digital space. TV is here to stay for a long time. There are some segments that will grow faster than the rest. Ad-supported OTT platform complements TV perfectly. We create fandom around our popular TV shows on Voot which gets us more eyeballs and, at the same time, boosts our TV business. There is a lot of headroom for television,” said Gandhi.

    Anand resonated with Gandhi’s point of view on whether digital can replace TV framework.

    But, who will determine the right pricing for each of these platforms? Are the advertisers ready to buy slots? For advertisers to hop on board, the platform first needs to monetise its content, grab maximum number of eyeballs, and then measure it. “The choice is with the players whether they want to play by volume or margin. Indians are ready to pay for transactions than subscriptions. The transactional business will get its value, but the subscription business will take its time. Newer and better models will emerge in the market. The volumes are growing large, but the challenge is — pricing. The advertisers require volume for which more watch-time is a given,” added Gandhi.

    Contradicting that, Anand said, “The real challenge is: value for money. Even the advertisers are invisible in videos. Selling inventories to other broadcasters or platforms becomes difficult.”

    It remains to be seen who’s content will work in the long run, and which model proves to be successful for the players in the digital space.

  • MullenLowe’s Hyatt campaign launched at Oscars

    MUMBAI: Hyatt Hotels Corporation has announced the launch of World of Hyatt, Hyatt’s new global platform grounded in the simple idea that a little understanding goes a long way. This reflects Hyatt’s purpose and reaffirms its commitment to building genuine and trusted experiences and engaging its community of loyalists in a way that is meaningful to them.

    The global campaign will extend across TV, digital, social, out-of-home, in-hotel, print, and events throughout 2017 with an emphasis in the United States, China and India.

    The launch of World of Hyatt is supported by an unprecedented integrated marketing campaign, “For a World of Understanding.” The campaign will debut its anthem spot with a universal message during the 89th Oscars® broadcast, leveraging a series of personal vignettes that speak to the power of understanding. The anthem features Grammy-nominated recording artist Andra Day singing, “What the World Needs Now is Love,” the timeless song from Hal David (lyrics) and Burt Bacharach (music composition).

    Created by MullenLowe, the spot was filmed earlier this year in Thailand, Morocco and Spain, and explores how people from different cultures unite through simple human connections.

  • Star Movies & Select HD to host Oscars on 27 Feb at 5:30am

    MUMBAI: There are few evenings that have the power to make Hollywood history, the Oscars® is one of them. Star Movies has been synonymous with the biggest names, the grandest stage and an incomparable atmosphere of joy, tears and celebration in India for almost 2 decades. We continue to be the official Home of Oscars® this year with the simulcast of the Oscars® on Star Movies and Star Movies Select HD on 27 February, live at 5:30 am with a Repeat at 8:30 pm.

    The Academy Awards have forever stood as an epitome of excellence, honouring those masters who stay etched in the history of cinema. While it is the greatest desire of every artist to win the coveted golden statuette, only a few are immortalised in the realm of the Oscars®. As a movie lover and patron of Hollywood – we are eager to know if our favourite story won or just happy to discover some unbelievable stories.

    Through a unique marketing campaign, Star Movies brings out that unmatched passion, an insatiable longing to be the best and celebrates this #GreatestDesire

    The journey to the Oscars® begins with an ode to the dreamers where @StarMoviesIndia will celebrate the great storytellers who got a glimpse of the limelight and grandeur – some claiming the honour, some missing it by a whisker. Dreams are not just restricted to a few – everyone can walk a mile to get to the their #GreatestDesire. Star Movies gave its followers a unique opportunity to experience the Red Carpet thorough the Secret Screening of an Oscar® nominated title. Every year Star Movies makes the greatest desire of two Hollywood fans come true by giving them a money can’t buy experience – a chance to witness the Oscars® live at Los Angeles. This year, Star Movies will capture the journey of these two dreamers as they get ready to profess their love for their greatest desire. Their dreams may have been realised, but it’s time to begin a new – to realise another dream, another desire – it’s time to #watchNwinOnStarMovies an evening at the most glamorous showcase of the best of Hollywood.

    Only those who dare to dream of the unthinkable, can attain the impossible. Come dream with us, #watchNwinOnStarMovies your #GreatestDesire at the 89th Academy Awards – LIVE on February 27th at 5:30 AM and repeat at 8:30 PM on Star Movies &Star Movies Select HD.

  • Leonardo DiCaprio wins Best Actor at 88th Academy Awards; complete list of winners

    Leonardo DiCaprio wins Best Actor at 88th Academy Awards; complete list of winners

    MUMBAI: Doesn’t it feel extremely pleasant when you get rewarded or appreciated for your work? That breathtaking moment when you don’t understand whether to weep or be gleeful. And winning an award after waiting for the past six years just makes that win even sweeter.

