Lupita movie bags seven Oscar nominations as Supamodo comes out empty handed

Lupita Nyong'o (L) in a scene in "Black Panther" movie. [Photo: Courtesy]

Superhero movie Black Panther, starring Hollywood actress Lupita Nyong’o, has received seven nominations for the 91st edition of the Oscars.

Produced by Kevin Fegie, Black Panther is the first comic book-based film to earn a Best Picture nomination.

The flick, based on a fairy tale African country, also bagged the Best Production Design, Best Original Music Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing and Best Costume Design in a historic fashion.

Lupita, an Oscar winner for her portrayal of Betsy in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave went on Twitter to celebrate the big nominations. “Seven #OscarsNoms for #BlackPanther including best picture!”

She posted a video of the cast rejoicing. “This is our reaction the first time we saw footage from the film and we’re feeling this way all over again today! Thank you.”

Lupita acts as Nakia, one of Wakanda’s CIA members. Her job is to spy around the world and report back to keep Wakanda safe and informed.

In Black Panther, Prince T’Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as the country’s new king.

However, T’Challa soon finds out that he is being challenged for the throne from factions within his own country.

When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther teams up with CIA agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakandan special forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.

Letitia Wright, Lupita’s co-actress in Black Panther, also celebrated with a post on Twitter.

“History was made again this morning. Seven Oscar nominations including Best Picture! God is truly amazing. Thank you all for the love and support. Honestly we made this movie out of love and wanted to inspire the world with it. Thank you!

Kenya’s entry “Supa Modo” failed to impress the Academy members from each of the 17 branches, and therefore did not make it to the nominations list.

“Supa Modo”, directed by Lokarian Wainaina, had been entered in the Best Foreign Film category.

Instead Capernaum by a Lebanese director, Cold War (Poland), Never Look Away (Germany), Roma (Mexico) and Shoplifters (Japan) made it to the list.

A Kenyan production “Watu Wote” made it to the Oscars final nominees list with very high competitive edge.

Based on the Mandera Bus attack, “Watu Wote” was nominated in the Best Action Live Performance and depicted the solidarity displayed by Muslims and Christians riding on a bus on December 21, 2015.

Firebrand filmmaker Spike Lee finally made his debut when he received his first nomination for best director for his police drama BlacKkKlansman, which stars John David Washington as a detective who helps infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.

BlacKkKlansman received six nominations in total, including best picture, best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for Adam Driver.

Christian Bale has been nominated for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his role as Dick Cheney in the film Vice.

Fourth nomination

This is his fourth nomination and second in this category. He won the award in 2010 for his supporting role in The Fighter and was nominated for his leading role in American Hustle (2013) and his supporting role in The Big Short (2015).

The frontrunners for the best actor statuette are two men who earned acclaim for portraying real-life public figures.

First Man, which stars Ryan Gosling as astronaut Neil Armstrong, and Green Book, about the friendship between African American pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and his Italian-American driver Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) each scored five nominations.

Rami Malek won rave reviews for playing Queen singer Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody while Bale transformed into former US Vice-President Dick Cheney with the help of prosthetic in Vice.

Online streaming giant, Netflix, also announced its entry into the mainstream with Roma’s nominations.