Each year, the Academy Awards presents an opportunity for films, performers and craftspeople to break records set over the course of nearly a century of Oscars history.
Controversies seem to have followed the 91st Academy Awards since before nominations were even announced this year, with the ceremony coming up without a host and plenty of fighting over the merits of Best Picture contenders like Green Book and Bohemian Rhapsody. Though contentious, this year’s Oscars offers several chances for nominated actors and movies to make history.
Here are all the records that could be broken at the 2019 Oscars.
Black Panther could set another new precedent for superhero movies
Black Panther has already set a record this year by becoming the first ever superhero movie nominated in the Best Picture category. Should it win, the groundbreaking film will be the first superhero movie to ever earn the Best Picture nod from the Academy Awards.
Spike Lee could be the first black person to win Best Director
While Spike Lee is a Hollywood legend, his work as a director has never earned him an Academy Award. That could change this year, as he scored a nomination for BlacKkKlansman in the Best Director category. A win for Lee would mean that he’s the first black person to win Best Director.
Lee is part of a wave of black nominees this year who could make history at the Academy Awards with first-time wins. Peter Ramsey, who became the first black director to be nominated in the animated feature category this year, would be the first to win in that category for Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The costume designer Ruth E. Carter, nominated for her work in Black Panther, could be the first black person to take home the Best Achievement in Costume Design. Fellow Black Panther alum Hannah Beachler could be the first black person to win for Best Production Design.
Mahershala Ali could become the second black actor to win multiple acting Oscars
If Mahershala Ali, nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his turn on Green Book, wins at the 91st Academy Awards, he will become the second black actor to win multiple acting Oscars. Denzel Washington precedes him, having earned Oscars for 1989’s Glory and 2001’s Training Day in acting categories. Ali last won an Oscar in 2017 for his role in Moonlight.
Should Ali take home the Oscar, he would also become the 11th actor to ever win multiple awards within four years.
Amy Adams may break a record by not winning an Oscar — it all depends on Glenn Close
That Amy Adams has never won an Oscar has become a routine joke, especially among her most ardent fans, who would love to see her get some credit. Adams, who is up in the Best Supporting Actress category this year for playing Lynne Cheney in Vice, has previously lost at the Academy Awards five times.
Adams would set a record for being the most nominated actor to never win an Oscar if Glenn Close, nominated for Best Actress for her role in The Wife, wins the award this year. Close, who has been nominated six times at the Oscars without winning any awards, could continue her record this year or pass off that mantle to Adams.
Roma may become the first foreign language film to win best picture
Netflix’s Roma has already made history. Leading the 91st Academy Awards nominations (along with The Favourite) with 10 nominations, the film is only the second foreign language to score that many nods, after 2000’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon did the same. It’s also the first film from Netflix to earn a Best Picture nomination.
If the film wins Best Picture, Roma will be the first foreign language film to take home the Academy Award in that category. While the Oscars recognize achievements in foreign language films in a separate category, a win for Roma would mark a turn away from only awarding English-speaking films as Best Picture.
