Academy Awards: All the winners and losers from the Oscars ceremony celebrating the best in film industry
Happy Oscars Day to all who celebrate! Which is you, right?
Anora was crowned best picture and won five of the six awards for which it was nominated.
Its lead star Mikey Madison pulled off an upset when she beat out Demi Moore in best actress but there was no stopping the Anora momentum.
Its writer, director, producer and editor Sean Baker equalled a 1954 record set by Walt Disney of the most wins by one person in a single year.
But even with Anora’s triumph, it was a year that rewarded many films, reflecting the unpredictable and open race nature of this awards season.
The Brutalist, which went in with 10 nominations, won three gongs including best actor for Adrien Brody, as well as in cinematography and original score.
Emilia Perez picked up two, one for Zoe Saldana in the supporting actress competition and the other in original song. Wicked won two technical awards for costume design and production design while Dune: Part Two won in sound and visual effects.
Conclave, the other best picture leading contender, won in adapted screenplay.
Kieran Culkin won in supporting actor for A Real Pain, the only person who managed to beat Anora in any category.
In international feature, Brazilian film I’m Still Here beat out Emilia Perez and The Seed of the Sacred Fig while Latvian film Flow pulled off a surprise win in animated feature.
The ceremony was hosted by Conan O’Brien and featured an opening performance from Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
In a break from tradition, none of the nominated original songs were performed but, hey, everyone cares more about “Defying Gravity” (which is not eligible because it originated on Broadway) while there were also musical tributes to Quincy Jones and the James Bond franchise.
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Key Events
They defy gravity
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are holding hands and holding space for “Defying Gravity”, which is definitely how you open the Oscars during the year of Wicked.
Erivo is not the favourite to win today but her intensity here is a reminder that she will get that EGOT one day. She’s only an Oscar away.
They get a standing ovation! Michelle Yeoh is crying.
There’s no place like home
That home is Los Angeles.
The ceremony starts with a clips package of LA scenes from classic films, including Chinatown, La La Land, Mulholland Drive and The Big Lebowski. It’s cute but also more or less the same as what the SAGs did a week agio.
What the SAGs didn’t have is the segue into Ariana Grande in a glittering ruby red gown singing Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz.
Who are the sure bets?
We all love a surprise at the Oscars and while this year has been more unpredictable than most, there have been some categories that seem pretty locked. There’s no point even betting on them because it would probably pay back about 30 cents.
The as-close-to sure bets this year:
Supporting actress: Zoe Saldana - Emilia Perez
Supporting actor: Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain
Adapted screenplay - Conclave
Visual effects - Dune: Part Two
Make-up and hairstyling - The Substance
Original song - “El Mal” - Emilia Perez
Production design - Wicked
Costume design - Wicked
Timmy could break Adrien’s record
Adrien Brody looked pretty set to win his second best actor Oscar for his visceral and raw performance in The Brutalist. He’d won all the precursor awards.
But then the Screen Actors Guild awards happened a week ago and the name that was read out was not Brody’s but Timothee Chalamet, for playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown.
Now, we had a race on our hands.
If Chalamet wins, he’ll become the youngest ever winner in the category, a record currently held by Brody who set it in 2003 when he won for The Pianist.
Brody was 29 years old at the time, about a month shy of 30.
Chalamet is 29 right now, but he only had his birthday in December, which means if he triumphs today, he’ll beat Brody’s record by several months.
So, there’s really two races going on in best actor today.
Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice) and Colman Domingo (Sing Sing) are also nominated, but it is expected to be a showdown between Brody and Chalamet.
What happened to Emilia Perez?
On nominations day, Emilia Perez seemed to be the frontrunner with 13 nominations including in the key categories.
It also broke the record for most nominations ever for a non-English language film. Plus, if it had won, it would’ve been only the second musical best picture winner this century - Chicago in 2003 is the other.
Karla Sofia Gascon also became the first openly transgender performer to be nominated for a performance.
But then the wheels started to fall off. Gascon’s old tweets from circa 2020 were resurfaced, and they were not pretty. The Spanish actor had taken shots at a raft of marginalised communities including Muslims, Asians and Black people.
She even had a pop at the Oscars themselves, making fun of its 2021 ceremony for its culturally diverse winners.
She issued an initial apology but then didn’t stop, posting on social media and giving a car-crash hour-long interview to CNN in which she also suggested she was the victim.
In the wake of the furore, her castmates and the studio (which in the US and UK is Netflix who has distribution rights) distanced themselves, trying to preserve the awards campaign in other categories.
Gascon retreated and didn’t attend many of the awards she was nominated for.
There was a thawing of relations at the BAFTAs when writer and director Jacques Audiard thanked Gascon in his acceptance speech and she made an appearance at France’s Cesar Awards over the weekend.
She is expected to attend the Oscars today and all eyes will be on who she’ll be sat next to, if there are any friendly interactions between her and others, and if she chooses to skip the red carpet.
The scandal severely dented Emilia Perez’s overall chances but co-star Zoe Saldana is widely expected to win in her category of supporting actress while the film is competitive in original song and international feature.
Who’s up for Best Picture?
There are 23 categories at the Oscars but the main game is best picture.
Conventional wisdom, as dictated by who has been winning the precursor awards, has it down to Anora and Conclave, but don’t be too surprised if there’s an upset and someone else sneaks through.
Unlike the rest of the field, the best picture is decided by a preferential ballot (just like in Australian elections!) so it can work in your favour to be everyone’s second favourite film. It rewards widely liked consensus picks rather than more divisive passion projects.
Which is another reason why Anora and Conclave are expected to do well - all the commentary suggests the voters broadly like these films.
Here are your nominees:
PICTURE
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Perez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
