Anora has dominated the Academy Awards, winning five gongs including best picture.
The film’s star, Mikey Madison, took home the best actress award – something of a suprise win, with many expecting Demi Moore to scoop the prize for her performance in The Substance.
Anora filmmaker Sean Baker was also named best director, and used his acceptance speech to make a plea for audiences to support cinemas, which he said were “a vital part of our culture” and at risk of being lost.
Both also thanked the sex workers in the industry, without the help of whom they said they could never have made the film.
Anora also won the Oscars for best original screenplay and best editing.
Winning all four awards he was up for, Baker tied with Walt Disney’s record for the most Oscar wins by a single person in a single night – although Disney won his awards for multiple films, rather than a single film as Baker has done.
Adrien Brody won the best actor Oscar for playing Hungarian architect Lazlo Toth in architectural epic The Brutalist.
It’s his second Academy Award win in the category some 22 years after his first, for The Pianist back in 2003.
Accepting his award in a lengthy speech, he paid tribute to his partner Georgina Chapman, Harvey Weinstein’s ex-wife, who he said had “re-invigorated” his “self-worth” and “sense of value”, as well as calling for an end to antisemitism.
Best cinematography also went to Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour epic, as well as a win for best original score.
Papal thriller Conclave took just one prize, for best adapted screenplay.
The night was led by comedian and late-night chat host Conan O’Brien.
Kieran Culkin took the first award of the night, best supporting actor, for his role in comedy drama A Real Pain.
Costume Design was awarded to Wicked’s Paul Tazewell – the first black man to ever receive the award. The Wizard Of Oz prequel also won best production design.
Best supporting actress was won by Zoe Saldana, her first Oscar win and nomination.
One of the highest-grossing actresses ever, she cried out: “Mommy, mommy,” explaining her entire family was there with her, becoming tearful at the end of her speech as she spoke of being “a proud child of immigrant parents”.
First American of Dominican origin to win an Oscar, she finished by dedicating it to her grandmother, who came to the US in 1961, fleeing dictatorship in her country.
Announced by Mick Jagger, best song went to Emilia Perez’s El Mal (which translates as “Evil”).
Brazilian director Walter Salles won best international feature for Portuguese-language film I’m Still Here, set in the 1970s in the midst of the Brazil’s brutal military dictatorship.
A word-of-mouth hit, the film’s Brazilian star Fernanda Torres has gone from an unknown to a much-talked-about actress in the US over the last month.
Make-up and hairstyling was awarded to body horror The Substance, a film which showcased extreme prosthetics, make up and gore throughout. It was the film’s only win of the night.
The documentary categories went to The Only Girl In The Orchestra and No Other Land – made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective – for short film and feature film respectively.
Accepting the prize, it’s makers Basel Dra and Yuval Abraham, made a political plea to the US: “The foreign policy in this country is helping to block [the path of peace]. Why? Can’t you see that we are intertwined? There is another way. It’s not too late for life, for the living.”
Best sound and best visual effects went to Dune: Part Two, directed by Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve.
A night where independent and unusual filmmaking was rewarded, best animated feature went to Latvian computer-generated film Flow, while best animated short film was won by Iranian entry The Shadow Of The Cypress. Both international productions are dialogue-free.
Live action short film went to I’m Not A Robot, a study in an AI-fueled identity crisis.
During the ceremony’s in memoriam section, Morgan Freeman paid tribute to two-time Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, who was found dead in his home along with his wife and dog earlier this week.
A video montage honoured Academy members who have passed away over the last year, including British stars Dame Maggie Smith and Dame Joan Plowwright and Donald Sutherland, and US performers James Earl Jones, Kris Kristofferson and David Lynch.
Source : https://news.sky.com/story/anora-sweeps-the-oscars-with-five-awards-including-best-picture-13320599
