The streaming giant Netflix is competing again at this year’s Oscars.
Netflix produces some of our favorite shows, like Outer Banks, and interesting docuseries like the forthcoming Quarterback and the documentary on Manti Te’o. It’s also home to some of our favorite rewatchable films.
But Netflix is also in the business of being nominated for – and winning – awards. It’s one of the reasons why it has paid millions to filmmakers like Jane Campion, David Fincher, Noah Baumbach and Martin Scorsese over the past several years.
At the 95th Academy Awards, Netflix is running in 12 categories. Leading the way in nominations for Netflix is All Quiet on the Western Front, an epic and brutal film focused on War World I from the German perspective. It’s nominated for nine Oscars this year, including Best Picture.
You might be wondering, has Netflix won Oscars before? If so, how many?
The answer is yes, and 16.
Netflix garnered its first Oscars nomination in 2014 when The Square was nominated for Best Documentary Feature. Since then, the category has been somewhat dominated by Netflix, as its films have been nominated 11 times and taken home three wins in Best Documentary Feature.
Best Documentary Short Subject has also been commanded by Netflix, earning 12 nominations, and its where Netflix got its first ever Academy Award win in 2017 with The White Helmets – a film about a group of volunteer rescue workers in Syria.
Netflix started competing in bigger categories in 2018, when Mudbound earned nominations for Best Actress (Mary J. Blige) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Virgil Williams and Dee Rees). 2019 was an even bigger year for Netflix at the Oscars, when Roma was nominated for 10 awards and won in Best Director (Alfonso Cuarón), Best Cinematography and Best Foreign Language Film.
And in 2020, Netflix had two Best Picture nominees in The Irishman and Marriage Story, and won its first acting award when Laura Dern took home Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the latter. Netflix has just one win in 25 acting nominations. Ana de Armas is nominated this year for Blonde.
But Netflix’s white whale remains a Best Picture win. Beginning with Roma in 2019, Netflix has had nine films nominated for Best Picture but hasn’t won the Academy’s most coveted prize. And that’s despite Roma, Mank, and The Power of the Dog leading in total nominations in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Meanwhile, Netflix competitor Apple won its first Best Picture last year, when CODA won.