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One Battle After Another named Best Picture

Breakthroughs for women and Koreans, a new category, and an award with two winners.

by Jennie Kermode

Wagner Moura, Paul Mescal, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cassandra Kulukundis, and Chase Infiniti backstage at the Oscars Photo: Richard Harbaugh / The Academy, ©A.M.P.A.S.

One Battle After Another was named Best Picture at tonight's Oscars, taking a total of six awards on a night when many categories were difficult to predict. Sinners took four, including Best Actor for Michael B Jordan - something of a disappointment for the team after its record 16 nominations.

Jessie Buckley on the red carpet Photo: Etienne Laurent / The Academy, ©A.M.P.A.S.

"I just want to say that in 1975, the Oscar nominees for Best Picture were Dog Day Afternoon, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Jaws, Nashville and Barry Lyndon," said Paul Thomas Anderson, receiving the award. "There is no best among them. There is just what the mood might be that day. But we're happy to be part of this wonderful, wonderful journey with our fellow nominees, our fellow filmmakers, our fellow filmmakers that even weren't recognized by the Academy. There are so many great films this year."

Despite the several great performances in the category, nobody was surprised when Jessie Buckley was named Best Actress, becoming the first Irishwoman to win it. "To get to know this incandescent woman and journey to understand the capacity of a mother's love is the greatest collision of my life," she said. "It's Mother's Day in the UK today, so I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart. We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds. Thank you for recognizing me in this role."

Ryan Coogler, who struggles with public speaking, was clearly really nervous when accepting his screenplay award for Sinners, but excitement gave him courage and the audience loved him. Later, backstage, he revealed "I'm standing here in front of you guys because an English professor, a creative writing professor at Saint Mary's College named Rosemary Graham, read something that I wrote. It was the first assignment when I was 17 years old, my freshman year. She read something I wrote and said, 'I think you should go to Hollywood and write screenplays.'"

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman of colour ever nominated in the Cinematography category, became the first woman to win it, for her work on Sinners. She thanked all the women in the room. "I feel like moments like this happen because of you guys...This is an honour."

Ryan Coogler receiving his award Photo: Trae Patton / The Academy, ©A.M.P.A.S.

Cassandra Kulukundis became the first ever winner of the Best Casting award for her work on One Battle after Another, receiving an enthusiastic hug from star Chase Infiniti when she stepped up onto the stage. It's the first new category the Academy has introduced for 25 years.

"I have to obviously thank the Academy for even adding this category, and for the casting directors that fought tirelessly to make it happen despite everything in their way," she said. "I dedicate this to you, and to the casting directors who never got a chance to get up here, who didn't even get a chance to get their name on the movie."

KPop Demon Hunters winning in the Best Animated Film category was a huge moment for its team, who saw it as a breakthrough for Korean talent. "Thank you to the Academy and to all the fans who got us here," said co-writer/co-director Maggie Kang. "And for those of you who look like me, I'm so sorry that it took us so long to see us in a movie like this. But it is here. And that means that the next generations don't have to go longing. This is for Korea and for Koreans everywhere."

There was a tie in the Best Live Action Short category, so the teams behind both The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva go to take home Oscars. This has only ever happened twice before - in the same category in 1949, and also in 1968.

There was a sobering moment in the night when school shooting documentary All The Empty Rooms won Best Documentary: Short Subject. Joining director Joshua Seftel onstage, participant Gloria Cazares said "My daughter Jackie was nine-years-old when she was killed in Uvalde. Since that day, her bedroom has been frozen in time. Jackie is more than just a headline. She is our light and our life. Gun violence is now the number one cause of death in kids and teens. We believe that if the world could see their empty bedrooms, we'd be a different America."

Elle Fanning on the red carpet Photo: Phil McCarten / The Academy, ©A.M.P.A.S.

Though it had few opportunities in the other categories, Frankenstein was a huge success in the technical categories. "Guillermo is a big champion of the art and of craft," said costume designer Kate Hawley in a backstage interview. "He said that he wanted to challenge us all, and it really did. And we thrive when we're challenged, and it's like catnip. And to be standing here and being able to work on this with Guillermo means everything,"

There was a strong anti-war sentiment throughout the night. Javier Bardem, there to present the award for Best international Film, began by saying plainly "No to war, and free Palestine." There were cheers when the Oscar for Best Documentary was awarded to Mr. Nobody Against Putin. Speaking through a translator, its protagonist, Pavel Talakin, said "For four years, we look at the sky for shooting stars to make a very important wish. But there are countries where instead of shooting stars, they have shooting bombs and shooting drones. In the name of our future, in the name of all of our children, stop all of these wars now."

Every Oscar ceremony means glamour on the red carpet. There was a lot more black than usual this year, but also some colourful numbers. Jennifer Lawrence's sheer dress at the Golden Globes seems to have kicked off a trend, with several similar garments on show. Elle Fanning wore a traditional sparkling white Givenchy princess gown and Jessie Buckley looked stunning in a pale pink Chanel number with a red satin wrap-around top. There were also some striking shades of green, with Wunmi Mosaku shimmering in Louis Vuitton sequins.

Those awards in full:

Best Picture