Not only is Jeff Sneider a decent guy but he’s also in-the-know when it comes to test-screenings and advanced Oscar buzz. His latest bit of juice concerns two African-American-centered movies, which were on absolutely nobody’s radar: Melina Matsoukas“Queen and Slim” and Deston Daniel Cretton’s “Just Mercy.” Sneider tweeted about both movies, “after surveying the awards landscape, chatting with sources & listening to the infamous InSneider gut, I'm prepared to go way out on a limb & tell you in July that one year after The Green Book Win, the Oscar will go to one of these two movies. All due respect to AERONAUTS & CATS.”
The short version: "Woman Unknown" was a compromise. The jury deadlocked over "Possible Love" and "NAZA," not able to com to terms, fell back on their #3, May el-Toukhy's film.