After what many thought it to be a wild and unpredictable awards season, it all came down to the big night – the 97th Academy Awards. Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles, and in a surprising twist, Anora took home the Best Picture award. That’s not all! The film also swept through some major categories, with Sean Baker bagging Best Director, Original Screenplay, and Editing. And yes, Sean made history as the first person to bag four Oscars in a single night. Star Mikey Madison too pulled off a surprising and unexpected win over Demi Moore.
“Anora” wins the #Oscar for Best Picture pic.twitter.com/cwVhVJrnEn
— Variety (@Variety) March 3, 2025
This year, the Academy managed to spread the love around! Adrien Brody bagged Best Actor award for The Brutalist, while Lol Crawley took home the Oscar for Best Cinematography. Daniel Blumberg’s emotional, nervous speech came after he won for his score – which was clearly one of the most heartfelt moments of the night. Wicked dominated with wins for Costume Design and Production Design, while Dune 2 swept Sound and Visual Effects. Emilia Pérez’ Zoe Saldana added another Supporting Actress award to her collection, and the film’s song El Mal won Best Original Song.
Adrien Brody wins the #Oscar for Lead Actor pic.twitter.com/RspHILzDhI
— Variety (@Variety) March 3, 2025
On the acting front, Brody, Saldana, and Kieran Culkin – who has enough Supporting Actor awards from A Real Pain – were all expected winners. But the big surprise of the night? Flow winning Best Animated Feature over favorites like The Wild Robot and Inside Out 2. As for the awards ceremony itself, it ran a bit too long. We’re sure some will question the extended Bond music tribute or even Conan O’Brien’s musical number about not wasting time. All in all, it was an entertaining night.
Read full winners list here
BEST PICTURE
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
DIRECTING
Sean Baker – Anora
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
James Mangold – A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison – Anora
Demi Moore – The Substance
Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Yura Borisov – Anora
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain
Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Felicity Jones – The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Anora
The Brutalist
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
I’m Still Here
The Girl With The Needle
Emilia Pérez
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig
Flow
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir Of A Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
COSTUME DESIGN
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
Wicked
MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
The Substance
Wicked
ORIGINAL SCORE
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Brutalist
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Maria
Nosferatu
PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked
FILM EDITING
Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
SOUND
A Complete Unknown
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
VISUAL EFFECTS
Alien: Romulus
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes
Wicked
ORIGINAL SONG
‘El Mal’ – Emilia Pérez
‘The Journey’ – The Six Triple Eight
‘Like A Bird’ – Sing Sing
‘Mi Camino’ – Emilia Pérez
‘Never Too Late’ – Elton John: Never Too Late
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Black Box Diaries
No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack To A Coup D’Etat
Sugarcane
DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
Death By Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments Of A Beating Heart
The Only Girl In The Orchestra
LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
A lien
Anuja
I’m Not A Robot
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Beautiful Men
In The Shadow Of The Cypress
Magic Candies
Wander To Wonder
Yuck!
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