Anora, which follows Mikey Madison’s sex worker who gets married to the son of a Russian oligarch, premiered at the Cannes film festival last year.
Creator Sean Baker also won for director, editing and original screenplay. He paid tribute to the sex worker community in his first speech of the night. “They have shared their stories, they have shared their life experiences over the years, my deepest respect, I share this with you,” he said. He has become the first person to ever win four Oscars for the same film in one night.
“Where did we fall in love with the movies?” he asked in his director speech. “At the movie theatre.” He went on to implore film-makers to “keep making films for the big screen” so we can preserve “a communal experience you simply don’t get at home”.
Twenty-five-year-old Madison, who beat out favourite Demi Moore for The Substance, called it “very surreal” in her speech. “I also want to recognise and honour the sex worker community,” she said. “I will continue to support and be an ally.”
Moore had been seen as the frontrunner. The Substance took home just one award for makeup and hairstyling.
Host Conan O’Brien joked about the film’s success throughout the night at this particular political moment. “I guess Americans are excited to see someone finally stand up to a powerful Russian,” he said to thunderous applause.
Papal election thriller Conclave, which was seen as Anora’s stiffest competition for best picture had to make do with just one Oscar for best adapted screenplay.
Adrien Brody won his second best actor Oscar for playing the lead of Brady Corbet’s postwar drama The Brutalist. Brody spoke about the “fragile profession” of acting and the new perspective he now has on his return to the stage. “It is the chance to begin again,” he added. When the music kicked in after he went over his time, he asked them to stop playing. “This is not my first rodeo!” he said. After calling out antisemitism and racism, he said: “I pray for a healthier, happier and more inclusive world.”
Brody had previously been the youngest best actor winner when he took home the award in 2003 for The Pianist. He beat out A Complete Unknown’s Timothée Chalamet. The Brutalist also won for cinematography and original score for British composer Daniel Blumberg.
No Other Land, a film made by an Israel-Palestine collective about violence and displacement in the West Bank, won for documentary feature. Palestinian co-director Basel Adra spoke about how “serious actions” are needed to “stop the injustice and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people” while his Israeli partner Yuval Abraham said that there needs to be “national rights for both of our people” and taking aim at the US saying that “the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path”. He added: “Can’t you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe.”
The most-nominated film of the night was Netflix’s crime musical Emilia Pérez which had 13 nods, the most ever for a film not in the English language. It picked up two awards for original song and supporting actress for first-time nominee Zoe Saldaña who beat out Isabella Rossellini and Ariana Grande. “I am floored by this honour,” she said in a tearful speech after winning the majority of awards this season. She added: “I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands.”
The film’s lead star Karla Sofia Gascón, the first ever openly transgender acting nominee, had found herself in the centre of an online storm after bigoted tweets were resurfaced and she was removed from the campaign trail. She skipped the red carpet tonight but was present at the ceremony.
Kieran Culkin continued his awards season sweep, named best supporting actor for his role in comedy drama A Real Pain. “I have no idea how I’ve got here, I’ve just been acting my entire life,” he said. He was up against competition including Edward Norton and his Succession co-star Jeremy Strong.
Paul Tazewell also became the first Black man to win an Oscar for costume design for his work on Wicked. The musical also won for production design while Dune: Part Two picked up awards for sound and visual effects.
Mick Jagger received a standing ovation as he came on stage to present the award for best original song. “Bob [Dylan] didn’t want to do it because he said obviously the best songs this year were in A Complete Unknown,” he joked. Diane Warren lost out on the award for the 16th time.
The wins represent a strong showing for smaller-budgeted films with blockbuster picks like Wicked and Dune: Part Two ignored for above-the-line prizes. Big winners with low budgets included Anora ($6m), A Real Pain ($3m), Emilia Pérez ($26m), The Brutalist ($10m), The Substance ($18m) and Conclave ($20m).
Nominated films that ended up empty-handed tonight included A Complete Unknown, Sing Sing, The Apprentice, Nickel Boys, and Nosferatu.
Last year’s Oscars were led by major wins for Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster biopic Oppenheimer which took home seven awards including best picture.