Independent film Anora — the tale of a sex worker whose marriage to the son of a Russian oligarch quickly unravels — was the big winner at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, scooping five awards, including best picture.
Sean Baker’s black comedy also took home the Oscar awards for best director, best editing, best original screenplay and best actress for 25-year-old star Mikey Madison.
“This is a dream come true,” Madison said.
Photo: Reuters
“I grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood always felt so far away from me. So to be here standing in this room today is really incredible,” she said.
A shellshocked Madison later told reporters backstage she was still processing a win that looked set to open career doors -- even though she had no idea what was next.
"I just know that tonight I’m going to go home to my new puppies and probably clean up their mess," she laughed.
Photo: Reuters
Her win was something of an upset, as she bested 1990s megastar Demi Moore, who had been the odds-on favorite to cap a late-career flourish with a golden statuette for body-horror flick The Substance.
Baker used one of his four acceptance speeches to urge support for independent movies.
“I want to thank the Academy for recognizing a truly independent film. This film was made on the blood, sweat and tears of incredible indie artists,” he said.
The five wins by Anora — out of six nominations — was an impressive haul for a movie made for just US$6 million, a tiny sum by Hollywood standards.
The film’s triumph came at the expense of Conclave — a film about the secretive and cutthroat election of a new Catholic leader that had been lent an uncanny timeliness by the real-life health woes of Pope Francis.
The Vatican intrigue, starring Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini, earned top honors from Britain’s BAFTAs, and the Hollywood actors’ SAG Award, but had to settle on Sunday for best adapted screenplay, despite having been seen as a favorite heading into the night.
The more than three-and-a-half hour Oscars broadcast was a relatively staid affair, with little of the political tub-thumping that has characterized previous editions.
Unlike last year’s host Jimmy Kimmel, host Conan O’Brien ignored US President Donald Trump and, despite an astounding week of politics around the war in Ukraine, the ceremony had only one mention of the conflict, and only one speech concentrated on the situation in Gaza.
Instead, the gala was a more traditional Hollywood event, which started with glossy high-production glitz.
Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo began the show with a soaring medley honoring the land of Oz that brought the house down, including a rapturously received Defying Gravity from their nominated film.
O’Brien took aim in his opening monologue at the controversy that has surrounded Emilia Perez, whose transgender star sank the film’s Oscar hopes when a series of offensive tweets were unearthed.
"Little fact for you: Anora uses the F-word 479 times. That’s three more than the record set by Karla Sofia Gascon’s publicist," he said.
Brazil won its first Oscar for best international feature for I’m Still Here, and Latvia’s Flow won the award for best animated film.
With the exception of Madison, the acting prizes went where they had been expected to go.
Kieran Culkin looked his usual flustered self as he took the best supporting actor Oscar for A Real Pain.
"I’ve already lost whatever speech I prepared," he said. "I have no idea how I got here. I’ve just been acting my whole life. It’s just been a part of what I do."
Adrien Brody won his second career Oscar for his role as Laszlo Toth, a Hungarian Jewish architect making a new life in the US after World War II in The Brutalist.
Brody, whose first statuette was for 2002’s The Pianist, joins an elite club of double winners including Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson.
Oscars show producers tried to play Brody off the stage twice during his lengthy acceptance, offering one of the few moments of levity in an otherwise serious speech.
"Please, I’ve done this before," he said.
Emilia Perez star Zoe Saldana won for best supporting actress, and she emotionally thanked her family.
"My grandmother came to this country in 1961, I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands, and I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award," she said.
"I know I will not be the last," she said.
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