Also snubbed was Coralie Fargeat of “The Substance” and other female filmmakers, though Payal Kapadia and Megan Park are up for best first feature.

In a year full of bold cinematic achievements, many of the stories attracting awards attention are driven by their filmmakers' consuming passion not just to direct but write them as well. Their identification of projects demanding to be brought to life in a very specific aesthetic key - from page to screen - imbues the