Oscars: Why the Best Picture Race Is Already Crowded with Contenders

Anyone reading the Oscar tea leaves knows that Kenneth Branagh got some very good news last weekend: “Belfast,” his black-and-white ode to his childhood during the Troubles, won the coveted People’s Choice prize at TIFF — which typically indicates a serious Oscar contender for Best Picture. But the “Belfast” buzz is already competing with “The Power of the Dog,” which played well enough in Venice to score Jane Campion a directing prize before keeping that momentum going in Telluride; it next heads to New York.

Yet even as these films gain momentum, Telluride crowdpleaser “King Richard” stands a good chance at getting into the race. By Oscar standards, it’s early yet, but it’s also worth asking: Have we already seen the next Best Picture winner?

Not so fast. In this week’s episode of Screen Talk, Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson recap the field as it stands while looking ahead to some of the question marks on the calendar. Meanwhile, Thompson unpacks her visit to the new Academy Museum, and the pair share their enthusiasm for this year’s New York Film Festival lineup before Thompson dashes off to catch a flight to New York.

Industry passholders at this year’s NYFF are encouraged to attend next week’s live recording of Screen Talk, which is taking place on Wednesday, September 29 at 3 p.m. at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center.

Watch the full episode above or listen to it below.

Screen Talk is produced by Leonardo Adrian Garcia and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone. You can subscribe here or via RSS. Share your feedback with Thompson and Kohn on Twitter. Browse previous installments here, review the show on Apple Podcasts, and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk. Check out the rest of IndieWire’s podcasts on Apple Podcasts right here.