The film won all three of the awards it was nominated for tonight: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Sian Heder, who also directed the film.
The other top prizes of the evening were spread out among a number of films.
Jessica Chastain was named Best Actress for her performance in The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
Will Smith was named Best Actor for his performance in King Richard.
Ariana DeBose was named Best Supporting Actress for her performance in West Side Story.
Troy Kotsur was named Best Supporting Actor for his performance in CODA.
And Jane Campion was named Best Director for the film The Power of the Dog.
“At a time when the government wouldn’t even say AIDS and communities were dying, here’s this woman in this world run by white men,” she told Newsweek back in September 2021 about playing Tammy Faye Messner (formerly Bakker). “She’s saying Christians are supposed to love everyone and yet, we’re so afraid of an AIDS patient? She was really out there and radical and cool and actually speaking what faith is supposed to be.”
Only five Black men have won Oscars for Best Actor: Sidney Poitier for Lilies of the Field (1963), Denzel Washington for Training Day (2001), Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004), Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006), and now Will Smith.
He did not directly address his confrontation with Chris Rock where Smith appeared to slap Rock, however, he did apologize to the Academy and said that tonight was a case of “art intimidating life,” referring to his role in King Richard, ending his speech with," I hope the Academy invites me back."
She is also the first woman to receive two nominations for Best Director. She was first nominated in 1993 for The Piano.
Campion’s win was largely expected considering she had won most every major award leading up to Oscar night, including the Director’s Guild Award for Best Director, which is often seen as the main indicator for who will take home the Oscar for directing.
At 20, Eilish became the second youngest Oscar winner for Best Original Song. The youngest winner is Marketa Irglova, who was 19 when she won for co-writing ‘Falling Away’ from the film Once in 2008.
Will Smith then confronted Chris Rock on stage in what appeared to be jovial, but then the audio cut and the camera panned to Smith, who appeared to mouth for Rock to keep Pinkett Smith’s name out of his presentation.
After things seemed to calm down, Rock said to the audience, “That was the greatest night in the history of television.” He then went on to present the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature to the film Summer of Soul.
Branagh holds the record for receiving more nominations over multiple categories than any other person in Oscar history. He’s been nominated eight times over seven different categories. His win for Belfast is his first Oscar win.
Heder’s win is the second for CODA tonight and Heder’s first Oscar win. The last category the film is nominated in is the top prize, Best Picture.
A surprise awards season hit, many expected Drive My Car to pick up the Best International Feature nomination, but the Best Picture nomination took many by surprise.
Kotsur’s win is a first for a deaf actor and only the second deaf performer ever to receive an acting Oscar (Marlee Matlin, Kotsur’s co-star in CODA, was the first deaf actress and first deaf performer to win an Oscar when she was named Best Actress in 1986 for Children of a Lesser God).
Kotsur received a standing ovation from the audience, with many waving the sign for “applause” in recognition of his historic win.
Encanto producers Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer are the recipients of the award.
The film’s win followed a performance by Sebastián Yatra of the Oscar-nominated song “Dos Oruguitas.”
Dune, this year’s winner for Best Film Editing, could also be an indicator for the Best Picture prize. Historically the winner of Best Picture either wins Best Film Editing or is at least nominated for Best Film Editing. While CODA and The Power of the Dog are the frontrunners to win the Best Picture prize, Dune’s impressive haul thus far bodes well for the film.
The total prizes won by Dune thus far are… Best Original Score Best Production Design Best Sound Best Cinematography Best Visual Effects Best Film Editing
DeBose’s win represents the first time an openly queer person of color has won an acting Oscar and is only the second time a Latina has been awarded an acting Oscar.
In DeBose’s speech, she mentioned being a queer woman of color, and what her win means not just for her, but for people watching at home. “I promise you there is indeed a place for us,” DeBose said, closing out her emotional speech.
Below are all the winners from the categories awarded before the main telecast.
Best Animated Short Film: The Windshield Wiper Best Documentary Short Subject: The Queen of Basketball Best Film Editing: Dune Best Live Action Short Film: The Long Goodbye Best Makeup and Hairstyling: The Eyes of Tammy Faye Best Original Score: Dune Best Production Design: Dune Best Sound: Dune
Red is standing out as a big color tonight, with nominees like Kirsten Dunst and Ariana DeBose wearing bold red looks. There’s also a return to fantasy with magnetic looks from Lupita Nyong’o, Nicole Kidman and Encanto’s Diane Guerrero. Kristen Stewart surprised everyone by showing up in a modern suit jacket and shorts by Chanel.
Below are just a couple of the early red carpet looks so far.
If CODA takes home the Best Picture prize, it would be the first time in Oscar history a film won the top prize without nominations for Best Director or Film Editing. If Netflix’s The Power of the Dog or Apple TV+’s CODA wins Best Picture, it will be the first time a film released on a streaming service takes the top prize. Jane Campion’s nominations for The Power of the Dog could break a few records tonight. If she wins Best Adapted Screenplay, she’ll be the first woman to win in both writing categories (she previously took home the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for 1993’s The Piano). Campion is already the only woman to receive two nominations for Best Director (she was previously nominated for The Piano) and could become the third woman to take home the prize (after Kathryn Bigelow in 2010 for The Hurt Locker and Chloe Zhao last year for Nomadland). If she wins all of her nominations, she’ll be the first woman to take home the prizes for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Similar to Campion, West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose could also break a number of records tonight. If she wins for Best Supporting Actress, she’ll be the first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar, the second Latina to win an acting Oscar (after Rita Moreno’s win in 1961 for the original West Side Story) and will be the third person to win an Oscar for playing a character another actor created and won an Oscar for (Rita Moreno originated the role of Anita in West Side Story in 1961). The other two actors to have won Oscars for playing the same character are Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro for playing Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and then Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix for playing the Joker in The Dark Knight and Joker. Billie Eilish could become the second youngest winner of the Best Original Song Oscar for the latest James Bond flick’s title song “No Time to Die. " The youngest winner is Marketa Irglova, who was 19 when she won for co-writing ‘Falling Away’ from the film Once in 2008. CODA’s Troy Kostur could become the first deaf actor to win an Oscar and only the second in Oscar history (after his CODA co-star Marlee Matlin, who won the Best Actress Oscar in 1986 for Children of the Lesser God). The Power of the Dog’s Ari Wegner could become the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Cinematography. With King Richard, Will Smith could become the first actor to win Best Actor and Best Picture (Smith also produced the film). The first actress to do this was Frances McDormand last year with her win’s for Best Actress and Best Picture for Nomadland. Denzel Washington is already the most decorated Black actor with two Oscar wins under his belt (he won the Best Supporting Actor for Glory in 1989 and Best Actor for Training Day in 2001). He’ll add to his record tonight if he wins the Best Actor Oscar for The Tragedy of Macbeth. The win would also make him the first Black actor to win two leading Oscars.
