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Its chances of doing so are fodder for a different article, however.
For a time, the Original Screenplay category was a remarkably international Oscar category.
(Nows a good time to mention that Best Adapted Screenplay has always focused on English films.
No foreign-language script has ever won in that category, and only 20 have ever been nominated.
As the crowning achievement in a well-respected series, it likely felt impossible to ignore.
Who won that year?Pulp Fiction,by Quentin Tarantino.
The specter of Roberto Benignis clowningBest Actor acceptance speechwill forever haunt our nightmares, but it couldve been worse.
Who won that year?Shakespeare in Love,by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.
In the Oscar season immediately after 9/11, the movies faith in humanity was especially welcome.
Who won that year?Gosford Park,by Julian Fellowes.
Who won that year?Talk to Her,by Pedro Almodovar.
For whatever reason,The Barbarian Invasionsis the one the world embraced.
Who won that year?Lost in Translation,by Sofia Coppola.
2007
Babel
Nominated screenplay by Guillermo Arriaga
Three foreign-language scripts on a single ballot!
Youd think it was 1963!
Instead, it was an anomalous year when diversity ruled in almost every category.
(There were eveneightacting nominations for people of color.
2020, unfortunately,could never.)
(On nomination day, nobody was happier about this thanSalma Hayek.)
Who won that year?Little Miss Sunshine,by Michael Arndt.
(His follow-upThe Salesmanwas the second.)
But its a rueful, moving kind of darkness.
Who won that year?Django Unchained, by Quentin Tarantino.
When it lost the screenplay award toGreen Book,however, you could feel the big prize slipping away.
Who won that year?Green Book, by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie and Peter Farrelly.
