A dark and psychological western, "The Power of the Dog" is notably in the running in the categories of best film, best director, best actor, best supporting female roles (Kirsten Dunst) and male, where it manages to align two candidates out of five at the total (Jesse Plemons and Kodi Smit-McPhee).
Even more remarkable, its director, the New Zealander Jane Campion, makes history as the first woman to win two nominations for the Oscar for best director, 28 years after "The Piano Lesson".
"The Power of the Dog" is closely followed by the big-budget space opera "Dune" (ten nominations) by Denis Villeneuve, snubbed this year as a director by the Academy of Oscars.
This is followed by seven nominations for "Belfast", a black and white dive into Kenneth Branagh's childhood at the heart of the violence in Northern Ireland at the end of the 1960s, on a par with the remake of the musical film "West Side Story" by the Master Steven Spielberg.
The two directors are in the running in their category.
The Oscars will be presented on March 27 in Los Angeles at the traditional Dolby Theater located on Hollywood Boulevard.
© 2022 AFP