The 97th Academy Awards took place on March 2nd, and the big winner on the night was Anora, which took home five Oscars; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing. Four of those awards ended up going to Sean Baker, who made history on the night as the first person to ever win four Oscars for the same film. In his Best Director speech, he spoke on the importance of the movie theater, saying, “Movie theaters, especially independently-owned theaters, are struggling and it’s up to us to support them. During the pandemic, we lost nearly 100 screens in the US, and we continue to lose them regularly. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture” (Baker, Mar. 2).
In the acting categories, Adrien Brody won Best Actor, and made history with the longest speech ever at the Oscars, at 5 minutes and 40 seconds. This was his second win, and he won for a similar role to that of his winning performance in The Pianist, and he made note of this. In his speech, Brody said, “I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war, and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and of othering, and I believe that I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world, and I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked” (Brody, Mar. 2). Mikey Madison took home Best Actress for her role in Anora, Zoe Saldana won Best Supporting Actress for Emilia Perez, and Kieran Culkin won best Supporting Actor for his role in A Real Pain.
Going into the show, it was thought to have been a race between Anora and Conclave for Best Picture, however Conclave ended up winning only one award, that being Best Adapted Screenplay. Other movies that won multiple awards included The Brutalist, which won 3 including Best Actor, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Perez, and Wicked, which all won two awards.
I’m Still Here pulled off an upset in Best International Feature Film, winning the award for Brazil, beating out Emilia Perez for the award, and Flow took home the award for Best Animated Film. In some technical categories, The Brutalist won for Best Original Score and Best Cinematography, and Dune: Part Two won Best Visual Effects and Best Sound. The Substance took Best Makeup and Hairstyling, while Wicked took home Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.
