African American Girl Quvenzhané Wallis Becomes Youngest Oscar Nominee for Best Actress

Hushpuppy (Quvenzhané Wallis) and her father, Wink (Dwight Henry) in a scene from "Beasts of the Southern Wild".

Amazing Quvenzhané Wallis has become the youngest person to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in the 85 years history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Louisiana-born 9-year-old screen sensation has received critical acclaim for her unforgettable role of six-year-old Hushpuppy in Beasts of the Southern Wild. President Barack Obama described the film as "spectacular" and majority of leading film critics have named it one of the top best films of 2012.

Quvenzhané Wallis at the 85th Academy Awards Nominations Announcement on Thursday, January 10th, 2013.

The youngest actress previously nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role is Keisha Castle-Hughes who was nominated for "Whale Rider" at age 13. But can Wallis make history by also becoming the youngest actress to win it on Oscar night of February 24? Can she beat the other nominees, Jessica Chastain for "Zero Dark Thirty," Jennifer Lawrence for "Siver Linings Playbook," Naomi Watts for "The Impossible," and Emmanuelle Riva (the oldest nominee ever at 85) for "Amour"?
As we say in Africa, it is possible!

Blast of sheer, improbable joy, a boisterous, thrilling action movie with a protagonist who can hold her own... Hushpuppy, the 6-year-old heroine of 'Beasts of the Southern Wild,' has a smile to charm fish out of the water and a scowl so fierce it can stop monsters in their tracks.
~ A. O. Scott, in The New York Times.



"Beasts of the Southern Wild" has a total of four nominations including Wallis' for Best Actress, Best Picture, Best Director for Benh Zeitlin, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The film won the Caméra d'Or award at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival where it had its world premiere, Grand Jury Prize at the Deauville American Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival, Golden Space Needle Award for Best Director at the Seattle International Film Festival and the Sutherland Trophy for Most Innovative Debut.

The 85th annual Academy Awards will take place on February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. And will be hosted by Seth MacFarlane.
Click here for the full list of Nominees for the 85th Academy Awards.

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