Vanessa Obioha
History was made at the 98th Academy Awards as the two most talked-about films of the season achieved major milestones.
‘One Battle After Another,’ directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, emerged as the biggest winner of the night, taking home six Oscars — Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, and the newly introduced category of Best Casting.
The triumph marked a defining moment for Anderson, who had been nominated at the Academy Awards for nearly three decades without a win.
The film, a story about citizen resistance, received 13 nominations — the second-highest of the night behind ‘Sinners,’ directed by Ryan Coogler, which made Oscars history with a record 16 nominations.
Although ‘Sinners’ missed out on Best Picture and Best Director, the film delivered a historic moment for Michael B. Jordan, who won the Oscar for Best Actor. Jordan edged out Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothée Chalamet, Wagner Moura and Ethan Hawke to claim the award.
With the win, Jordan becomes the sixth Black actor to receive the Best Actor honour and earned his first-ever Academy Award nomination. In his acceptance speech, he paid tribute to previous Black winners in the category, including Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington and Jamie Foxx. He also thanked Warner Bros. and Coogler for supporting original ideas and artistry.
Another milestone for ‘Sinners’ came with Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who won Best Cinematography, becoming the first woman—and the first woman of colour—to receive the award.
In total, ‘Sinners’ won four awards, with the other two going to Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score.
Irish actress Jessie Buckley continued her awards-season success, winning Best Actress for her role in ‘Hamnet,’ while 75-year-old Amy Madigan took home Best Supporting Actress for her performance in ‘Weapons.’
Netflix’s ‘Frankenstein’ won three awards, including Best Costume Design, while the South Korean animated film KPop Demon Hunters picked up two honours — Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. One of the film’s directors, Maggie Kang, used her acceptance speech to encourage greater diversity in filmmaking, saying: “This is for Korea, and for Koreans everywhere.” There was also a performance of the winning song, ‘Golden.’
In the documentary categories, All the Empty Rooms — about the bedrooms left behind by children killed in school shootings — won Best Documentary Short, while Mr. Nobody Against Putin, which explores Russia’s efforts to shape public perception during its war with Ukraine, won Best Documentary Feature.
The ceremony was hosted by Conan O’Brien for the second consecutive year.
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