By Nate Bloom
Contributing Columnist
The Tribe Goes to the Oscars, 2026 Version
The Academy Awards (the Oscars) will take place on March 15 at 8 p.m. The program will broadcast on ABC and will stream on Hulu. Conan O’Brien hosts.
The following nominees are “verified” as Jewish (they have at least one Jewish parent, and identify as Jewish or “secular”; or they are converts to Judaism).
If there are no nominated Jew(s) in a category, I will say “none.” Jews are in caps the first time they are noted.
I don’t cover the technical categories (sound, lighting, etc.) — and I don’t have the space to say much about the nominees. Please look online for longer “bios.” All the categories have five nominees, except Best Picture. There are 10 Best Picture nominees.
Acting: Best Actor: TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, 30, “Marty Supreme”; Best Actress: KATE HUDSON, 46, “Song Sung Blue”; Supporting Actor: SEAN PENN, 65, “One Battle After Another”; Supporting Actress : None.
Notes: Chalamet’s French father was raised Protestant. His American mother is Jewish. Timothee is secular. His mother says that the family celebrated some Jewish holidays; Kate Hudson identifies as Jewish. Her father isn’t Jewish. Kate’s mother is actress GOLDIE HAWN, 80. Goldie’s mother was Jewish, and her father was not Jewish. She was raised Jewish, too. Sean Penn’s late father, director, LEO PENN, was Jewish. His mother was Catholic. He is secular. Penn has been nominated five times for a Best Actor Oscar. His 2026 nomination is his first Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. He’s won two Best Actor Oscars for “Mystic River” and “Milk.” In “Milk,” he played HARVEY MILK (1930–78) a gay, Jewish politician who was assassinated.
Best Director: JOSH SAFDIE, 41. “Marty Supreme.” This film was loosely inspired by the life of MARTY REISMAN (1930–2012), a top table tennis athlete.
Writing: Best Original Screenplay: ROBERT KAPLOW, 71, for “Blue Moon”; and RONALD BRONSTEIN, 51, and Josh Safdie, for “Marty Supreme”; Best Adapted Screenplay: None.
Best Animated Film: “Arco,” a French science-fantasy film. The 4 main producers of the film are Oscar-nominated. NATALIE PORTMAN, 44, is a main producer. Portman’s voice was “dubbed-in” for a French actress, for the film’s English language version.
Best Foreign Film: None; Best Feature Documentary Film: ANDREW JARECKI, 62, and Charlotte Kaufman co-directed and co-produced “Alabama Solution.” It follows the prison system in Alabama from the perspective of incarcerated leaders.
Note: Jarecki and Kaufman co-directed the film and co-produced it. Jarecki is best known for “The Jinx,” an HBO “hit” documentary. Andrew’s father is Jewish. I couldn’t find out if his mother is Jewish. Kaufman is a “newbie” director I couldn’t run her down.
Best Short Documentary: “All the Empty Rooms.” It follows Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they embark across the United States to memorialize the bedrooms of children killed in school shootings. JOSHUA SEFTEL, 57, directed the film and he shared producing credit with another person. Seftel has directed many acclaimed documentaries AND “Children No More: Were and are Gone,” is an Israeli film directed by HILA MEDALIA. This film is about a vigil that began in March 2025 in Tel Aviv, as a handful of left-wing protesters held photos of children killed in Gaza.
Best Live Short Film: “Butcher’s Stain” was directed by MEYER-LEVINSON BLOUNT of Tel Aviv University. His film follows an Arab butcher in Tel Aviv, who sets out on a journey to prove his innocence after he’s accused of removing posters of the hostages kidnapped to Gaza.
Best Original Score: None; Best Original Song: “Dear Me” from the movie “Diane Warren: Relentless.” DIANE WARREN, 68, wrote a song for a documentary about Diane Warren! Warren’s music has been Oscar-nominated 17 times and she hasn’t won yet (!) AND “Train Dreams” (song) from “Train Dreams” (movie) — Music by Nick Cave and BRYCE DESSNER, 48; lyrics by Nick Cave. Dessner is a member of The National, a popular rock band. His twin brother, AARON DESSNER, is also a National band member.
Here’s a bio note on Bryce Dessner: He was born and raised in Cincinnati, with his twin brother, Aaron. He was raised Jewish. He has Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish ancestry. Dessner attended high school at Cincinnati Country Day School and graduated in 1994.
Best Picture: The main producers of a best film are nominated for an Oscar, and the producers of the winning film receive an Oscar. Here are the “verified” Jewish producers nominated.
“F1” (a racing movie): JEREMY KLEINER, 48, and JERRY BRUCKHEIMER, 82; “Hamnet”: STEVEN SPIELBERG, 79, and SAM MENDES, 60; “Marty Supreme”: Josh Safdie; Timothee Chalamet, and Ronald Bronstein; and “Train Dreams”: TEDDY SCHWARZMAN, 46, and WILL JANOWITZ, 45.
Note: all the nominees, above, share a Best Picture nomination with other producers for the same movie. These “other” producers are either not Jewish or “not verified.”
