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Five Things to Know about the Emmys

"Succession" is leading the way for the Emmy Awards with the most nominations, but can "Squid Game" win a historic prize for best drama? VALERIE MACON AFP/File
"Succession" is leading the way for the Emmy Awards with the most nominations, but can "Squid Game" win a historic prize for best drama? VALERIE MACON AFP/File
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Five Things to Know about the Emmys

"Succession" is leading the way for the Emmy Awards with the most nominations, but can "Squid Game" win a historic prize for best drama? VALERIE MACON AFP/File
"Succession" is leading the way for the Emmy Awards with the most nominations, but can "Squid Game" win a historic prize for best drama? VALERIE MACON AFP/File

Will "Squid Game" make history? Or will HBO powerhouse "Succession" swipe the best drama statuette again at television's equivalent of the Oscars?

And will Hulu break through on a wider scale?

Here are five things to know about the 74th Emmy Awards, which take place on Monday night in Los Angeles, AFP said.

- Is Hollywood ready to crown K-drama? -
K-pop sensation BTS are so beloved that news of the boy band taking a break sparked a global meltdown on social media. "Parasite" broke all the rules on its path to Oscars glory in 2020. Is Hollywood now ready to honor a television series in Korean?

"Squid Game" -- the blockbuster Netflix series about down-and-out people competing in children's games to the death for money -- became a global phenomenon upon its launch just about a year ago.

Now it could win the Emmy for best drama, in what would be a first for a non-English-language series. It is already a trailblazer just for earning a nomination in the category, one of 14 overall.

The series has already tasted Emmys victory, with Lee Yoo-mi taking the prize for best guest actress in a drama at the Creative Emmys, the pre-gala event at which many statuettes are awarded in minor categories.

Lee plays Ji-yeong, one of the 456 desperate competitors hoping to win cash in the brutal contest.

- Double nominations -
A host of performers are up for multiple awards on Monday, many of them in both acting and off-camera categories.

Julia Garner ("Ozark" and "Inventing Anna") and Sydney Sweeney ("Euphoria" and "The White Lotus") are among those nominated for multiple acting roles, with Garner tipped to win the head-to-head battle for best supporting actress.

Best comedy actor nominee Bill Hader ("Barry") is also nominated for directing, writing and producing the show about a hitman who moves to Los Angeles and gets involved in the acting scene.

Seth Rogen is nominated for best supporting actor in a limited series and for producing "Pam and Tommy" -- the story of how an infamous sex tape of actress Pamela Anderson and Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was made public.

- Bring on the gala -
For the first time in the era of Covid-19, the Television Academy is staging a full-throttle show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, after a largely virtual event in 2020 and a scaled-back event at a partially outdoor venue last year.

"Saturday Night Live" veteran Kenan Thompson, himself a past Emmy winner, will make his debut as host. The festivities begin at 5:00 pm Monday (0000 GMT Tuesday).

The show is being held on a Monday night this year because NBC, which has the rotating network rights to air it, also airs Sunday Night Football, and the gridiron trumps Tinseltown, with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the schedule.

- Hulu has high hopes -
HBO and Netflix tend to dominate the Emmys, but 2022 could be a banner year for Hulu, which is majority-owned by Disney.

The US-only streamer, specializing in more adult-oriented content than Disney+, creates originals such as 2017 drama winner "The Handmaid's Tale," and has been ramping up production.

This year, it has a handful of top contenders in the limited series categories.

Michael Keaton is the frontrunner for best actor in a limited series for playing a doctor embroiled in the US opioid epidemic in "Dopesick," which raked in 14 nominations.

Amanda Seyfried is the frontrunner for best actress glory in the same section for her turn as disgraced biotech star Elizabeth Holmes in "The Dropout."

"Pam and Tommy" has 10 nominations, and comedy "Only Murders in the Building" -- starring Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez as an unlikely trio of true-crime podcasters -- is also in the mix.

- Posthumous pre-gala Emmy for Boseman -
"Black Panther" star Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020 after battling colon cancer -- a diagnosis he never publicly discussed.

Last year, he narrowly missed out to Anthony Hopkins on a posthumous Oscar, for best actor in blues drama "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."

But he earned some final awards glory at the Creative Emmys, winning for voicing a version of his "Black Panther" character in Marvel's animated series "What If...?"

Other winners at the pre-gala event were former US president Barack Obama (now halfway to an EGOT with his two Grammys), pop star Adele, rapper Eminem and reality show host RuPaul.

