If You Missed The Oscars, Read This

For
months
now,
Aseem
Chhabra
has

predicted
that

Anora
would
sweep
the
Oscars.
And
on
Sunday
night,
Sean
Baker’s
film
did,
winning
four
Oscars:
Best
Picture,
Best
Director,
Best
Editing
and
Best
Original
Screenplay.

Sean
Baker
defines
American
independent
cinema
from
the
time
he
directed
his
first
feature

Four
Letter
Words
(2000)
and
the
critically
acclaimed

Take
Out
(2004),
an
intense
story
about
a
Chinese
food
delivery
guy
in
New
York
City
caught
up
in
gambling
debts.
He
has
won
awards
but
never
an
Oscar.

In
fact,
he
has
never
even
been
nominated
for
one.
Until
now.

It
is
remarkable
that
after
making
eight
features,
he
was
finally
embraced
by
Hollywood
and
the
Academy
of
Motion
Pictures
Arts
and
Science.

At
the
97th
Academy
Awards,
he
broke
a
record
by
winning
four
Oscars
just
himself
for

Anora:
Best
Picture,
Best
Director,
Best
Editing
and
Best
Original
Screenplay.

Baker’s
lead
actress
25-year-old
Mikey
Madison
flipped
the
Best
Actress
race
by
beating
Demi
Moore,
the
strongest
nominee
in
the
category.

While
Madison’s
win
was
the
biggest
surprise
of
the
Oscar
show,
she
certainly
deserved
the
recognition.

Madison
had
already
started
to
shake
up
the
race
by
winning
the
BAFTA
for
Best
Actress
in
a
Leading
Role.

Just
as
Baker
did
at
the
Cannes
Film
Festival
where

Anora
won
the
Palme
d’Or,
he
spoke
out
in
support
of
sex
workers
at
the
Oscars
too.

Madison
also
thanked
the
sex
workers
who
she
consulted
and
came
in
contact
with
while
playing
the
role
of
a
Brooklyn
strip
club
dancer
who
falls
in
love
with
a
young,
rich
and
spoilt
Russian
man.

In
accepting
the
Best
Director
trophy,
Baker
made
a
plea
for
keeping
movie
theatres
alive.

‘Filmmakers
should
make
films
for
the
wide
release,
distributors
should
focus
on
theatrical
releases,
and
parents
should
introduce
their
kids
to
films
in
movie
theatres,’
he
said.

When
he
was
young,
Baker
recalled
his
parents
took
him
to
see
films
in
movie
theatres
and
that
is
what
developed
his
passion
for
cinema.

The
other
surprise,
or
one
could
say,
heartening
award
was
that
for
Best
Documentary
presented
to

No
Other
Land.

It
is
directed
by
Basel
Adra,
a
Palestinian,
who
narrates
the
story
about
his
village
in
the
West
Bank
that
is
being
slowly
demolished
by
Israeli
forces.

Adra’s
co-director
is
Yuval
Abraham,
an
Israeli
journalist.

Their
film
has
won
numerous
prizes
starting
with
the
Audience
Award
at
last
year’s
Berlinale.

The
film
could
not
find
any
distributor
in
the
US
who
was
willing
to
take
on
the
American
distribution,
so
Adra
and
Abraham
are
self-distributing
their
film
in
theatres
in
key
US
cities.

In
his
acceptance
speech,
Adra
said
he
hoped
his
newborn
daughter
would
not
live
in
the
fear
of
displacement,
demolition
and
violence.

He
called
upon
the
world
to
stop
the
injustice
and
the
ethnic
cleansing
of
Palestinian
people.

Abraham
added
that
the
film
was
made
by
a
Palestinian
and
an
Israeli
‘because
together
our
voices
are
stronger’.

The
‘destruction
of
Gaza
and
its
people
must
end,
Abraham
said.
The
Israeli
hostages,
brutally
taken
in
the
crime
of
October
7,
which
must
be
freed’.

Of
course,
the
mood
was
lighter
when
the
first
award
winner
of
the
night
was
announced.

