Historians will be dissecting the 93rd Academy Awards for years to determine whether they presage a turning point for the inclusion of women and people of color in categories where they have been represented only in single digits over the course of time.
The immediate Oscar headlines are about the dominance of Nomadland with its golden statuettes for best picture, best director for Chloé Zhao and best lead actress for Frances McDormand.
The other hot topic of conversation about the show was the way it ended– with the announcement (by last year’s winner Joaquin Phoenix) of Anthony Hopkins winning best actor for his role in The Father over the nearly 100% prediction that it would be the late Chadwick Boseman.
Because Hopkins was not there in person at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles or even at a remote location arranged by the motion picture Academy, the show ended with a rather abrupt thud as Phoenix said good night.
There were immediate comparisons to the debacle show finale of 2017 when La La Land was mistakenly announced as the winner of Best Picture instead of Moonlight. The vast majority of people commenting said this was a more severe fiasco, yet you almost have to feel sorry for Hopkins in the wake of all the brutal criticism.
But there were a number of inspirational moments and high points during the ABC telecast. Billed as hostless, director and actor Regina King kicked it off in a tracking shot through the historic train station and immediately gave voice to the racial reckoning occurring here and around the world.
Five years after #OscarsSoWhite shook the industry as well as the #MeToo movement several years later, there is verifiable improvement on diversity and inclusion.
Zhao winning best director was a huge milestone. She is only the second woman in history to ever win that award, after Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for The Hurt Locker. She and Emerald Fennell, nominated for directing Promising Young Woman were only the sixth and seventh- ever female directing nominees.
Fennell herself took the Oscar for best original screenplay, becoming only the fourth woman in history to do so – and the first since Diablo Cody took the prize for Juno some 13 years ago. Really sad, right?
Supporting actress winner Yuh-Jung Youn, the grandmother in best-pic nominee Minari, became the first Korean to win an Oscar for acting. She was handed her trophy by last year’s supporting actor, Brad Pitt. Youn, the favorite after a string of other trophies, was questioned incessantly about it in the “backstage” virtual pressroom, including by one reporter from Extra who asked if she got close enough to tell what he smelled like. “I’m not a dog,” she responded.
Also predicted to in the supporting actor category: Daniel Kaluuya, for his role playing Black Panther party leader Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah, based on the true story of Hampton’s assassination in Chicago in the late 1960s. Kaluuya talked about the hard work that needs to continue, with a short break to celebrate his Oscar.
Another history-making achievement was the win for the Black hair and makeup artists who worked their magic on the cast of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which also won for best costume design. A record book entry there, too, as 89-year old costume designer Ann Roth became the oldest woman to win an Oscar.
Check out the full list of nominees and winners below.
Best Picture
“Nomadland” — Winner
“The Father”
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“Mank”
“Minari”
“Promising Young Woman”
“Sound of Metal”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Best Director
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland” — Winner
Thomas Vinterberg, “Another Round”
David Fincher, “Mank”
Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
Actress in a Leading Role
Frances McDormand, “Nomadland” — Winner
Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Andra Day, “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
Vanessa Kirby, “Pieces of a Woman”
Carey Mulligan, “Promising Young Woman”
Actor in a Leading Role
Anthony Hopkins, “The Father” — Winner
Riz Ahmed, “Sound of Metal”
Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Gary Oldman, “Mank”
Steven Yeun, “Minari”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Yuh-jung Youn, “Minari” — Winner
Maria Bakalova, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
Glenn Close, “Hillbilly Elegy”
Olivia Colman, “The Father”
Amanda Seyfried, “Mank”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah” — Winner
Sacha Baron Cohen, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Leslie Odom Jr., “One Night in Miami…”
Paul Raci, “Sound of Metal”
LaKeith Stanfield, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Original Song
“Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” — Winner
“Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
“Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”
“lo Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”
“Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami…”
Animated Feature Film
“Soul” — Winner
“Onward”
“Over the Moon”
“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon”
“Wolfwalkers”
Makeup and Hairstyling
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” — Winner
“Emma.”
“Hillbilly Elegy”
“Mank”
“Pinocchio”
Visual Effects
“Tenet” — Winner
“Love and Monsters”
“The Midnight Sky”
“Mulan”
“The One and Only Ivan”
Cinematography
“Mank” — Winner
“Judas and the Black Messiah”
“News of the World”
“Nomadland”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Film Editing
“Sound of Metal” — Winner
“The Father”
“Nomadland”
“Promising Young Woman”
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Production Design
“Mank” — Winner
“The Father”
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
“News of the World”
“Tenet”
Sound
“Sound of Metal” — Winner
“Greyhound”
“Mank”
“News of the World”
“Soul”
International Feature Film
Denmark, “Another Round” — Winner
Hong Kong, “Better Days”
Romania, “Collective”
Tunisia, “The Man Who Sold His Skin”
Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Quo Vadis, Aida?”
Documentary Short Subject
“Colette” — Winner
“A Concerto Is a Conversation”
“Do Not Split”
“Hunger Ward”
“A Love Song for Latasha”
Documentary Feature
“My Octopus Teacher” — Winner
“Collective”
“Crip Camp”
“The Mole Agent”
“Time”
Live Action Short Film
“Two Distant Strangers” — Winner
“Feeling Through”
“The Letter Room”
“The Present”
“White Eye”
Animated Short Film
“If Anything Happens I Love You” — Winner
“Burrow”
“Genius Loci”
“Opera”
“Yes-People”
Original Screenplay
Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman” — Winner
Screenplay by Will Berson and Shaka King; story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas and Keith Lucas, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
Screenplay by Darius Marder and Abraham Marder; story by Darius Marder and Derek Cianfrance, “Sound of Metal”
Aaron Sorkin, “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Adapted Screenplay
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, “The Father” — Winner
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman and Lee Kern; story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer and Nina Pedrad, “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”
Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland”
Kemp Powers, “One Night in Miami…”
Ramin Bahrani, “The White Tiger”
Original Score
“Soul” — Winner
“Da 5 Bloods”
“Mank”
“Minari”
“News of the World”
Costume Design
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” — Winner
“Emma.”
“Mank”
“Mulan”
“Pinocchio”