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'Train Dreams,' 'The Secret Agent' Nab Spirit Wins to Boost Oscars Campaigns

'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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'Train Dreams,' 'The Secret Agent' Nab Spirit Wins to Boost Oscars Campaigns

'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
'Train Dreams' director Clint Bentley speaks to the audience after his film grabbed best feature at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, as it continues its best picture Oscars campaign. KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP

Period drama "Train Dreams" took home the Spirit Awards win for best feature Sunday, as both it and "The Secret Agent" gathered momentum ahead of the Academy Awards.

"The Secret Agent" notched best international film as its team hopes to win in the same category at the Oscars next month.

The annual Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony only celebrates movies made for less than $30 million.

"Train Dreams," director Clint Bentley's adaptation of the Denis Johnson novella, follows a railroad worker and the transformation of the American northwest across the 20th century.

The film won three of its four categories, also grabbing wins for best director and best cinematography. The movie's lead, Joel Edgerton, however, did not take home best actor, which went to Rose Byrne for "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."

"Train Dreams" producer Teddy Schwarzman told AFP the film "is a singular journey, but it hopefully helps bring people together to understand all that life entails: love, friendship, loss, grief, healing and hope."

"Train Dreams" will compete for best picture at the Oscars, among other honors.

Big win for Brazil

After "The Secret Agent" nabbed best international film, director Kleber Mendonca Filho hailed the win as one that hopefully "gives more visibility to Brazilian cinema."

The film follows a former academic pursued by hitmen amid the political turmoil of Brazil under military rule.

It prevailed Sunday over contenders including rave-themed road trip movie "Sirat," which will compete alongside "The Secret Agent" for best international feature film at the Oscars, capping Hollywood's awards season.

"The Secret Agent" will also be up for best picture, best actor and best casting.

Brazil's "I'm Still Here" won best international feature at the Oscars last year.

Other Spirit winners on Sunday included "Lurker," for best first screenplay and best first feature film.

"Sorry, Honey" nabbed best screenplay and "The Perfect Neighbor" scored best documentary.

The Academy Awards will be presented on March 15.

Entertainment

Hiam Abbass Says ‘Cinema Is a Political Act’ After Berlin Row

13 February 2026, Berlin: Palestinian actress and film director actress Hiam Abbass attends the photocall for the film “In a Whisper” at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, taking place from February 12 to 22, 2026. (dpa)
13 February 2026, Berlin: Palestinian actress and film director actress Hiam Abbass attends the photocall for the film “In a Whisper” at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, taking place from February 12 to 22, 2026. (dpa)
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Hiam Abbass Says ‘Cinema Is a Political Act’ After Berlin Row

13 February 2026, Berlin: Palestinian actress and film director actress Hiam Abbass attends the photocall for the film “In a Whisper” at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, taking place from February 12 to 22, 2026. (dpa)
13 February 2026, Berlin: Palestinian actress and film director actress Hiam Abbass attends the photocall for the film “In a Whisper” at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, taking place from February 12 to 22, 2026. (dpa)

The start of this year's Berlin Film Festival was marked by a row over how far film should venture into politics but for prominent French-Palestinian actor Hiam Abbass, "everything we do is a political act".

Abbass is starring in two films being presented at this year's Berlinale festival and in an AFP interview she emphasized the importance of a politically engaged approach to cinema.

At Thursday's opening press conference jury president Wim Wenders sparked controversy by saying "we cannot really enter the field of politics", in response to a question about Germany's support for Gaza.

"I don't agree," Abbass told AFP.

"There's a lack of courage among people in the film world -- among some, not all," said Abbass, who gained global attention for her role as Marcia Roy in the hit HBO series Succession.

She recognized that Wenders's remarks were "taken out of context", as he did talk about cinema's capacity to "change the world", albeit in a different way from party politics.

Nevertheless, Abbass said she was glad to see filmmakers at this year's festival "commit to amplifying stories and voices of minorities, oppressed people, people experiencing bombardment, genocides".

"Today more than ever, if we don't tackle these subjects, we're making art for art's sake, and that's something that doesn't interest me."

- 'Act of resistance' -

Abbass, who was born in Nazareth in northern Israel but has been living in France for 37 years, stars in two films at the festival with striking political messages.

In "Only Rebels Win" by Lebanese filmmaker Danielle Arbid, Abbass plays a Christian Palestinian living in Beirut who faces a backlash from those around her because of her relationship with a South Sudanese Muslim migrant 40 years her junior.