    With almost the entire world praying for Leonardo DiCaprio to bag his first Oscar at this year’s 88th Academy Awards, the actor and his fans were not disappointed. DiCaprio finally walked off the stage with the coveted golden trophy for Best Actor for his role in The Revenant. In his speech, the actor not only thanked the director Alejandro Iñárritu, but also expressed gratitude to his parents.

    Adding further, the actor said, “Making The Revenant was about man’s relationship to the natural world, climate change is real. It is happening right now. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow. Calling 2015 as the hottest year in history he said, “It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species.Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.”

    While Mad Max: Fury Road bagged six Oscars, The Revenant grabbed three and Spotlight took away two awards.

    The complete list of winners is as follows:

    Best Picture

    Spotlight

    Best Actor

    Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

    Best Actress

    Brie Larson for Room

    Best Supporting Actor

    Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies

    Best Supporting Actress

    Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl

    Best Director

    The Revenant, Alejandro G. Iñárritu

    Best Original Screenplay

    Spotlight, Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy

    Best Adapted Screenplay

    The Big Short, Charles Randolph and Adam McKay

    Best Costume Design

    Jenny Beavan for Mad Max: Fury Road

    Best Production Design

    Mad Max: Fury Road production design, Colin Gibson; set decoration by Lisa Thompson

    Best Makeup and Hairstyling

    Mad Max: Fury Road, Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin

    Best Cinematography

    Emmanuel Lubezki for The Revenant

    Best Film Editing

    Mad Max: Fury Road, Margaret Sixel

    Best Sound Editing

    Mad Max: Fury Road, Mark Mangini and David White

    Best Sound Mixing

    Mad Max: Fury Road, Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo

    Best Visual Effects

    Ex Machina,  Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett

    Best Animated Short Film

    Bear Story, Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala

    Best Animated Feature Film

    Inside Out, Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera

    Best Documentary, Short Subject

    A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

    Best Documentary Feature

    Amy, Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees

    Best Live-Action Short Film

    Stutterer, Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage

    Best Foreign-Language Film

    Son of Saul, Hungary

    Best Original Song

    Writing’s on the Wall from Spectre; Music and lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith

    Best Original Score

    The Hateful Eight, Ennio Morricone

  • Leonardo DiCaprio wins Best Actor at 88th Academy Awards; complete list of winners

    Leonardo DiCaprio wins Best Actor at 88th Academy Awards; complete list of winners

    MUMBAI: Doesn’t it feel extremely pleasant when you get rewarded or appreciated for your work? That breathtaking moment when you don’t understand whether to weep or be gleeful. And winning an award after waiting for the past six years just makes that win even sweeter.

    With almost the entire world praying for Leonardo DiCaprio to bag his first Oscar at this year’s 88th Academy Awards, the actor and his fans were not disappointed. DiCaprio finally walked off the stage with the coveted golden trophy for Best Actor for his role in The Revenant. In his speech, the actor not only thanked the director Alejandro Iñárritu, but also expressed gratitude to his parents.

    Adding further, the actor said, “Making The Revenant was about man’s relationship to the natural world, climate change is real. It is happening right now. Our production needed to move to the southern tip of this planet just to be able to find snow. Calling 2015 as the hottest year in history he said, “It is the most urgent threat facing our entire species.Let us not take this planet for granted. I do not take tonight for granted.”

    While Mad Max: Fury Road bagged six Oscars, The Revenant grabbed three and Spotlight took away two awards.

    The complete list of winners is as follows:

    Best Picture

    Spotlight

    Best Actor

    Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant

    Best Actress

    Brie Larson for Room

    Best Supporting Actor

    Mark Rylance for Bridge of Spies

    Best Supporting Actress

    Alicia Vikander for The Danish Girl

    Best Director

    The Revenant, Alejandro G. Iñárritu

    Best Original Screenplay

    Spotlight, Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy

    Best Adapted Screenplay

    The Big Short, Charles Randolph and Adam McKay

    Best Costume Design

    Jenny Beavan for Mad Max: Fury Road

    Best Production Design

    Mad Max: Fury Road production design, Colin Gibson; set decoration by Lisa Thompson

    Best Makeup and Hairstyling

    Mad Max: Fury Road, Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin

    Best Cinematography

    Emmanuel Lubezki for The Revenant

    Best Film Editing

    Mad Max: Fury Road, Margaret Sixel

    Best Sound Editing

    Mad Max: Fury Road, Mark Mangini and David White

    Best Sound Mixing

    Mad Max: Fury Road, Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff and Ben Osmo

    Best Visual Effects

    Ex Machina,  Andrew Whitehurst, Paul Norris, Mark Ardington and Sara Bennett

    Best Animated Short Film

    Bear Story, Gabriel Osorio and Pato Escala

    Best Animated Feature Film

    Inside Out, Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera

    Best Documentary, Short Subject

    A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy

    Best Documentary Feature

    Amy, Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees

    Best Live-Action Short Film

    Stutterer, Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage

    Best Foreign-Language Film

    Son of Saul, Hungary

    Best Original Song

    Writing’s on the Wall from Spectre; Music and lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith

    Best Original Score

    The Hateful Eight, Ennio Morricone

  • 11 Films You Must Watch Before Tuning In to the Oscars

    11 Films You Must Watch Before Tuning In to the Oscars

    Summer is over, and you know what that means in Hollywood – time to dust off those statuettes and start lobbying. Film festival season is about to kick off in earnest, with Venice, Toronto and New York all taking place back-to-back over the next month, which means that we’ll soon have a clear(ish) picture of the 2016 Oscar race. Specifically, we’ll have a sense of which would-be frontrunners are shaping up to be this year’s Birdman and Whiplash, and which look more like this year’s Unbroken and Big Eyes. Let us take a look at all the contenders of 2016’s best film.

