The place and role of the Oscar Film Award in Russian cinema

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to identify the place and role of the Oscar film Award by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Russian film community. The article reveals the aspects of the Oscar Film Award in the context of the global recognition of the professional merits of Russian cinematographers and their works. The focus is not only on the quantitative approach, but also on the qualitative one. It is important for the author to trace the nominations of the film award, the years of application, the directors who repeatedly apply, as well as the opinions of critics and viewers of the submitted films in order to reveal the comprehensive role of this film award in the career of domestic cinematographers, as well as their status in the world of cinema. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the actualization of the role of the Oscar film Award in relation to Russian cinema and the justification of a clear analytical approach to films and directors claiming to be the winner of the most prestigious film award in the world. As a result of the study, it was revealed that Russia (including the Soviet period of its existence) was represented at the Oscar Film Awards from 1943 to 2023. During this period, 64 films were officially submitted from our country to participate in various film award nominations. Of these, 29 became the official nominees of the film award in 7 nominations. The most successful year, in terms of Oscar nominations, was 2008, and the decade was the 1990s. The most nominated directors were Nikita Mikhalkov (6 applications, 3 nominations, 1 win) and Alexander Petrov (4 applications, 4 nominations, 1 win). It has also been revealed that many filmmakers around the world consider this film award to be politicized and biased. However, this does not exclude the enormous influence of this award, as well as its laureates, on the world film community.