Last Updated on May 3, 2017
Welcome to your guide to the 2017 Oscar nominated period dramas! The trailers and movies are all linked below so you can screen them ahead of time. Then get your party dress on, order some pizza and root for your favorite costume dramas nominees across the *categories.
The 89th Academy Awards telecast airs at 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PST, Sunday, Feb. 26, on ABC, and is hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.
Red Carpet Start Time is 7pm Eastern Time|4pm Pacific Time.
*Look for period dramas nominees in the following categories: Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role, Actress in a Leading Role, Actress in a Supporting Role, Cinematography, Costume Design, Production Design, Set Design, Foreign Language Film, Visual Effects, Music (Original Score), Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Writing (Original Screenplay) and others. Information courtesy of The Oscars.
Best Picture: Three period dramas are nominees for Best Picture: Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, and Hidden Figures.
Actor in a Leading Role: Two actors in period dramas are nominees for Actor in a Leading Role: Denzel Washington (Fences), and Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge).
Fences: Troy Maxson, a former star player in the Negro Leagues, lives with his wife Rose and teenage son Cory in Pittsburgh in 1957. Troy is bitter about missing the integration of professional baseball, and his caustic attitudes toward life and race relations taint his relationship with Cory, an aspiring football player.
This is the eighth Academy Award nomination for Producer Scott Rudin (The Hours, True Grit, The Grand Budapest Hotel). This is the first Academy Award nomination for Producer Todd Black.
Related Nominees
Actor in a Leading Role, Denzel Washington: Denzel Washington plays Troy Maxson, a middle-aged man whose bitterness over his sports career and life as a black man in 1950s Pittsburgh threatens to tear apart his family. Including his nomination this year for Best Picture for FENCES, this is the eighth Academy Award nomination for Denzel Washington. Denzel Washington was previously nominated for the period dramas Glory (1989), Malcolm X (1992) and The Hurricane (1999).
Actress in a Supporting Role, Viola Davis: Viola Davis portrays Rose Maxson, a devoted wife and mother who tries to champion her son’s ambitions against her husband’s sometimes savage derision. This is the third Academy Award nomination for Viola Davis. Davis was previously nominated for the period dramas Doubt (2008) and The Help (2011).
Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Fences: This is the first Academy Award nomination for August Wilson.
Hacksaw Ridge: Desmond Doss, a Seventh-day Adventist who endured a troubled childhood in rural Virginia, enlists in the army during World War II despite his pacifist beliefs. After Desmond’s desire to serve as an unarmed medic is approved by military officials, he is sent to the Pacific arena, where he saves dozens of lives during the Battle of Okinawa.
These are the first Academy Award nominations for Producers Bill Mechanic and David Permut.
Related Nominees
Actor in a Leading Role, Andrew Garfield: As Desmond Doss, Andrew Garfield portrays a conscientious objector whose commitment to serving on the frontlines as a medic takes him to the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. This is the first Academy Award nomination for Andrew Garfield.
Directing, Hacksaw Ridge: This is the third Academy Award nomination for Mel Gibson. He was previously nominated for Braveheart (1995), Directing and Best Picture.
Film Editing, Hacksaw Ridge: This is the second Academy Award nomination for John Gilbert. He was previously nominated for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).
Sound Editing/ Mixing, Hacksaw Ridge: Including his nomination this year for Sound Mixing for HACKSAW RIDGE, this is the second Academy Award nomination for Robert Mackenzie. Including his nomination this year for Sound Mixing for HACKSAW RIDGE, this is the second Academy Award nomination for Andy Wright. This is the twenty-first Academy Award nomination for Kevin O’Connell. This is the first Academy Award nomination for Peter Grace.
Watch the trailer for Hacksaw Ridge.
Hidden Figures: In the early 1960s, as the U.S. seeks to surpass the Soviet Union in the space race, three mathematically and technologically gifted African-American women must cope with racism and sexism while performing vital tasks at NASA’s segregated Virginia facilities.
This is the fourth Academy Award nomination for Producer Donna Gigliotti (Shakespeare in Love, The Reader). These are the first Academy Award nominations for producers Peter Chernin and Jenno Topping. This is the second Academy Award nomination for producer Pharrell Williams.
Related Nominees
Actress in a Supporting Role – Octavia Spencer: As Dorothy Vaughan, Octavia Spencer plays the leader of a team of female African-American “human computers” contributing to the success of NASA during the early 1960s. This is the second Academy Award nomination for Octavia Spencer. Spencer was previously nominated for the period drama The Help (2011).
Writing (Adapted Screenplay), Hidden Figures: Including his nomination this year for Adapted Screenplay for HIDDEN FIGURES, this is the second Academy Award nomination for Theodore Melfi.
Watch the trailer for Hidden Figures.
Actress in a Leading Role: Three actresses starring in period dramas are nominees for Actress in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins), Natalie Portman (Jackie), and Ruth Negga (Loving).
Florence Foster Jenkins – Meryl Streep: Meryl Streep plays Florence Foster Jenkins, an heiress whose enthusiasm for singing is so pronounced that — despite her lack of talent — she decides to give a concert at Carnegie Hall.
This is the twentieth Academy Award nomination (including 3 wins) for Meryl Streep. Streep was previously nominated for the period dramas The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981), Sophie’s Choice (1982), Out of Africa (1985), and Doubt (2008).
Related Nominees
Costume Design, Florence Foster Jenkins: see below.
Watch the trailer for Florence Foster Jenkins.
Stream Florence Foster Jenkins NOW.