Israeli bombardments between September and November 2024 forced the production to relocate from Beirut to a studio near Paris, where the team deployed creative solutions to recreate the Lebanese capital.

Abbass said the circumstances turned the film into "an act of resistance".

When the bombardment of Beirut began, "I told Danielle: 'Whatever you do, wherever you go, I'll follow you, because this film has to get made'."

- Academy's 'open-mindedness' -

Before starting on "Only Rebels Win", Abbass had just finished working on "Palestine 36" by Annemarie Jacir, a depiction of the Palestinian uprising against the British Mandate in 1936.

That film almost did not happen because of the war in Gaza, sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel's retaliation has left at least 71,000 people dead in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, whose figures the United Nations considers reliable.

Abbass said that the "the film waited eight months so that it could be shot," with production forced to move to Jordan instead of the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Abbass said that the team decided that "at a certain point, we couldn't keep being subject to" the decisions of the Israeli government.

She also welcomed the Academy's decision to include three films highlighting the Palestinian experience in its shortlist for best international feature film: "Palestine 36", Kaouther Ben Hania's "The Voice of Hind Rajab" and Cherien Dabis's "All That's Left of You".

Only Kaouther Ben Hania's film ultimately made the final list of five nominees.

But Abbass praised the "open-mindedness" of the Academy to bring these films "almost to the final stages of the Oscars" after what she termed Israel's "genocide" in Gaza.

Entertainment

Independent Spirit Awards Celebrate Indie Movies and TV in Los Angeles

Rose Byrne, Hasty Pudding 2026 Woman of the Year, takes questions from reporters during a news conference at Farkas Hall theater, on the campus of Harvard University, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP)
Rose Byrne, Hasty Pudding 2026 Woman of the Year, takes questions from reporters during a news conference at Farkas Hall theater, on the campus of Harvard University, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP)
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Independent Spirit Awards Celebrate Indie Movies and TV in Los Angeles

Rose Byrne, Hasty Pudding 2026 Woman of the Year, takes questions from reporters during a news conference at Farkas Hall theater, on the campus of Harvard University, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP)
Rose Byrne, Hasty Pudding 2026 Woman of the Year, takes questions from reporters during a news conference at Farkas Hall theater, on the campus of Harvard University, Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP)

Ethan Hawke, Rose Byrne and Keke Palmer are just a few of the actors up for prizes at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles. Comedian and “Saturday Night Live” veteran Ego Nwodim is hosting the celebration of independent film and television, which will be livestreamed on YouTube starting at 5 p.m. ET.

Top nominees going into the 41st edition of the show include Ira Sachs’ “Peter Hujar’s Day,” which recreates an interview with the 1970s photographer, played by Ben Whishaw; Clint Bentley’s lyrical Denis Johnson adaptation “Train Dreams,” with Joel Edgerton; and Eva Victor’s “Sorry, Baby,” about life after an assault.

The show, which serves as a fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs, is being held at the Hollywood Palladium for the first time, as its longtime beachside perch in Santa Monica undergoes renovations.

The awards sometimes overlap significantly with major Oscar contenders and winners, as it did with “Anora,” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” and sometimes not. Organizers limit eligibility to productions with budgets less than $30 million, meaning more expensive films like “One Battle After Another” are not in the running.

Byrne is one of the few actors nominated for both a Spirit Award and an Oscar, for her performance as a mother on the edge in Mary Bronstein’s “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” In the lead performance category, she’s up against the likes of Edgerton (“Train Dreams”), Dylan O’Brien (“Twinless”), Palmer (“One of Them Days”), Tessa Thompson (“Hedda”) and Whishaw.

Supporting performance nominees include Naomi Ackie (“Sorry, Baby”), Zoey Deutch (“Nouvelle Vague”), Kirsten Dunst (“Roofman”), Nina Hoss (“Hedda”) and Archie Madekwe (“Lurker”).

Films nominated in the international category include “Sirāt,” “The Secret Agent” and “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl.” “Come See Me in the Good Light,” “My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow” and “The Perfect Neighbor” are also up for the documentary prize.

Hawke, who is nominated for an Oscar for “Blue Moon,” is up for a Spirit Award for his leading performance in the television series “The Lowdown,” where other nominees include Seth Rogen for “The Studio,” Stephen Graham for “Adolescence” and Noah Wyle for “The Pitt.”