In honor of the Oscar nominations, Grand Lake Theatre will be screening “Sinners” again starting Friday. It’ll be shown digitally this week, and next week it’ll be projected in 70 mm.<\/p>\n
Also rooting for Coogler is Rosemary Graham, who was his professor at Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga.<\/p>\n
She noticed his gift for writing when he was a freshman.<\/p>\n
“He was at St. Mary’s to play football,” Graham said. “He had a football scholarship. He was a very skilled athlete. And I sort of said, ‘What are you planning to study? He was thinking about a chemistry major at the time. And I said, ‘Well, I think you should go to Hollywood and write screenplays.'”<\/p>\n
That obviously made an impression on him.<\/p>\n
MORE: See the full list of nominees for the 2026 Oscars<\/a><\/p>\n Now, Graham is on the East Coast after attending the National Board of Review Gala last week with Coogler and his wife, Zinzi, who produced Sinners.<\/p>\n “He gave an acceptance speech, and he told the story about how we met, and he asked me to stand up, and I got applauded at the awards ceremony,” Graham said. “College professors — we don’t walk the red carpet often. We don’t go to awards ceremonies.”<\/p>\n Saint Mary’s College of California said Coogler took courses in its Creative Writing program, where faculty member Rosemary Graham encouraged him to cultivate his voice and pursue storytelling at the highest level.<\/p>\n “We celebrate Ryan’s continued success and the craft, courage, and heart he brings to his films,” said Roger J. Thompson, EdD, president of Saint Mary’s College of California, in a statement. “Professor Rosemary Graham’s steadfast mentorship reflects our mission-educating the whole person and walking alongside students as they discover their gifts.”<\/p>\n OSCARS 2026: Surprising facts about the nominees<\/a><\/p>\n Other Bay Area artists received nominations.<\/p>\n Oakland resident Delroy Lindo earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for playing Delta Slim in “Sinners.”<\/p>\n Grammy-award-winning Oakland singer-songwriter Raphael Saadiq received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song for “I Lied to You.” Saadiq went to Castlemont High School in Oakland.<\/p>\n Producer and Castlemont music teacher Keenan Foster was a classmate of Saadiq’s and part of the music program in 1981. He said Saadiq was playing in the band for Castlemont’s “world renowned” choir, the Castleers.<\/p>\n “We go way back musically, and I always knew before he even started singing he was something special. So, I knew in high school he was going to be a force to reckon with. I am now trying to bring the Castleers back to the forefront,” Foster said.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/131c44567cfd550c1c93df1368fb6896.jpeg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n