Oscar Oddity #7: Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)

Now that Oscar nominations have been revealed, I wanted to find an obscure statistic for this year's batch of nominees. One I did come across concerns Beasts of the Southern Wild, which was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Benh Zeitlin), Best Actress (Quvenzhane Wallis), and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Not only is this the little film that could, but it is also only the second film to be nominated in only those four categories. And how long ago did the first film achieve this? It happened at the 1934 ceremony.

Frank Capra's Lady for a Day (above) is the only other film to be nominated solely in these categories. So, that puts Beasts in rare (and odd) company.

Note: The Emigrants (1972) received these four nominations, but it was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film in the previous year (which used to happen frequently). Also, The Divorcee (1930) was nominated in the same categories, except it was recognized in "Writing, Achievement". To me, that reads "Best Screenplay", even if its screenplay was adapted. There you have it.