Shocking Oscar Nomination for a Texas Indie Film Should Set a Precedent For Awards Voting

The Academy Award nominations released in late January packed in many historic moments. The indie sensation Everything Everywhere All At Once scored a record-breaking 11 nominations; John Williams become the oldest Oscar nominee ever at age 90 when he topped his own record with a total of 53 nominations; Judd Hirsch received his first nomination in 42 years; and The Quiet Girl became the first Irish-language film to receive any nomination.

However, the only film that anyone seems to be talking about is To Leslie, a micro-budget Texas indie film that no one had ever heard of until a few weeks ago.

To Leslie stars Andrea Riseborough as a Texas woman who wins the lottery and subsequently loses her fortune as she suffers from alcoholism and depression. Years after her victory over her struggles, Leslie looks to rebuild her life and reconnect with her fully grown son.

Although the film received positive reviews upon its premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2022, it had a limited theatrical release from the tiny studio Momentum Pictures in October.

With an estimated budget of less than $1 million and box office revenue below $30,000, To Leslie had not even been considered a “fringe contender” until Riseborough’s surprise nomination for Best Actress. In the last few weeks of the campaign season, a word-of-mouth campaign conducted by Riseborough’s peers within the industry managed to get the film in front of voters.

Edward Norton tweeted, “For those interested in really great acting, I’ll share that Andrea Riseborough’s portrayal in To Leslie just knocked me sideways.” Kate Winslet hosted screenings of the film and called Riseborough’s work “the greatest female performance on-screen I have ever seen in my life.”

Theoretically, the nomination for a small yet accomplished film was one to be celebrated, but it didn’t take long for controversy to emerge. Naysayers within the “Awards pundits” space instantly questioned the legitimacy of the nomination, as Riseborough had been earmarked as only a “fringe contender” in outlets such as Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Indiewire and Deadline. Many called attention to the fact that Riseborough’s nomination seemed to have come at the expense of Danielle Deadwyler in Till and Viola Davis in The Woman King. Both Black actresses had received nominations at the Critics Choice, Screen Actors Guild and BAFTA Awards.

The attention turned to the method of Riseborough’s campaign; unlike traditional voter lobbying, which costs studios an increasing amount of capital each year, Riseborough’s nomination came through lobbying voters to simply see the film. After a social media firestorm, the Academy Awards conducted an official review that concluded Riseborough would retain her nomination, despite discovering “social media and outreach campaigning tactics that caused concern.”

All of the speculation buried the fact that Riseborough genuinely gave a great performance in a small film never intended to be an awards season disrupter. To Leslie also shines a light on the issue of alcoholism, one of the biggest public health crises in the world, responsible for close to 100,000 deaths each year in the U.S. alone. But it’s also an inspirational story about redemption, reconnection and parenthood. In an era when the struggles of Middle America seems to evade Hollywood’s storytellers, To Leslie is a positive example of representation.

The film’s campaign tactics were perhaps untraditional, but that’s to ignore a disadvantage that To Leslie had going in. Studios spend millions buying “For Your Consideration” ads, hosting screenings for voting members of the Academy and sending out voter emails, DVD links and reels. The reason that To Leslie was absent from many early award ceremonies and prediction lists was that simply not enough people had seen it. Once Riseborough’s influential supporters spread the word, the film seemed to enrapture audiences on its own merit.

The perceived snubs for Deadwyler and Davis do raise larger issues within the Academy Awards that have nothing to do with Riseborough or To Leslie.

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None of this sounds particularly insidious, and perhaps if industry campaigning practices were equalized from the beginning, someone like Riseborough wouldn’t have to campaign on her own. In fact, the “grassroots campaign” seemingly first emerged because Momentum Pictures simply didn’t have the money to launch an official campaign; the $250,000 some studios spend on sending out screeners alone is around what it cost to fund To Leslie‘s entire production.

The argument that Riseborough’s nomination “stole” a spot from another deserving actress is similarly flawed. No official voting records have been released that confirm either Davis or Deadwyler would have been the sixth nominee that Riseborough rose above at the end. In the rare case in which the Academy rescinds a nomination, there is no replacement “slotted in.” Had Riseborough’s name been removed from the nominations list, there would simply be four nominees in the category.

It’s possible that Margot Robbie’s work in Babylon or Emma Thompson’s role in Good Luck To You, Leo Grande (both nominated at the Critics Choice and Golden Globes) had also been in that potential spot. There’s also no guarantee that Riseborough’s nomination was the one in the last place; her fellow nominees included Ana de Armas in Blonde (a highly criticized film that currently scores 42% on Rotten Tomatoes) and Michelle Williams in The Fabelmans (a role many deemed to be a supporting one).

Nevertheless, the perceived snubs for Deadwyler and Davis do raise larger issues within the Academy Awards that have nothing to do with Riseborough or To Leslie. Despite major efforts to diversify its voting body in recent years by adding new members and creating diversity rules for Best Picture nominees, Oscar voters are still predominantly white men. There has yet to be a Black winner in the Best Director category, and Halle Berry remains the only Best Actress winner ever with Monster’s Ball.

Clearly, there is a discrepancy within the industry, and it’s reflected in the set of nominees this year. The Woman King, an all-Black, all-female-led historical epic that was widely acclaimed and financially successful didn’t receive a single nomination, and it was also widely ignored throughout the season by other voting bodies.

Nonetheless, the film campaigned for awards such as Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design and Best Director for Gina Prince-Bythewood, who would’ve been the first Black female Best Director nominee.

Prince-Blythewood alluded to these issues in a recent op-ed.

“There is no groundswell from privileged people with enormous social capital to get behind Black women,” the director wrote in a February opinion piece in the Hollywood Reporter. She also noted that “there is a palpable feeling of exhaustion” from Black creatives who work hard, only to be constantly ignored by voting bodies even amidst their success with audiences.

While Riseborough’s nomination might look like a slap in the face to artists of color, it also shows that “fringe contenders” can get in based on word of mouth alone, even if that mouth has to belong to someone the stature of Kate Winslet. Hopefully these types of grassroots campaigns will occur in the future for industry people of color. The Woman King grossed almost $100 million and earned rave reviews. It’s the type of movie people loved to support, and it should have received a similar “word of mouth” push at the last moment akin to the one for To Leslie.

Similarly, a word-of-mouth campaign would help a film like The Inspection, a tiny independent film in which debut director Elegance Bratton told an autobiographical story about being a Black, gay Marine that screened to a rapturous response at last year’s Dallas International Film Festival. While The Inspection made only slightly more than To Leslie at the box office, it similarly received rave reviews, particularly for breakout star Jeremy Pope.

We need to see more of these types of nominations when it comes to diverse films starring people of color. It’s unfair to blame Riseborough or her team, but these tactics should be similarly used to support diverse films that reflect audiences today. Riseborough’s campaign is a breakthrough and a step in the right direction in terms of balancing out awards campaigning based on budget, and it’s a tactic that should be specifically applied on behalf of the artists of color that are often left out.