“Anora” was the big winner of the year’s Academy Awards taking home the Best Picture award, beating “The Brutalist”, “A Complete Unknown”, “Conclave”, “Dune: Part Two”, “Emilia Pérez”, “I'm Still Here”, “Nickel Boys”, “The Substance” and “Wicked”.
The drama that tells the story of a young sex worker’s relationship with a Russian client, won five awards from six nominations.
Taking to the stage, the filmmakers noted the movie was made for just $US6m. “I want to thank the academy for recognising a truly independent film. Long live independent film!” said director Sean Baker.
Earlier, Irish winner from last year, CiIllian Murphy presented the Best Actor Oscar to Adrien Brody for his role in “The Brutalist”. Winning 22 years after his first Oscar, Brody threw his chewing gum to his partner and left audience groaning when he refused to leave the stage and gave an indulgent speech lasting over 5 minutes, even stopping the band from playing him off.
According to Wikipedia, the longest Oscar speech was given by Greer Garson at the 15th Academy Awards after she was named Best Actress in 1942 for "Mrs. Miniver". Her speech ran for nearly six minutes. It was shortly after this incident that the academy set 45 seconds as the allotted time for an acceptance speech and began to cut the winners off after this time limit.
Since the revelation that AI was used in "The Brutalist," critics have also called into question whether the movie, whose primary focus is artistic integrity, should still be considered for some of the film industry's highest honors.
American actress Zoe Saldana declared she is a “proud child of immigrant parents” as she gave a tearful acceptance speech after winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the most-nominated film of the year, Jacques Audiard’s musical crime drama "Emilia Pérez", available in many markets around the world on Netflix.
The 97th Academy Awards opened with a standing ovation for a performance of songs by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande honoring Hollywood. This was followed by first time host Conan O'Brien emerging from the body of Demi Moore in homage to her nominated film “The Substance”.
Kieran Culkin won Best Supporting Actress and Paul Tazewell became the first Black man to win Best Costume Design for his work on “Wicked”.
In a surprise appearance, Mick Jagger presented Best Original Song at the Oscars. The 81-year-old joking that 83-year-old Bob Dylan was asked to present the award but wanted someone younger to present instead. The award went to “El Mal” from the musical film “Emilia Perez”.
Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard took the stage, with Camille nodding to Jagger’s presence by singing a portion of the Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.”
In a more poignant moment of the awards, Morgan Freeman acknowledged his friend and costar Gene Hackman, who he worked with on “Unforgiven” and “Under Suspicion”, before the in-memoriam segment acknowledged the people in film who have died the last year.
Two-time Oscar-winning actor Hackman was found dead on February 26 at his New Mexico home alongside his wife, Betsy Arakawa. Hackman was 95, and Arakawa was 65.
Walter Sales’ “I’m Still Here!” won the Best International Film, the first Brazilian film to ever win an Oscar.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN & WATCH MORE ABOUT “I’M STILL HERE!”
