Independent Films Shine and Conan O’Brien’s Warm and Witty Hosting Made It a True Celebration of Cinema
By Dolores Quintana
The final ceremony of the 2024 films awards season is finally over and we have a tantalizing mix of winners for the most hotly anticipated awards in cinema. Amazingly, independent cinema had a great night with one independent film taking five Oscars out of the six nominations. Another film which has not yet secured distribution in the United States also won.
One of the biggest winners of the night was the independent film distribution company Neon, which distributed Sean Baker’s Anora, and who created genuine cultural phenomena with their marketing campaigns for their films, directed by Osgood Perkins, Longlegs, and The Monkey
The 97th Academy Awards was the liveliest and most moving ceremony in years, with a beautiful and respectful In Memoriam segment that should be the same moving forward. Oscar host Conan O’Brien, in his first time hosting the ceremony was hilarious and a really nice guy who made sure that a box of snacks, water, and a personal note were left beneath each seat to help out any attendees who were really hungry or thirsty, a gesture that I have never heard of happening before.
Overall, the ceremony had more of an air of a celebration of creativity and community rather than a tense competition, and it is likely that the kind yet funny presences of O’Brien as host had a lot to do with that. However, many home viewers were displeased with the live streaming on Hulu/Disney. Users on social media reported being kicked out of their Hulu accounts and being denied the opportunity to stream the show. Some were able to get back in and view the ceremony there, others were not.
After much controversy, over disturbing tweets from actress Karla Sofía Gascón, Oscar frontrunner Emilia Pérez, a film that went into Oscar season with 13 nominations, lost many of the categories it was once seen to be likely to win.
There were some upsets in the categories, including in some of the biggest categories, but discover the winners for yourself here:
Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Nominees
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
Actor in a Supporting Role
Winner: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Nominees
Yura Borisov, Anora
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Actress in a Leading Role
Winner: Mikey Madison, Anora
Nominees
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
Actress in a Supporting Role
Winner: Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Nominees
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
Animated Feature Film
Winner; Flow, Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman
Nominees
Inside Out 2, Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen
Memoir of a Snail, Adam Elliot and Liz Kearney
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl, Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham and Richard Beek
The Wild Robot, Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann
Animated Short Film
Winner: In the Shadow of the Cypress, Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi
Nominees
Beautiful Men, Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande
Magic Candies, Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio
Wander to Wonder, Nina Gantz and Stienette Bosklopper
Yuck!, Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet
Cinematography
Winner: The Brutalist, Lol Crawley
Nominees
Dune: Part Two, Greig Fraser
Emilia Pérez, Paul Guilhaume
Maria, Ed Lachman
Nosferatu, Jarin Blaschke
Costume Design
Winner: Wicked, Paul Tazewell
Nominees
A Complete Unknown, Arianne Phillips
Conclave, Lisy Christl
Gladiator II, Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
Nosferatu, Linda Muir
Directing
Winner: Anora, Sean Baker
Nominees
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet
A Complete Unknown, James Mangold
Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat
Documentary Feature Film
Winner: No Other Land, Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham
Nominees
Black Box Diaries, Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari and Hanna Aqvilin
Porcelain War, Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev, Aniela Sidorska and Paula DuPre’ Pesmen
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat, Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius and Rémi Grellety
Sugarcane, Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie and Kellen Quinn
Documentary Short Film
Winner: The Only Girl in the Orchestra, Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington
Nominees
Death by Numbers, Kim A. Snyder and Janique L. Robillard
I Am Ready, Warden, Smriti Mundhra and Maya Gnyp
Incident, Bill Morrison and Jamie Kalven
Instruments of a Beating Heart, Ema Ryan Yamazaki and Eric Nyari
Film Editing
Winner: Anora, Sean Baker
Nominees
The Brutalist, David Jancso
Conclave, Nick Emerson
Emilia Pérez, Juliette Welfling
Wicked, Myron Kerstein
International Feature Film
Winner: Brazil, I’m Still Here
Nominees
Denmark, The Girl with the Needle
France, Emilia Pérez
Germany, The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Latvia, Flow
Makeup and Hairstyling
Winner
The Substance, Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli
Nominees
A Different Man, Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado
Emilia Pérez, Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
Nosferatu, David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne Stokes-Munton
Wicked, Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth
Music (Original Score)
Winner: The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg
Nominees
Conclave, Volker Bertelmann
Emilia Pérez, Clément Ducol and Camille
Wicked, John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
The Wild Robot, Kris Bowers
Music (Original Song)
Winner: El Mal from Emilia Pérez; Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
Nominees
The Journey, from The Six Triple Eight; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
Like A Bird, from Sing Sing; Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
Mi Camino, from Emilia Pérez; Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
Never Too Late, from Elton John: Never Too Late; Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Best Picture
Winner: Anora, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers
Nominees
The Brutalist, Nick Gordon, Brian Young, Andrew Morrison, D.J. Gugenheim and Brady Corbet, Producers
A Complete Unknown, Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, Producers
Conclave, Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, Producers
Dune: Part Two, Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, Producers
Emilia Pérez, Pascal Caucheteux and Jacques Audiard, Producers
I’m Still Here, Maria Carlota Bruno and Rodrigo Teixeira, Producers
Nickel Boys, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Joslyn Barnes, Producers
The Substance, Coralie Fargeat and Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner, Producers
Wicked, Marc Platt, Producer
Production Design
Winner: Wicked, Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Nominees
The Brutalist, Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia
Conclave, Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter
Dune: Part Two, Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
Nosferatu, Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová
Live Action Short Film
Winner: I’m Not a Robot, Victoria Warmerdam and Trent
Nominees
A Lien, Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz
Anuja, Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai
The Last Ranger, Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent, Nebojša Slijepčević and Danijel Pek
Sound
Winner: Dune: Part Two, Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill
Nominees
A Complete Unknown, Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco
Emilia Pérez, Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta
Wicked, Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis
The Wild Robot, Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts
Visual Effects
Winner, Dune: Part Two, Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer
Nominees
Alien: Romulus, Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan
Better Man, Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke
Wicked, Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
Winner: Conclave, Screenplay by Peter Straughan
Nominees
A Complete Unknown, Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks
Emilia Pérez, Screenplay by Jacques Audiard; In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
Nickel Boys, Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
Sing Sing, Screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Winner: Anora, Written by Sean Baker
Nominees
The Brutalist, Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
A Real Pain, Written by Jesse Eisenberg
September 5, Written by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; Co-Written by Alex David
The Substance, Written by Coralie Fargeat
