The Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, lit up on 2nd March 2025, as some of the best in American and global cinema gathered to celebrate the most powerful performances of the year at the 97th Academy Awards. This year, the prestigious annual ceremony was hosted by Conan O’Brien, and the night’s lineup was compelling, bringing together a dynamic lineup of films spanning genres and cultures.
Leading the night, Sean Baker’s comedy-drama Anora swept the Oscars, winning five out of the six nominations, for Best Picture, Best Actress for Mikey Madison, Best Director for Sean Baker, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing. This series of wins places Sean Baker alongside Walt Disney for the most Oscars ever won in one night. In his acceptance speech, Baker emphasised the importance of preserving the theatrical experience, urging filmmakers to continue creating stories for the big screen.
Emilia Pérez, directed by Jacques Audiard, made history as it garnered thirteen nominations, the most ever for a non-English language film. It won two awards, Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña and Best Original Song for the song ‘El Mal’.
Jon M. Chu’s fan favourite musical Wicked, with a total of ten nominations, walked away with two wins – Best Production Design for Paul Tezwall, making him the first African American man to win this award, and Best Costume Design for Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales.
In the acting categories, Adrien Brody and Kieran Culkin delivered powerhouse performances, earning themselves the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards for The Brutalist and A Real Pain, respectively. The Brutalist won again, with Daniel Blumberg winning Best Original Score and L. Crowley winning Best Cinematography.
Conclave, directed by Edward Berger, earned the Best Writing on an Adapted Screenplay award for its gripping adaptation of Robert Harris’ mystery thriller novel. Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here, a Portuguese film set in Brazil, took home the Best International Feature Film award. Best Documentary Short Film was won by The Only Girl in the Orchestra, directed by Molly O’Brien, and the Best Short Film was I’m Not a Robot, directed by Victoria Warmerdam.
In the Animation category, the Best Animated Feature Film award went to Flow, a Latvian adventure film without dialogue directed by Gints Zilbalodis. Best Animated Short Film was taken home by In The Shadow of Cypress, directed by Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi, which beautifully captures the evolving relationship between a father who struggles with PTSD and his daughter.
Source: X/ @TheAcademy
The documentary film No Other Land, the directorial debut of a four-Palestinian-Israeli collective of activists, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal, Basel Adra, and Rachel Szor, won the Best Documentary Feature Film award. The documentary, filmed between 2019 and 2023, depicts the destruction caused by war, resistance in the Palestinian West Bank and the growing friendship between Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and the Palestinian activist Basel Adra.
Dune: Part Two, directed by Denis Villeneuve, was nominated for five awards and won Best Sound and Best Achievement in Visual Effects. Also nominated for five awards was Coralie Fargeat’s body horror film, The Substance, which won the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
As the curtains closed on the 97th Academy Awards, the night served as a testament that cinema goes beyond entertainment- it is a medium for bold and conscious storytelling and cultural commentary. This year’s ceremony shone the spotlight on the year’s films that highlighted the human experience and invited the global film community to reflect and yearn for more such stories.
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