    Carol

    Premiering at Cannes this year to rapturous praise and multiple standing ovations, Todd Haynes’s period romance is already one of the year’s most acclaimed releases. Based on Patricia Highsmith’s long-banned novel of the same name, Carol stars Cate Blanchett as a mysterious married woman who enchants Rooney Mara’s lonely young shop assistant.

    Steve Jobs

    Two years on from the best-forgotten Ashton Kutcher biopic, the life of Steve Jobs has been adapted once again in a much more promising form. Danny Boyle directs Michael Fassbender in the role of Jobs, from a script written by Aaron Sorkin which – much like Sorkin’s Oscar-winning script for The Social Network – weaves together multiple timelines in its portrait of Jobs backstage at three iconic product launches.

    The Danish Girl

    Eddie Redmayne may have won Best Actor for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking last year, but he’s making a strong run at round two with the role of transgender pioneer Lili Elbe, one of the first known recipients of gender reassignment surgery. Directed by Tom Hooper – no stranger to the Academy after The King’s Speech and Les Mis – the film also stars Alicia Vikander as Elbe’s wife, who plays a central role in her husband’s gradual self-discovery.

    Joy

    If you felt like there was something missing at last year’s Oscars, it was probably because Jennifer Lawrence wasn’t nominated for a David O Russell movie, following her two-year hot streak with Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. But she and O Russell are back in contention for 2016 with Joy, a biopic starring Lawrence as a struggling single mother who went on to invent the Miracle Mop. No, really.

    Macbeth

    He may have been memorably, inexcusably snubbed for Shame a few years back, but Michael Fassbender’s formidable slate this year could put him in line for a double Best Actor nomination. Justin Kurzel’s visceral adaptation of Shakespeare’s Scottish Play stars Fassbender as the conflicted, ambitious anti-hero, and Marion Cotillard as the scheming wife steering him in his fateful plot to kill the King and take his throne.

    Suffragette

    Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and Meryl Streep lead the cast of this impressive period piece, which tracks the early years of the British women’s suffragette movement. Written by Abi Morgan, who has enjoyed prior Oscar success with The Iron Lady and Shame, this is a long overdue historical portrait that’s sure to be recognised.

    The Revenant

    Coming off Birdman’s unexpected sweep in the major categories last year, director Alejandro González Iñárritu hasn’t been resting on his laurels. His upcoming drama stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a rugged fur-trapper in the 1820s Rocky Mountains, who’s left for dead by his companions after a bear attack. Having survived the mauling, he sets out to wreak vengeance on the friends who abandoned him (Tom Hardy, Will Poulter and Domhnall Gleeson). Could this finally be the year Leo breaks his Oscar curse?

    Bridge of Spies

    Steven Spielberg’s latest historical picture follows an American lawyer (Tom Hanks) who is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War, to help them negotiate the release of a pilot imprisoned in the Soviet Union. Co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen, the film will premiere at this month’s New York Film Festival, but is already attracting a lot of early awards buzz.

    The Hateful Eight

    Quentin Tarantino’s long-delayed Western follows a group of bounty hunters who are caught up in a treacherous plot, after being forced to take shelter together during a blizzard. There are several intriguing possibilities for comeback performances among the cast – the central plot sees Kurt Russell’s “The Hangman” escorting Jennifer Jason Leigh’s “The Prisoner” to face justice for a murder – and the leaked script drama has only heightened anticipation for the finished product.

    Trumbo

    Having deservedly won all of the Emmys for his career-redefining performance as Breaking Bad’s Walter White, Bryan Cranston could now be in line for an Oscar nomination. He plays 1940s screenwriter Dalton Trumbo, whose career came to an abrupt and painful end after he – along with other scribes – was blacklisted as a communist. Previous years have borne out the idea that the Academy loves a Hollywood insider story, and the story of Trumbo’s fight against government officials and studio bosses alike could well strike a particular chord.

    Room

    Abrahamson gets extra points for the degree of difficulty involved in filming an intimate drama, half of which takes place in a 10-by-10 room, with just two performers, relative newcomer Larson and kid actor Jacob Tremblay.

     Other films: Brooklyn, The Walk, Freeheld, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Black Mass, Genius, The Martian, Inside Out