This year’s Oscars was one of the most diverse and inclusive, with a record number of women and historically marginalised artists recognised for their works in cinema. It was a conglomeration of in-studio presentations at The Dolby Theatre in LA and satellite ceremonies in New York, London, Sydney, Seoul and elsewhere across the world.
The 93rd Academy Awards saw new records set across many categories, including Chloé Zhao’s win for Best Director, making her only the second woman in history to take the award, and the first woman of colour. Zhao’s film Nomadland also took out the biggest award of the night – Best Picture of the Year.
The lead actor of the film, Frances McDormand, took out Best Actress for her role as Fern. In her acceptance speech, McDormand, 63, urged audiences to head to cinemas to watch the nominated films.
“Please watch our movie on the largest screen possible and one day very, very soon, take everyone you know into a theatre, shoulder to shoulder in that dark space, and watch every film that’s represented here tonight,” McDormand said.
McDormand’s award takes her up to three Oscars; in 1997, she took out the same award for her performance in Fargo, and in 2018, for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
At 73, Youn Yuh-Jung made history when she took out Best Supporting Actress for her role in Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari — the first actress of Asian ancestry to win an Oscar since 1957 and the first-ever Korean to win the award.
Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson became the first black women to win Best Make-up and Hairstyling for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, a film adaptation of August Wilson’s play and late actor Chadwick Boseman’s last role.
Promising Young Woman director and writer, Emerald Fennell, took out the first award of the evening, for Best Screenplay. She is first woman to snab the award by herself. The last time a woman won (without any co-writers) was in 2007, when Diablo Cody took it out for Juno.
The award for Best Animated Feature went to Soul, which is the first win in the category with a black lead character. The film’s musical director and composer Jon Batiste, won Best Score, making him only the second black composer ever to win the award.
Photo Credit: EPA-EFE