Jackie – Natalie Portman: As Jackie Kennedy, Natalie Portman portrays the grieving and intensely private First Lady, who seeks to ensure her late husband’s legacy — and her own — following his assassination.
This is the third Academy Award nomination for Natalie Portman.
Related Nominees
Costume Design, Jackie: see below.
Music (Original Score), Jackie: This is the first Academy Award nomination for Mica Levi.
Loving – Ruth Negga: Ruth Negga portrays Mildred, an African-American woman whose love for Richard, her white husband, winds up changing laws prohibiting interracial marriages in the United States.
This is the first Academy Award nomination for Ruth Negga.
Cinematography: One period drama is a nominee for Cinematography: Silence.
Silence: In the 17th century, two Portuguese priests, Father Rodrigues and Father Garupe, travel to Japan to find their mentor, who disappeared and supposedly renounced his faith. The Japanese government, fearful of colonial powers, has outlawed Christianity, and the priests’ mission is a dangerous one that shakes the idealistic Rodrigues to his core.
This is the second Academy Award nomination for Rodrigo Prieto. He was previously nominated for Brokeback Mountain (2005).
Watch the trailer for Silence.
Costume Design: Four period dramas’ costume designers are nominees for Costume Design: Joanna Johnston (Allied), Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Consolata Boyle (Florence Foster Jenkins), and Madeline Fontaine (Jackie).
Allied: Canadian Max Vatan works as a British spy during World War II and falls in love with French operative Marianne Beauséjour while on a mission. The pair marries and has a child, but soon after, Max’s superiors order him to investigate their suspicion that Marianne is a double agent.
This is the second Academy Award nomination for Joanna Johnston. She was previously nominated for the historical drama Lincoln (2012).
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: In 1926, British wizard Newt Scamander arrives in New York City with his collection of unusual magical beasts. Because of the tumultuous relationship between magical and non-magical people in America, Newt finds himself embroiled in a war between factions seeking either to destroy magic or make it the law of the land.
This is the twelfth Academy Award nomination for Colleen Atwood. She was previously nominated for the period dramas Little Women (1994), Beloved (1998), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Chicago (2002), Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), Sweeney Todd (2007) and others.
Related Nominees
Stuart Craig (Production Design): This is the eleventh Academy Award nomination for Stuart Craig. He was previously nominated the period dramas The Elephant Man (1980), Gandhi (1982), The Mission (1986), Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Chaplin (1992), The English Patient (1996) and other films.
Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration): This is the sixth Academy Award nomination for Anna Pinnock. She was previously nominated for the period dramas Gosford Park (2001), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) and other films.
Watch the trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Stream Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. (Available March 7, 2017)
Florence Foster Jenkins: Heiress Florence Foster Jenkins has been a champion of music her entire life, although her enthusiastic singing is dreadful. When she decides to give a concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944, her devoted husband and a befuddled pianist work tirelessly to ensure that the event is a success.
This is the second Academy Award nomination for Consolata Boyle. She was previously nominated for the The Queen (2006).
Watch the trailer for Florence Foster Jenkins.
Stream Florence Foster Jenkins NOW.
Jackie: After her husband is assassinated in Dallas in 1963, Jacqueline Kennedy strives to maintain a public show of strength while grieving in private and caring for their two young children. As she searches for the best way to ensure both her husband’s and her own legacies, Jackie navigates the treacherous waters of politics.
This is the first Academy Award nomination for Madeline Fontaine.
Foreign Language Film: One period drama is nominated for Foreign Language Film: Land of Mine.
Land of Mine: After the end of World War II in Europe, a dozen German POWs are ordered to defuse 45,000 landmines buried by the Germans on a beach near a small Danish town. Rasmussen, the Danish sergeant in command, hates Germans but gradually becomes protective of his charges, most of whom are only teenagers.
Denmark; Directed by Martin Zandvliet. This is the twelfth Academy Award nomination for Denmark. Previous nominations for Denmark include the period dramas Babette’s Feast (1987) and A Royal Affair (2012).
Watch the trailer for Land of Mine.
Visual Effects: One period film is nominee for Visual Effects: The Jungle Book.
The Jungle Book: Ten-year-old Mowgli has been raised in the Indian jungle by wolf parents, who, along with the panther Bagheera, discourage his human traits so that he can integrate into the pack. When the tiger Shere Khan threatens his lupine family, however, Mowgli embarks on a quest to rejoin his own species.
This is the fourth Academy Award nomination for Robert Legato. He was previously nominated for the period films Apollo 13 (1995), Titantic (1997), Hugo (2011). This is the first Academy Award nomination for Adam Valdez. This is the third Academy Award nomination for Dan Lemmon.
Watch the trailer for The Jungle Book.
Writing (Original Screenplay): One period drama is nominee for Original Screenplay: 20th Century Women.
20th Century Women: Teenager Jamie lives with his nonconformist mother Dorothea in Santa Barbara, California. In 1979, the other women in his life are Abbie, a boarder in their home, and Julie, his best friend. Dorothea and Jamie have a complicated bond, with Dorothea struggling to remain preeminent in her son’s life while also giving him the freedom to grow.
Written by Mike Mills: This is the first Academy Award nomination for Mike Mills.
Watch the trailer for 20th Century Women.
Order the DVD for 20th Century Women.
To see all the 2017 nominees, visit The Oscars. The Academy Awards, or “Oscars”, is a group of artistic and technical honors given annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize excellence in cinematic achievements in the United States film industry as assessed by the Academy’s voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname “Oscar.” The awards were first presented in 1929.
If you enjoyed this post, be sure to wander over to The Period Films List, with the best historical dramas sorted by era.
