Actors Daniel Kaluuya and Allison Williams arrive at the just concluded Screen Actors Guild Awards at The Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. AFP PHOTO
The Academy Award nominations were the most awaited for since the sun came up earlier today.
Not that Ugandans really care about which movies would make it but this time they were interested in Daniel Kaluuya.
Kaluuya is a British-born Ugandan actor that quickly rose to prominence on our dusty streets after appearing in 2017’s highly successful film Get Out.
The Academy nominations that were announced at 4pm have Kaluuya’s Get Out with four nominations for Best Picture, Best Director and Original Screenplay for Jordan Peele and Best Actor nod for the Ugandan.
Daniel Kaluuya in character. COURTESY PHOTS
But Get Out isn’t the first movie project Kaluuya has been part of. The Ugandan has been part of Johnny English Reborn where he starred alongside Rowan Atkinson (mostly known as Mr Bean), then Kick- Ass 2, Sicario alongside Emily Blunt and is yet to make a Marvel debut in Black Panther early next month.
Kaluuya faces competition from Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis and Denzel Washington among others.
Besides Kaluuya though, our neighbours in Kenya too have a reason to celebrate after Watu Wote, a Kenyan short film was nominated for the Best Live Action Short Film.
Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water leads the nominations with 13 nominations while Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri closely follows with nine nods and Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan with seven.
Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig nomination for the Best director made her the fifth woman to receive the nomination in the awards history.
Many believed she would be joined by Patty Jenkins for her exploits as a director for Wonder Woman, but the Academy voters completely snubbed the box office heart throb.
The 90 annual Academy awards are set for March 4.
ALSO READ: The SAG Awards seem to have survived #MeToo
