‘Past Lives’ leaves Oscars empty-handed as ‘Oppenheimer’ wins Best Picture

“Past Lives” (2023) went home empty-handed following the film’s nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday.

Celine Song arrives at the Oscars on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. [AP]

“Past Lives” (2023) went home empty-handed following the film’s nominations for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday.

Best Picture was awarded to “Oppenheimer.” The other nominees were “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Barbie,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Poor Things” and “The Zone of Interest.”

The Best Original Screenplay went to Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for “Anatomy of a Fall.” The other nominations were “The Holdovers,” “Maestro” and “May December.”

Celine Song’s “Past Lives” is the third film by a director who is Korean, or of Korean descent, to be nominated for Best Picture, following Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” (2019) and Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” (2020).

Song is also the first female Asian director to be nominated in both categories for a directorial debut.

"Past Lives," a romance drama film starring Greta Lee and Teo Yoo, follows two Korean childhood friends who reunite after 24 years in New York. The film includes semi-autobiographical elements of Song’s life.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]