Although the awards show tends to overlook the horror genre, Coralie Fargeat hopes to catch the Academy‘s attention.
After earning three nominations at last night’s Golden Globes for The Substance, the writer and director shared her “wish” that the Oscars will be just as receptive to the horror film when nominations are announced on Friday, Jan. 17.
“I don’t see horror films as any different from other movies. They are so political. They are such a great way to tell so many things in a very rude way, and in a very indelicate way,” Fargeat told IndieWire. “To me, they should compete at the same level as everything else. I learned to accept who I was as a filmmaker, not loving writing dialogue, for instance, but expressing myself in a visual and very visceral way. And that’s when you accept who you are, and then the magic can happen. The best thing I wish for the Academy is that there is not this barrier, that every movie is considered as cinema, which I think it is.”
She was previously nominated for Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy for The Substance at the 82nd Golden Globes. Demi Moore won Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy for her performance, while Margaret Qualley was nominated for Best Supporting Actress — Motion Picture.
The Substance stars Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, an aerobics star who, after being fired at 50, turns to a mysterious substance that offers to transform her into an enhanced version of herself.
Demi Moore in ‘The Substance’
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Fargeat previously told Deadline she wants the film to transcend the horror genre altogether. “For me, when I do a film, I don’t think about genre. I do what I love and what I’m passionate about,” she said last month.
“For me, every film is cinema. Every film that transmits something through image and sound is cinema, it’s a universal language, whatever genre it is,” added Fargeat. “When I was younger, I was… I don’t know the term in English, but I was not very good at school. I felt I was not good enough. And so now I love the fact that, in the end, I found my way to express myself in a way that is 100% me. To me, that’s the thing. When you’re sincere in doing what you love to do, it’s the best way you can touch the audience and have your voice go out into the world. So, yes, it’s a success for genre, but, most importantly, it’s a victory for sincerity in why you’re doing film.”