The academy said that 62 women were nominated across all categories, a record. The documentary branch nominated four feature-length films that were directed or co-directed by women: “American Factory,” about a Chinese billionaire who reopened an Ohio automotive plant; “The Edge of Democracy,” which focused on Brazilian politics; “For Sama,” about a woman’s life in war-torn Syria; and “Honeyland,” which looks at a female beekeeper in the Republic of North Macedonia. The fifth documentary nominee was “The Cave,” the story of female physicians in Syria who treat patients in an underground hospital.

Nominating “American Factory” was the equivalent of sending an Oscar invitation to Barack and Michelle Obama. The former president and first lady have a multiyear production deal with Netflix, and “American Factory,” produced with Participant Media, was their first release.

Over the last decade, the Academy Awards have become a bit superfluous, with a torrent of precursor ceremonies leaving fans (and honorees) exhausted and the contents of the envelopes unsurprising. The academy’s board of governors, alarmed by sharp declines in television ratings, decided in 2018 to move up this year’s ceremony. It will be held on Feb. 9, two weeks earlier than the last go-round, a seemingly small truncation that nonetheless has the movie capital in a tizzy.

ABC, which broadcasts the Oscars, said last week that the ceremony, viewed by roughly 30 million people in the United States, would not have a host for the second year in a row. Hosting is a thankless job that many celebrities turn down; fully vetting a host (scrubbing their social media accounts for potentially offensive comments) is time-consuming and far from foolproof; and last year’s host-free show stopped the ratings free-fall.