Jewish Connections at the 2023 Academy Awards

Here are some fast facts about this year’s Oscar nominations: 

Steven Spielberg received three nominations this year, bringing his total lifetime nominations to 22. But this year, the 76-year-old director received his first nomination for Best Original Screenplay. His semi-autobiographical film “The Fabelmans” received the fourth-most nominations this year, with seven overall. 

Actor Judd Hirsch, at age 87, is the second oldest acting nominee. This is Hirsch’s second nomination, having last been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “Ordinary People” in 1980.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer received his first Best Picture nomination, and in true Bruckheimer fashion, it was for another one of his big-budget explosive action films— “Top Gun: Maverick.” This is the first time the annual domestic box office champion ($714 million) was also nominated for Best Picture since 2018’s “Black Panther” ($700 million). 

Actress Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) is nominated for Best Actress for playing a character loosely based on Spielberg’s own mother. Williams, who is married to Jewish director Thomas Kail, is not only raising her children Jewish but also studying Judaism herself. 

Producer Rebecca Pruzan (“Ivalu”) grew up in Denmark, with a Danish mother and a Jewish-American father from New York. 

Although he is not Jewish, Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski (“EO”) hid a Jewish family in his house as a child. Skolimowski’s father was murdered by the Nazis for being a member of the Polish Resistance.

Director Joshua Seftel’s documentary short, “Stranger at the Gate” is about a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who planned to bomb a mosque in Indiana—only to abandon the heinous plans after meeting his would-be victims. 

“I grew up in a small town in upstate New York, about three hours north of New York City, and I faced a lot of anti-Semitism growing up there as one of the few Jewish kids in the area, and got picked on a lot,” Seftel told Eye For Film in 2022. “I was called names and people threw pennies at me to remind me that Jews are cheap, and things like that. So, you know, I kind of carry that with me. And when I saw Islamophobia in the US becoming such a big thing, I just thought, you know, I’m a filmmaker, I’ve done some things, I’m in a position to try to help with this; so that’s what I set out to do.”

In addition to receiving her fourteenth nomination for Best Song, songwriter Diane Warren received an honorary award in November from the Academy’s Board of Governors. 

The Oscar winners will be announced live on ABC from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on March 12, with Jimmy Kimmel set to host. 

Below is a list of the Jewish and Jewishly connected nominees at the 95th Academy Awards: 

BEST PICTURE
“AVATAR” – Jon Landau
“ELVIS” – Gail Berman
“THE FABELMANS” – Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner
“TAR” – Alexandra Milchan
“TOP GUN: MAVERICK” – Jerry Bruckheimer, David Ellison
“WOMEN TALKING” – Jeremy Kleiner

BEST DIRECTOR
Steven Spielberg – “THE FABELMANS”

BEST ACTRESS
Michelle Williams – “THE FABELMANS” as Mitzi Schildkraut-Fabelman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Judd Hirsch – “THE FABELMANS” as Boris Schildkraut

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner – “THE FABELMANS”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Sarah Polley – “WOMEN TALKING”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Andrew Goldman, Paul Meezy, Jenny Slate – “MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON”

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Teddy Leifer – “ALL THAT BREATHES”
Nan Goldin, Yoni Golijov – “ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED”

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Jay Rosenblatt – “HOW DO YOU MEASURE A YEAR?”
Beth Levison – “THE MARTHA MITCHELL EFFECT”
Joshua Seftel – “STRANGER AT THE GATE”

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
Rebecca Pruzan – “IVALU”

BEST SCORE
Justin Hurwitz – “BABYLON”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Diane Warren – Music and lyrics to “Applause” from “TELL IT LIKE A WOMAN”