Queer film Moonlight scores eight Oscar nominations

ACCLAIMED queer film Moonlight has scored eight Academy Award nominations this year in many of the major categories including Best Picture, Best Director, and in both Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress.

The film, which follows an African-American man across three significant chapters in his life as he deals with his burgeoning sexuality, has already earned a number of accolades from critics and topped more film-of-the-year lists than any other in 2016.

Alongside the major Academy Award categories, Moonlight was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Editing.

The film’s director Barry Jenkins has also become the first black writer-director to be nominated for Best Director, Picture, and Screenplay in the history of the Academy Awards.

Jenkins responded to the news over Twitter saying: “Oh my. So much love, overwhelmed. Literally and figuratively.”

Just turned my phone on here in Amsterdam. It's ummmmmm… yeah. Oh my. So much love, overwhelmed. Literally and figuratively

— Barry Jenkins (@BarryJenkins) January 24, 2017

Jenkins is only the fourth black men to ever be nominated for Best Director, and if he takes home the prize on February 26 he’ll be the first to win it.

Moonlight has already grossed more than $15 million worldwide.

You can read our review of the film here.

Here is the complete list of nominees for the 89^th Academy Awards:

Best Picture

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures

La La Land

Lion

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Best Director

Damien Chazelle, La La Land

Denis Villeneuve, Arrival

Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea

Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Best Original Screenplay

Hell or High Water

La La Land

The Lobster

Manchester by the Sea

20th Century Women

Best Adapted Screenplay

Arrival

Fences

Hidden Figures

Lion

Moonlight

Best Actor

Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

Ryan Gosling, La La Land

Denzel Washington, Fences

Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic

Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge

Best Actress

Emma Stone, La La Land

Isabelle Huppert, Elle

Ruth Negga, Loving

Natalie Portman, Jackie

Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali, Moonlight

Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water

Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea

Dev Patel, Lion

Best Supporting Actress

Nicole Kidman, Lion

Viola Davis, Fences

Naomie Harris, Moonlight

Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea

Best Documentary

Fire at Sea

I Am Not Your Negro

Life Animated

OJ: Made in America

13th

Best Documentary Short Subject

The White Helmets

Extremis

Watani: My Homeland

4.1 Miles

Joe’s Violin

Best Live Action Short Film

Timecode

Sing (Mindenki)

Silent Nights

Ennemis Interieurs

La Femme et le TGV

Best Animated Film

Zootopia

Kubo and the Two Strings

Moana

My Life as a Zucchini

The Red Turtle

Best animated short film

Piper

Pearl

Borrowed Time

Pear Cider and Cigarettes

Blind Vaysha

Best Foreign Language Film

Land of Mine

A Man Called Ove

The Salesman

Tana

Toni Erdmann

Best Cinematography

Arrival

Silence

La La Land

Lion

Moonlight

Best Production Design

Arrival

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Hail Caesar

La La Land

Passengers

Best Visual Effects

Deepwater Horizon

Doctor Strange

Jungle Book

Kubo and the Two Strings

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Best Film Editing

La La Land

Moonlight

Hacksaw Ridge

Arrival

Hell or High Water

Best Costume Design

Allied

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Florence Foster Jenkins

Jackie

La La Land

Best Makeup and Hair

A Man Called Ove

Star Trek Beyond

Suicide Squad

Best Original Score

Jackie

La La Land

Lion

Moonlight

Passengers

Best Original Score

La La Land, Justin Hurwitz

Moonlight, Nicholas Britell

Lion, Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka

Jackie, Mica Levi

Passengers, Thomas Newman

Best Original Song

“Audition,” La La Land

“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls

“City of Stars,” La La Land

“The Empty Chair,” Jim: The James Foley Story

“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana

Best sound editing

La La Land

Hacksaw Ridge

Arrival

Sully

Deepwater Horizon

Best Sound Mixing

La La Land

Hacksaw Ridge

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Arrival

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi