Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams to host 95th Oscars nominations

Oscar-winning actor and producer Riz Ahmed and US actress Allison Williams will host the nominations for the 95th Oscars, the Academy has announced.

Nominations in all 23 categories will be read out in a live presentation from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater, on Tuesday, January 24, and via global livestream.

Last year British actor Ahmed won the Oscar for best  live action short film for The Long Goodbye.

He was also nominated for best actor in 2021 for his performance in The Sound Of Metal, for his portrayal of a heavy metal drummer beginning to go deaf.

Williams is known for her performances in US comedy series Girls, as well as psychological thriller Get Out and recent horror/ sci-fi film M3GAN.

The nominations will take place from 1.30pm UK time.

Earlier this month, the Academy announced that 301 films are eligible for this year’s awards, which will take place in March.

The number has increased from 276 last year, but is lower than the 366 eligible in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Expected contenders include The Banshees Of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once and The Fabelmans, all of which have scooped multiple nominations for previous awards.

To be eligible for consideration under rules introduced this year, feature films must have opened in a commercial motion picture theatre in at least one of six US metropolitan areas between January 1 and December 31, last year.

They must have completed a minimum of seven consecutive days in the same venue and must have a running time of more than 40 minutes.

The star-studded ceremony, due to be hosted by US talk show host and comedian Jimmy Kimmel, will take place on March 12, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.