It’s not exactly business as usual in Los Angeles, as wildfires continue to burn. Nevertheless, after a week’s delay, the organizers behind the 97th Academy Awards announced the prestigious Oscar nominees Thursday morning, singling out three films for particular praise: Emilia Pérez, a visually stunning (if controversial) English-Spanish musical drama; The Brutalist, an art vs. commerce opus; and Wicked, the film adaptation of the hit stage musical. Combined, the films earned 33 nominations.

Yet, it was Zoomer-age women who arguably brought the biggest thrills, as Demi Moore, 62, Isabella Rossellini, 72, and Fernanda Torres, 59, became first-time Oscar nominees for their work in, respectively, The Substance, Conclave, and I’m Still Here, all of which played the Toronto International Film Festival last September. 

Moore and Torres – who both recently snagged Golden Globes for their performances in those films – will compete for Best Actress in a Leading Role while Rossellini is up for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Moore’s acceptance speech at the Globes ceremony, in which she talked of her struggles in the industry and gaining back her self-confidence late in her career, was widely lauded for its humility, grace and inspiration and seemed to propel the star from Oscar long shot to shoo-in.

Canadian costume designer Linda Muir, 69, also picked up her first ever Oscar nomination, for her work outfitting the stars of Nosferatu. She recently told Zoomer that seeing her work on director Robert Eggers’ eerie but sumptuous film was “very, very special to me.”

Indeed, the 2025 Oscar race finds a number of women making not just personal, but also awards-season, history: 

• • Torres becomes the second Brazilian actress nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, after her mother Fernanda Montenegro, 95, was nominated in 1998 for Central Station. Rossellini also joins her mom Ingrid Bergman as an Oscar acting nominee; Bergman’s wins included 1974’s Murder on the Orient Express and 1956’s Anastasia.
  • Cynthia Erivo makes Oscar history as the second Black female performer, after Viola Davis, to receive multiple nominations for Best Actress, this time for Wicked. (Erivo was also nominated for 2019’s Harriet).
  • Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón, 52, is the first openly trans actor nominated for an Academy Award. 

   

  

   

  The Substance’s French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat, 48, was the only woman nominated in the best director category this year, which also includes Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, Jacques Audiard, 72, for Emilia Pérez, Sean Baker, 53, for Anora, and James Mangold, 61, for the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown.

  Focusing in on the Canadian hits and misses, B.C.’s Pamela Anderson, 57, failed to secure an Oscar nomination for her dramatic turn in Gia Coppola’s The Last Showgirl after her Golden Globe nomination – the first major award nomination of her career. And while Dune: Part Two picked up five nominations including Best Picture and several technical awards such as Best Sound and Best Production Design, Quebec-born Denis Villeneuve, 57 was not recognized for Best Director. Maybe for Part Three?

  Winnipeg filmmaker Matthew Rankin was denied a nomination in the Best International Feature category for his Cannes hit Universal Language. But the searing Canadian documentary Sugarcane – about a B.C. residential school that was subject of an investigation into abuse and missing children – scored a Best Documentary Feature nod. 

  Many of the nominations reflected predictions made by trade publications and critics’ groups. Chief among them, a sweep for Emilia Pérez which snagged filmmaker Audiard a record-setting 13 nominations for a non-English film, including for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress in a leading role as well as Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Zoe Saldana, 46, and Best International Film. 

  

   

  Emilia Pérez was further nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay, and two Best Original Songs, for El Mal and Mi Camino.

  Corbet’s intense post-Second World War drama The Brutalist snagged 10 nods, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role for Adrien Brody, 51, Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress for Guy Pearce, 57 and Felicity Jones, 41, as well as Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Editing and Best Production Design.

  You can find a full list of the 2025 Oscar nominees here. The 97th Academy Awards take place on Mar. 2, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles. Conan O’Brien, 61, is hosting the ceremony, which will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT on ABC-TV and streamed live on Hulu.

  RELATED:

  Isabella Rossellini, 72, Talks Playing a Nun in Conclave, Embracing Her Age and Memories of Her Legendary Mother, Ingrid Bergman

  Demi Moore’s Moving Golden Globes Speech is a Rallying Cry for Women Everywhere

  Interview with the Vampire Dresser: Meet Linda Muir, the Canadian Costume Designer Who Outfitted Nosferatu