The coronavirus pandemic affected a lot of things, and the 2021 Oscars was not spared, causing the event to be moved from 28 February 2021 to 25 April, 2021. Sunday, 25 April saw a host of celebrities gather at the Union Station in Los Angeles for the 93rd Academy Awards, with some parts of the event also holding in the Dobby Theater. Also, for the third year running, the show was without an emcee. Rather it had a number of celebrity presenters. It is perhaps now safe to say this has come to stay.
History was made in various categories in this year’s awards. 70 women were nominated across 76 categories, which is the highest for any given year. Also, Judas and the Black Messiah made history as the film with the most Black Oscar nominees (from a single film). Viola Davis also became the most nominated black actress in Oscars history with 4 nominations.
Film director, Chloé Zhao (source: the conversation.com)
Nomadland’s film director, Chloé Zhao, became the first woman of colour to win the best director award. Furthermore, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson made history as the first African-Americans to win the make-up and hairstyling category, alongside Sergio Lopez-Rivera, for their contributions to Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. To wrap it up, singer H.E.R is halfway to a rare EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards) status. Having already won four Grammy Awards, she won Best Original Song at the Oscar Awards on Sunday.
What is an Oscar without a bit of controversy and surprise? While this year’s Oscar Awards was quieter than most in the controversy category, there was still a major one. Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor award for his role in “The Father”. Many eyebrows were raised regarding this decision because many believed that Chadwick Boseman was a heavy favourite for this award. Chadwick Boseman died of cancer last year but had been seen as the favourite to win the award for his final role in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Here’s the full list of winners by category
(source: https://abc.com/shows/oscars/news/winners/oscar-winners-2021-see-the-full-list)
- BEST PICTURE: Nomadland – Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers
- ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Anthony Hopkins in The Father
- ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Daniel Kaluuya in Judas and the Black Messiah
- ACTRESS IN A LEADING: Frances McDormand in Nomadland
- ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Yuh-Jung Youn in Minari
- ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: Soul – Pete Docter and Dana Murray
- CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mank – Erik Messerschmidt
- COSTUME DESIGN: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Ann Roth
- DIRECTING: Nomadland – Chloé Zhao
- DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: My Octopus Teacher – Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
- DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT): Colette – Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard
- FILM EDITING: Sound of Metal – Mikkel EG Nielsen
- INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM: Another Round – Denmark
- MAKE-UP AND HAIRSTYLING: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson
- MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE): Soul – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
- MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG): Fight for You from Judas and the Black Messiah (Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas)
- PRODUCTION DESIGN: Mank – Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale
- SHORT FILM (ANIMATED): If Anything Happens I Love You – Will McCormack and Michael Govier
- SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION): Two Distant Strangers – Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
- SOUND: Sound of Metal – Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh
- VISUAL EFFECTS: Tenet – Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher
- WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY): The Father – Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller
- WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY): Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell
