Streaming service Netflix has outshone every other Hollywood studio with 35 Oscar nominations, including 10 for the 1930s drama Mank.

A portrait of old Hollywood, Mank led the pack of nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards announced on Tuesday morning (Australian time).

The Academy has also made history by putting two women up for best director – Chloé Zhao for reality-based drama Nomadland and Emerald Fennell for #MeToo revenge tale Promising Young Woman. 

A record 76 nominations went to women, the academy said.

In fact, this year’s Oscar nominations are said to be the most diverse ever, and it may be a positive byproduct of the coronavirus pandemic.

Writer-director Chloé Zhao, left, on the set of Nomadland. Photo: AAP

According to Quartz, many low-budget and independent movies, which often have more diverse casts, have received more attention as a result of Hollywood blockbusters being postponed.

Minari star Steven Yeun, who plays a Korean immigrant in pursuit of the American Dream, has become the first Asian American in the history of the Oscars to be nominated for best actor.

“Never in my dreams did I ever think a Korean actress would be nominated for an Oscar, and I can’t believe it’s me!” Yeun said in a statement.

South Korean actress Yuh-Jung Youn, who plays a supporting role as a cantankerous grandmother in Minari, became the first South Korean actress to get an Oscar nod.

Steven Yeun, foreground, in a scene from Minari. Photo: AAP

Up for best actor, Riz Ahmed who plays Ruben in the deaf drama Sound of Metal became the first person of Pakistani descent ever to be nominated for any acting Oscar.

The 38-year old is also the first Muslim to be nominated for best actor.

Several other nominations went to stories featuring non-white actors or about black culture, including One Night in Miami which got three nods, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

The Oscars, the highest honours in the movie industry, will be handed out at a ceremony on April 25 that will take place at both the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and, for the first time, at Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced.

Oscar nominees for best supporting actress, from left, Maria Bakalova, Glenn Close, Olivia Colman, Amanda Seyfried and Yuh-Jung Youn. Photo: AAP

The form of the ceremony has not yet been announced.

Lead actors picking up nominations included a first Oscar nod for the late Chadwick Boseman for his last film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, previous winners Frances McDormand and Viola Davis and Britons Carey Mulligan, Vanessa Kirby, Riz Ahmed and Anthony Hopkins.

One notable omission from the top Oscar races was director Spike Lee’s Vietnam war drama Da 5 Bloods.

• Click here to read the full list of nominations.

-with AAP