Who took home the gongs at the 93rd Academy Awards?
Curtis Mason
Account Manager, VIC
The 93rd Academy Awards has officially wrapped up, with the winners announced after a turbulent but outstanding year for cinema.
The ceremony was underpinned with hope and sadness as we look ahead, and remember what we lost, including the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Join us as we go through some of the major winners and find out what their next projects are and when to expect them:
Above: Frances McDormand and Chloe Zhao
Best Picture, and Best Director – Chloe Zhao for Nomadland
Chloe Zhao had already broken records and made history when she was nominated in the Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing categories, but now Zhao is the first and only woman of colour to have been nominated for and won in the Best Director category, while also nabbing Best Picture!
Zhao’s cinema future has been firmly cemented, with the Oscar winning director next commandeering the big screen for Marvel’s Eternals in WC 28th October.
Best Actress – Frances McDormand for Nomadland
Frances McDormand is already an Oscar favourite having previously won Best Actress for Fargo and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. The powerhouse actress is a fervent supporter and champion of equal opportunities within Hollywood, and is known for her impassioned and quirky acceptance speeches– with 2021’s speech being no exception. As she accepted her award, she quoted Macbeth with “I have no words. My voice is in my sword. We know, the sword is our work. And I like work. Thanks for knowing that, and thanks for this.”
Frances will next be seen in Wes Anderson’s superstar-filled comedy-drama The French Dispatch which is due to premiere later this year after its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in July.
Best Supporting Actor – Daniel Kaluuya for Judas And The Black Messiah
Daniel Kaluuya found himself in a bit of a predicament when he was nominated alongside his Judas co-star LaKeith Stanfield. Kaluuya was extremely gracious in his win, however, congratulating Stanfield on his recognition and making his poor mum squirm in an hilariously-awkward joke during his acceptance speech!
British Kaluuya became the seventh youngest actor to ever win the award, at just 32 years, 60 days old and will be seen onscreen next year in Jordan Peele’s (Get Out, Us) untitled Horror project alongside Oscar nominee Steven Yeun (Minari).
Best Original Screenplay – Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman
Emerald Fennell also found herself as a pioneer for female directors this year, smashing through the glass ceiling and breaking records for the first time that two women were nominated for Best Director. While she missed out on the Best Director gong to Chloe Zhao, Fennell won for writing the screenplay for her gripping psychological thriller Promising Young Woman. This also marked the first time a female screenwriter took home the Oscar for a screenwriting category since Juno’s Diablo Cody in 2007.
Thankfully we’re about to see a lot more of Fennell, as she’s been tapped to write “Zatanna,” a big-screen adaptation of the DC Comics heroine which is coming to cinemas in the near future.