With “The King’s Speech” garnering 12 nods, royalty led the Oscar nomination parade, but Jewish contenders had their shining moments.
Three of the best picture nominations were produced by Jews: “The Social Network” by Scott Rudin, “True Grit” by Ethan and Joel Coen, and “Black Swan” by Mike Medavoy. David O. Russell is up for best director for “The Fighter.”
Jesse Eisenberg got a best actor nomination for portraying Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network,” which received eight nominations, while James Franco was nominated for “127 Hours.”
Golden Globe winner Natalie Portman, who was born in Israel, was a best actress pick for her role as a tortured ballerina in “Black Swan.”
Hailee Steinfeld was nominated in the best supporting actress category. The young actress, whose father is Jewish, played the 14-year-old heroine of “True Grit,” which garnered 10 nominations.
The best director category included the Coen brothers for “True Grit” and Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan.”
Among foreign-language films, Israel’s entry, “The Human Resources Manager,” was eliminated early on, but Susanne Bier, an outspokenly Jewish director, won a nod for Denmark’s “In a Better World.”
Israel’s pride received some balm with the nomination of the short documentary “Strangers No More,” which is set in Tel Aviv’s Bialik-Rogozin School, and was made by American filmmakers Kirk Simon and Karen Goodman.
As usual, Jewish writers did exceedingly well.
Named for their adapted screenplays were Aaron Sorkin for “The Social Network,” the Coen brothers for “True Grit,” and Debra Granik for “Winter’s Bone.”
Nominations for best original screenplay went to David Seidler for “The King’s Speech,” Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for “The Kids Are All Right,” and Mike Leigh for “Another Year.”
Oscar winners will be announced Feb. 27 at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre.