Chicago’s connections to the 97th Academy Awards

CHICAGO – With the Academy Awards just hours away, here are some Windy City connections to this year’s ceremony.

For starters, many of this year’s nominated films were actually screened at the Chicago International Film Festival:

• “Better Man” (Nominated for Best Visual Effects)
• “The Brutalist” (Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design and Best Original Score)
• “Conclave” (Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score and Best Production Design)
• “Emilia Perez” (Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best International Feature, Best Makeup & Hair, Best Original Score, Best Original Song (x2) and Best Sound)
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• “Flow” (Nominated for Best International Feature and Best Animated Feature)
• “The Girl with the Needle” (Nominated for Best International Feature)
• “I’m Still Here” (Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best International Feature)
• “Maria” (Nominated for Best Cinematography)
• “Memoir of a Snail” (Nominated for Best Animated Feature)
• “Nickel Boys” (Nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay)
• “No Other Land” (Nominated for Best Documentary Feature)
• “A Real Pain” (Nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Screenplay)
• “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Nominated for Best International Feature)
• “September 5” (Nominated for Best Original Screenplay)
• “Wander to Wonder” (Nominated for Best Animated Short)
• “Yuck!” (Nominated for Best Animated Short)
• “Sing Sing” (Nominated for Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Song)

Diane Warren

“The Journey” from the film “The Six Triple Eight” is among the nominees for Best Original Song, with the lyrics penned by Diane Warren.

Warren is the mastermind behind a lot of chart-topping songs, having written Taylor Diane’s “Love Will Lead You Back,” Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me,” and Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing.”

However, none of her songs have as big a grip on Chicago as “Look Away,” a No. 1 hit from 1988 recorded by none other than the band Chicago themselves.

Warren also wrote Chicago’s “I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love,” a Top 10 hit.

In fact, both “Look Away” and “I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love” were off the same album, “Chicago 19.”

Despite the success of these songs, Warren has actually never won an Academy Award despite being nominated 16 times. She did, however, receive an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in November 2022.

Erik Winquist

Erik Winquist is among the visual effects supervisors nominated for Best Visual Effects for “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.” He was also nominated for Best Visual Effects at the 87th Academy Awards for his work in another Planet of the Apes film titled “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

Winquist was born in Evanston, Illinois and is still hoping to win his first Academy Award.

Ariana Grande

Pop singer and actress Ariana Grande is nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Glinda Upland in Jon m. Chu’s “Wicked.” While Grande gives a performance more than worthy of a nomination, she still is primarily known for her career as a very successful pop singer, and one of her first public displays of talent happened at a young age and involved one of Chicago’s professional sports teams.

On Jan. 16, 2002, Grande, eight years old at the time and a native of Florida, sang the National Anthem at a Florida Panthers home game in front of a crowd of 14,341, according to ESPN. Their opponents that night? The Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks won the game by a score of 3-0, and Grande will hope to have some similar luck on Sunday and take home her first ever Oscar.