Two Israeli films and a Tunisian movie about the Gaza war and the hostage crisis were nominated for Academy Awards on Thursday as the vampire period horror film “Sinners” smashed the all-time Oscars record with 16 nominations.
The heavily Jewish period sports comedy “Marty Supreme” starring Timothée Chalamet also picked up nine nominations, including best picture and best actor for the red-hot Chalamet, the 30-year-old thespian who is seen as likely to nab his first Oscar for the role.
Israel’s “Butcher’s Stain,” made by Meyer Levinson-Blount while at Tel Aviv University’s film school, was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film. The film follows Samir, an Arab butcher in Tel Aviv, who sets out on a journey to prove his innocence after he’s accused of removing posters of Israeli hostages being held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
The film won second place in the narrative category of the Student Academy Awards in the fall.
“Children No More: Were and Are Gone,” directed by award-winning filmmaker Hilla Medalia, was nominated for Best Documentary Short Film.
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Medalia’s film is about a weekly vigil that began in March 2025 in Tel Aviv, as a handful of protesters held photos of children killed in Gaza, a gathering which grew over time into a powerful silent protest.
Another film about Gazan children, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a Tunisian docu-drama about a five-year-old girl allegedly killed by Israeli forces in Gaza last year and told from the perspective of the Palestinian Red Crescent, was nominated for Best International Feature.
The film, by Franco-Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, tells the story of Hind Rajab Hamada, who was fleeing in Gaza City with six relatives last year when their car came under fire.
It dramatizes the effort by Palestinian Red Crescent dispatchers in the central West Bank to send Rajab assistance within Gaza, using real audio from the girl’s phone call, in which she — surrounded by dead family members — pleads for help.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has accused Israel of deliberately targeting an ambulance it sent to rescue Rajab.
Israel has rejected that claim, saying a probe found there were no Israeli troops present in the vicinity of the vehicle where Rajab’s body was found, nor was there a need for specific coordination of the ambulance to pick her up.
From left: US actor Joaquin Phoenix, US actress Rooney Mara, Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, actor Motaz Malhees and actress Clara Khoury pose with a portrait of late Palestinian girl Hind Rajab during the red carpet for the movie “The Voice of Hind Rajab” presented in competition at the 82nd International Venice Film Festival, at Venice Lido on September 3, 2025. (Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP)
The film, submitted by Tunisia and co-produced by upstart pro-Palestinian distributor Watermelon Pictures, won a groundswell of support from the pro-Palestinian filmmaking community during the awards circuit. Jonathan Glazer, the British Jewish filmmaker behind the acclaimed Holocaust drama “The Zone of Interest,” whose Oscars speech last year took aim at Israel’s conduct in Gaza, co-produced the film.
The Ophir Award–winning film “The Sea” didn’t advance to the shortlist in the same category. Neither did the other shortlisted Israeli film, “Holding Liat,” about the struggle to bring back hostage Liat Atzili, which was aiming for Best Documentary Feature.
Hilla Medalia’s documentary short, ‘Children No More: Were and Are Gone,’ nominated for the 2026 Oscars (Courtesy)
Marty Supreme
“Marty Supreme” by Josh Safdie tells the story of Jewish table-tennis star Marty Mauser, loosely based on the story of Marty Reisman, an aspiring ping-pong athlete in the postwar Lower East Side, as he prepares to sacrifice everything for the chance to play in the world championships in Japan, and is played by Chalamet.
It is loosely based on the story of Reisman, a real-life Jewish ping-pong champion and street hustler, though much of the rollicking tale — which includes detours into Auschwitz and the Pyramids of Giza — is fictional. Marty’s journey also puts his own American Jewish identity under the microscope as he tangles with an antisemitic businessman and a dog named Moses.
The film picked up nine Academy Award nominations, including best picture, best actor, and best director for Safdie; original screenplay for Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, along with cinematography, editing, production design, and costumes.
This image released by A24 shows Timothée Chalamet in a scene from ‘Marty Supreme.’ (A24 via AP)
The period sports comedy was also nominated in the new category of best casting, and “Marty Supreme” boasts a supporting cast of many Jewish actors — including Odessa A’zion, Gwyneth Paltrow, Fran Drescher, Sandra Bernhard and Isaac Mizrahi.
The film was the most evident Jewish rooting interest among the Oscar front-runners this year, especially since beloved Jewish actor Adam Sandler — who memorably starred in Safdie’s previous film “Uncut Gems” — missed out on a supporting actor nomination for his work in “Jay Kelly.”
“Blue Moon,” a biopic of Jewish songwriter Lorenz Hart, picked up two nominations: best actor for Ethan Hawke and best original screenplay. Other films with prominent Jewish angles, including the World War II drama “Nuremberg,” came up empty-handed.
A few minor Jewish connections can be found in the year’s second-most-nominated film, Paul Thomas Anderson’s political-rebel action drama “One Battle After Another” which picked up 13 nominations.
Radiohead band member Jonny Greenwood, who has faced backlash from fans over his collaborations with Israeli musicians, was nominated for best score for the film. Israeli-American actress and musician Alana Haim, a frequent Anderson collaborator, also has a small role, and one of the movie’s storylines involves a secret cabal of white supremacists who restrict membership to the “Gentile-born.”
Benicio del Toro, from left, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cassandra Kulukundis, Teyana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, and Paul Thomas Anderson accept the award for best picture for “One Battle After Another” during the 31st Annual Critics Choice Awards on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, at The Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Diane Warren, the Jewish songwriter and erstwhile Oscar nominee, was once again nominated — for the 17th time — in the category of best original song. This time, Warren’s nomination came from writing a song for “Diane Warren: Relentless,” a documentary about herself.
Record-breaking ‘Sinners”
Vampire period horror film “Sinners” smashed the all-time Oscars record with 16 nominations, the Academy announced Thursday.
The blues-inflected drama set in the 1930s segregated US South, from director Ryan Coogler, scored nominations in nearly every category possible, including best picture.
Lewis Pullman, left, and Danielle Brooks present the nominees for the 98th Academy Awards on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026, at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
It blasted past the previous record of 14, jointly held by “All About Eve,” “Titanic,” and “La La Land.”
The tally included a best actor nomination for Michael B. Jordan, who plays twins battling supernatural forces and racists, plus everything from screenplay to score.
“Sinners” also picked up a nomination for best casting, the first new category to be added to Hollywood’s most prestigious awards in more than two decades.