Every year, starting in 2020, I do my own personal film awards that I call the Golden Hourglass Awards. Recently, I discovered an account, Cláudio Alves, that put together lists of eligible films for every year in Academy Awards history and it got me thinking about how a 1929 version of the Golden Hourglass Awards would have looked.

This list will be part of an ongoing personal project where I go through every Academy Awards and make two lists: The first, a retrospective ballot based off actual eligible films and using official categories for that ceremony. The second will be a retrospective of the Golden Hourglasses that I choose each year, without taking into consideration Academy eligibility or how the Academy defines the release of each film.

This is my retrospective ballot for the Golden Hourglass Awards, using my own personal categories, and using the eligibility period of 1927 and 1928. Any film that received a wide release in this time is considered eligible.

Partner to the Retrospective Ballot: First Academy Awards List

Categories:
Best Picture:

Napoléon ***Winner***
The Fall of the House of Usher
It
The King of Kings
The Man Who Laughs
Metropolis
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
The Unknown
The Wind

Best Director:

Abel Gance - Napoléon  ***Winner***
Jean Epstein - The Fall of the House of Usher
Carl Theodor Dreyer - The Passion of Joan of Arc
Fritz Lang - Metropolis
Paul Leni - The Man Who Laughs

Best Actor:

Conrad Veidt - The Man Who Laughs ***Winner***
Lon Chaney - The Unknown
Albert Dieudonné - Napoléon
Emil Jannings - The Last Command
H. B. Warner - The King of Kings

Best Actress:

Maria Falconetti - The Passion of Joan of Arc ***Winner***
Lilian Gish - The Wind
Brigitte Helm - Metropolis
Gloria Swanson - Sadie Thompson
Mary Philbin - The Man Who Laughs

Best Supporting Actor

Vladimir Roudenko - Napoléon ***Winner***
Cesare Gravina - The Man Who Laughs
Norman Kerry - The Unknown
William Powell - The Last Command
Joseph Schildkraut - The King of Kings

Best Supporting Actress

Olga Baclanova - The Man Who Laughs ***Winner***
Jacqueline Gadson - It
Margaret Livingston - Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
Gina Manés - Napoleon 
Margaret Mann - Four Sons

Best Casting

The King of Kings ***Winner***
The Man Who Laughs
Napoléon
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans

Best Original Screenplay:

The Passion of Joan of Arc ***Winner***
The Cameraman
The Circus
Napoléon
The Kid Brother

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Man Who Laughs ***Winner***
The Fall of the House of Usher
Metropolis
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
The Wind

Best Art Direction:

Metropolis***Winner***
7th Heaven
The Fall of the House of Usher
Napoléon
The Passion of Joan of Arc

Best Costume Design

The King of Kings ***Winner***
It
Napoléon
The Passion of Joan of Arc
Street Angel

Best Cinematography:

Napoleon ***Winner***
The Fall of the House of Usher
The Man Who Laughs
Metropolis
The Passion of Joan of Arc 

Best Film Editing

Napoléon ***Winner***
The Fall of the House of Usher
The King of Kings
Metropolis
The Passion of Joan of Arc

Best Visual Effects:

Wings ***Winner***
The King of Kings
Metropolis
Napoléon
The Wind

--
Films with multiple nominations:
12: Napoléon
9: The Man Who Laughs, The Passion of Joan of Arc
8: Metropolis
7: The King of Kings
6: The Fall of the House of Usher
4: Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, The Wind
3: It
2: Street Angel, The Last Command, The Unknown

Films with multiple wins
5: Napoléon
3: The Man Who Laughs
2: The Passion of Joan of Arc, The King of Kings