Kieran
Culkin,
who
took
the
Best
Supporting
Actor
Trophy
for
his
role
in

A
Real
Pain,
joked
as
he
reminded
his
wife
that
she
had
promised
him
a
fourth
child
if
he
won
an
Oscar.

‘I
have
to
thank
my
wife,
Jazz,
for
absolutely
everything,
for
giving
me
my
favorite
people
in
the
world,’
Culkin
said.

‘About
a
year
ago,
I
was
on
a
stage
like
this,
and
I
very
stupidly,
publicly
said
that
I
wanted
a
third
kid
from
her.
She
had
told
me
that
if
I
won
the
award,
she
would
give
me
the
kid.
But
it
turns
out
she
said
that
because
she
didn’t
think
I
was
going
to
win.

‘After
the
show,
we
were
walking
through
a
parking
lot,
she
was
holding
the
Emmy,
and
she
suddenly
said,
:Oh
God,
I
did
say
that.
I
guess
I
owe
you
a
third
kid”.’

‘And
I
turned
to
her
and
said,
“Really,
I
want
four.”
She
looked
at
me
and
said,
“I
will
give
you
four
when
you
win
an
Oscar.”
We
shook
on
it,
and
I
haven’t
mentioned
it
since
—
until
now.’

Zoe
Saldaña,
who
was
expected
to
win
the
Best
Supporting
Actress
Oscar
for

Emilia
Pérez,
called
out
to
her
mother
in
the
audience.

‘Mami!’
she
cried,
as
she
tried
to
control
her
tears.

‘My
grandmother
came
to
this
country
in
1961;
I
am
a
proud
child
of
immigrant
parents,’
Zoe
said.

‘With
dreams
and
dignity
and
hard-working
hands,
and
I
am
the
first
American
of
Dominican
origin
to
accept
an
Academy
Award,
and
I
know
I
will
not
be
the
last.
I
hope.
The
fact
that
I’m
getting
an
award
for
a
role
where
I
got
to
sing
and
speak
in
Spanish.
My
grandmother,
if
she
were
here,
she
would
be
so
delighted.
This
is
for
my
grandmother.’

In
a
heartwarming
acceptance
speech
for
the
Best
Costume
Design
for

Wicked,
Paul
Tazewell
told
the
audience
that
he
was
the
first
black
man
to
win
an
Oscar
for
this
category.

The
audience
stood
up
to
cheer
Tazewell’s
achievement.

Ruth
E
Carter
is
the
first
black
woman
to
win
Oscars
(two
trophies,
one
each
for

Black
Panther
and

Wakanda
Forever)
in
the
costume
category.

Andrew
Garfield
came
on
the
stage
with
his
co-presenter
Goldie
Hawn
and
told
her
how,
over
the
years,
she
had
given
so
much
joy
to
his
late
mother.

Garfield
has
often
talked
about
the
loss
of
his
mother
on
talk
shows
and
other
public
gatherings.

Conon
O’Brien,
who
lost
his
home
in
the
fires
that
ravaged
the
city
of
Los
Angeles,
kept
the
energy
level
of
the
show
high
with
his
monologue,
jokes
and
the
opening
song
number

I
Won’t
Take
Time.

Other
highlights
of
the
show
included
a
tribute
to
Producers
Barbara
Broccoli
and
Michael
Wilson,
who
recently
handed
over
the
rights
of
the
James
Bond
franchise
to
Amazon’s
Jeff
Bezos.

The
tribute
featured
songs
and
dances
from
key
Bond
films
one
of
which
featured
actress
Margaret
Qualley.
Her
presence
on
the
stage
got
a
lot
of
people
on
social
media
speculating
if
she
will
play
a
significant
role
in
the
next
Bond
film.

Whoopi
Goldberg
and
Oprah
Winfrey
paid
a
heartfelt
tribute
to
the
late
musician
Quincy
Jones,
who
gave
the
two
women
their
first
acting
breaks
in
Steven
Spielberg’s

The
Color
Purple.
Jones
was
one
of
the
producers
of
the
film.