Everything That Happened At The Oscars 2021

Nomadland doing its thing, an Anthony Hopkins upset, Sound of Metal love, Mank-A-Mania: here’s what happened at last night’s Oscars ceremony. 

Let’s not pretend it’s been a normal year. Our regular big-screen congregations were put on hold; for the first time in many of our lives, we couldn’t revel in entertainment with friends, brothers, parents, strangers.  Nevertheless, even from our sofas and beds, cinema has continued to thrive, challenge and enthrall.

In terms of nominees alone, it’s arguably one of the most interesting rosters since the 2000s. Staggered releases and the lack of open theatres aside, these movies deserve – nay, demand – your attention. With that in mind, let’s run through the winners of the 93rd Academy Awards.

For the biggest award of the night, Nomadland won Best Picture, beating The Father, Promising Young Woman, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Minari, Mank and Sound of Metal.

In the Best Director category, Chloé Zhao won for Nomadland over Lee Isaac Chung for Minari, Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman, David Fincher for Mank and Thomas Vinterberg for Another Round.

In the Best Actress category, Nomadland’s Frances McDormand beat Carey Mulligan for Promising Young Woman, Viola Davis for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Andra Day for The United States vs. Billie Holiday and Vanessa Kirby for Pieces of a Woman.

In the Best Actor category, Anthony Hopkins won for The Father, beating Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Steven Yeun for Minari, Riz Ahmed for Sound of Metal and Gary Oldman for Mank.

In the Best Supporting Actor category, Daniel Kaluuya emerged victorious over his co-star Stanfield (whose inclusion in the same category raised some eyebrows when the nominations were announced) for Judas and the Black Messiah, Paul Raci for Sound of Metal, Sacha Baron Cohen for The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Leslie Odom Jr. for One Night in Miami.

For Best Supporting Actress, Yuh-Jung Youn won for Minari, beating Maria Bakalova for Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm, Glenn Close for Hillbilly Elegy, Olivia Colman for The Father and Amanda Seyfried for Mank.

In the Best Original Screenplay category, Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman beat Aaron Sorkin for The Trial of the Chicago 7, Lee Isaac Chung for Minari, Abraham Marder, Darius Marder and Derek Cianfrance for Sound of Metal and Will Berson, Shaka King, Keith Lucas and Kenneth Lucas for Judas and the Black Messiah.

In the Best Adapted Screenplay category, Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton won for The Father, beating Chloé Zhao for Nomadland, Kemp Powers for One Night in Miami,  Ramin Bahrani for The White Tiger and Peter Baynham, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jena Friedman, Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer, Nina Pedrad, Erica Rivinoja and Dan Swimer for Borat: Subsequent Moviefilm.

In the Best International Film category, Another Round beat Better Days, Collective, The Man Who Sold His Skin and Quo Vadis, Aida?.

In the Best Animated Film category, Soul beat its own studio against Onward, as well as Wolfwalkers, A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon and Over the Moon. For Best Animated Short Film, If Anything Happens I Love You triumphed over Burrow, Genius Loci, Opera and Yes-People.

For Best Documentary Short Film, Colette beat A Concerto is a Conversation, Do Not Split, Hunger Ward and A Love Song For Latasha. My Octopus Teacher won Best Documentary Feature, beating Collective, Crip Camp, The Mole Agent and Time.

For Best Costume Design, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom beat Emma, Mank, Mulan and Pinocchio. For Best Hair and Makeup, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom also won, beating Emma, Hillbilly Elegy, Mank and Pinocchio.

Sound of Metal – rightly – won for Best Sound, beating Greyhound, Soul, News of the World and Mank.

Netflix’s Two Distant Strangers won for Best Live-Action Short Film, beating Feeling Through, The Letter Room, The Present and White Eye.

For Best Visual Effects, Tenet beat Love and Monsters, The Midnight Sky, Mulan and The One and Only Ivan.

For Best Production Design, Mank beat The Father, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, News of the World and Tenet. Mank also won Best Cinematography over Nomadland, Judas and the Black Messiah, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and News of the World.

For Best Original Song, Fight for You in Judas and the Black Messiah took home the prize, beating Husavik (My Hometown) in Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, Io Si (Seen) in The Life Ahead, Speak Now in One Night in Miami, Hear My Voice in The Trial of the Chicago 7. For Best Original Score, Soul beat Da 5 Bloods, Mank, Minari and News of the World.

For Best Film Editing, Sound of Metal won over The Father, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman and The Trial of the Chicago 7.