The 96th Academy Awards (also known as the Oscars) took place on March 10th of this year, celebrating and honoring movies released in 2023. Held on Sunday at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, at around 4 pm, various talented people and amazing movies were awarded, with “Oppenheimer” winning the most awards overall.
For those unfamiliar with the Oscars, it consists of 24 different categories, where 5 movies or people are nominated for each category (depending on what category it is). One of those nominated is then chosen to win the Oscar for the category. There’s various different types of categories, ranging from the best short films to best actors to costume designers, making for a very diverse set of skills and talents that are recognized during the Oscars.
BEST PICTURE:
The winner of the category “BEST PICTURE” was “Oppenheimer”. The other nominees for this category were “American Fiction”, “Anatomy of a Fall”, “Barbie”, “The Holdovers”, “Killers of the Flower Moon”, “Maestro”, “Past Lives”, “Poor Things”, and “The Zone of Interest”.
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
The winner of the category “ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE” was Cillian Murphy for his role in “Oppenheimer”. The other nominees for this category were Bradly Cooper for his role in “Maestro”, Coleman Domingo for “Rustin”, Paul Giamatti for “The Holdovers”, and Jeffrey Wright for “American Fiction”.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
The winner of the category “ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE” was Robert Downey Jr. for his role in “Oppenheimer”. The other nominees for this category were Sterling K. Brown for his role in “American Fiction”, Robert De Niro for “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Ryan Gosling for “Barbie”, and Mark Ruffalo for “Poor Things”.
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
The winner of the category “ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE” was Emma Stone for her role in “Poor Things”. The other nominees for this category were Annette Bening for her role in “Nyad”, Lily Gladstone for “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Sandra Hüller for “Anatomy of a Fall”, and Carey Mulligan for “Maestro”.
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
The winner of the category “ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE” was Da’Vine Joy Randolph for her role in “The Holdovers”. The other nominees for this category were Emily Blunt for her role in “Oppenheimer”, Danielle Brooks for “The Color Purple”, America Ferrera for “Barbie”, and Jodie Foster for “Nyad”.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
The winner of the category “ANIMATED FEATURE FILM” was “The Boy and the Heron” . The other nominees for this category were “Elemental”, “Nimona”, “Robot Dreams”, and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”.
CINEMATOGRAPHY:
The winner of the category “CINEMATOGRAPHY” was Hoyte van Hoytema for his work on “Oppenheimer”. The other nominees for this category were Edward Lachman for his work in “El Conde”, Rodrigo Prieto for “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Matthew Libatique for “Maestro”, and Robbie Ryan for “Poor Things”.
COSTUME DESIGN:
The winner of the category “COSTUME DESIGN” was Holly Waddington for her work on “Poor Things”. The other nominees for this category were Jacqueline Durran for her work in “Barbie”, Jacqueline West for “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Janty Yates and Dave Crossman for “Napoleon”, and Ellen Mirojnick for “Oppenheimer”.
DIRECTING:
The winner of the category “DIRECTING” was Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer”. The other nominees for this category were Justine Triet for her work in “Anatomy of a Fall”, Martin Scorsese for “Killers of the Flower Moon”, Yorgos Lanthimos for “Poor Things”, and Jonathan Glazer for “The Zone of Interest”.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM:
The winner of the category “DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM” was “20 Days in Mariupol”. The other nominees for this category were “Bobi Wine: The People’s President”, “The Eternal Memory”, “Four Daughters”, and “To Kill A Tiger”.
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM:
The winner of the category “DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM” was “The Last Repair Shop”. The other nominees for this category were “The ABC’s of Book Banning”, “The Barber of Little Rock”, “Island in Between”, and “Năi Nai & Wài Pó”.
FILM EDITING:
The winner of the category “FILM EDITING” was Jennifer Lame for her work on “Oppenheimer”. The other nominees for this category were Laurent Sénéchal for her work in “Anatomy of a Fall”, Kevin Tent for “The Holdovers”, Thelma Schoonmaker for “Killers of the Flower Moon”, and Yorgos Mavropsaridis for “Poor Things”.
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM:
The winner of the category “INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM” was “The Zone of Interest” from the United Kingdom. The other nominees for this category were “Io Capitano” from Italy, “Perfect Days” from Japan, “Society of the Snow” from Spain, and “The Teachers’ Lounge” from Germany.
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING:
The winner of the category “MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING” was the movie “Poor Things”. The other nominees for this category were “Golda”, “Maestro”, “Oppenheimer”, and “Society of the Snow”.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE):
The winner of the category “MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)” was the movie “Oppenheimer”. The other nominees for this category were “American Fiction”, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”, “Killers of the Flower Moon”, and “Poor Things”.
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG):
The winner of the category “MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)” was “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”. The other nominees for this category were “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot”, “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie”, “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony”, and “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon”. You might remember the controversy that occurred at the Grammys with Ryan Gosling’s song, and Billie Eilish’s song. Ryan Gosling’s song, “I’m Just Ken”, won over Billie Eilish’s song, “What Was I Made For?”, but a lot of people thought that that was unfair considering the message of “Barbie”, so It’s nice to see that Billie’s song got recognized for its talent after all.
PRODUCTION DESIGN:
The winner of the category “PRODUCTION DESIGN” was “Poor Things”. The other nominees for this category were “Barbie”, “Killers of the Flower Moon”, “Napoleon”, and “Oppenheimer”.
ANIMATED SHORT FILM:
The winner of the category “ANIMATED SHORT FILM” was the film “War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko”. The other nominees for this category were “Letter to a Pig”, “Ninety-Five Senses”, “Our Uniform”, and “Pachyderme”.
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM:
The winner of the category “LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM” was the film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar”. The other nominees for this category were “The After”, “Invincible”, “Knight of Fortune”, and “Red, White and Blue”.
SOUND:
The winner of the category “SOUND” was the movie “The Zone of Interest”. The other nominees for this category were “The Creator”, “Maestro”, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part Two”, and “Oppenheimer”.
VISUAL EFFECTS:
The winner of the category “VISUAL EFFECTS” was the movie “Godzilla Minus One”. The other nominees for this category were “The Creator”, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”, and “Napoleon”.
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY):
The winner of the category “WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)” was the movie “American Fiction”. The other nominees for this category were “Barbie”, “Oppenheimer”, “Poor Things”, and “The Zone of Interest”.
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY):
The winner of the category “WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)” was “Anatomy of a Fall”. The other nominees for this category were “The Holdovers”, “Maestro”, “May December”, and “Past Lives”.
Overall, the Oscars is a ceremony of great creativity and hard work–and recognition for that creativity and hard work–that help to not only uplift people for their achievements, but also uplift movies for their achievements. All of these movies and people deserved to achieve their awards, for one reason or another, and it’s great to see the diversity and expressiveness of the film industry as a whole through the lens of the Oscars.
