History was created as Chloé Zhao won Best Director for Nomadland making her the first woman of colour and the second woman to win in the category; while Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for The Father to become the oldest person receiving an Oscar at age 83
The most celebrated awards event – the 93rd Annual Academy Awards – on Sunday night (April 25) was filmed at Union Station, Los Angeles. A low-key affair in comparison, the Oscars ceremony, which takes place in February each year, was delayed this time around in the wake of the ongoing Coronavirus global pandemic. Regina King started the Oscars with a stark commentary on the recent trial of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer, who was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of George Floyd. The event had LIVE audience and the red carpet was a socially distant affair. Some winners accepted the awards in person, though the usual extravagant parties were skipped. Here’re some of the wins of the big night:
Oscars saw some predictable wins and had many surprises too.
- Nomadland that was leading with six nominations won three of the six coveted awards. Chloé Zhao won Best Director for Nomadland making her the first woman of colour and the second woman to win in the category. The film also won for the Best Picture and Frances McDormand won her third Best Actress for it.
- In a shocking turn, Anthony Hopkins proved netizen predictions of the award going to Chadwick Boseman wrong as he won the Best Actor for his role as a man with dementia in the drama The Father. Hopkins also created history by becoming the oldest person to receive an Oscar at age 83. Boseman was expected to win posthumously for his role in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
- Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor for Judas and the Black Messiah, while Youn Yuh-jung became the first Korean woman in Oscar history to win the Best Supporting Actress for her role in Minari.
Emerald Fennell won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
- The much-loved Netflix gem My Octopus Teacher won the Oscar for the Best Documentary.
- Pixar’s animated treat Soul won the Best Animated Feature.
- Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson became the first Black women to win the Oscar for Best Hair and Makeup for their work in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
- Two separate categories of Sound Editing and Sound Mixing have been combined into one category The Best Sound and the Oscar was won by Sound of Metal that has Riz Ahmed playing a musician who goes deaf.