The 96th Academy Awards, hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel, honored the best films and talents of international cinema in an evening full of emotion and surprises. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer largely dominated the awards and won seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. However, French cinema also shone brightly with Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, which was awarded the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Despite a glamorous red carpet, featuring Ariana Grande in an astonishing quilt dress, the ceremony did not lack serious moments as it touched upon the war in Gaza, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and payed tribute to Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who died in detention. Lighter and more quirky segments also marked the evening, such as Ryan Gosling’s electrifying performance, singing and dancing to I’m Just Ken from the movie Barbie, in a pink glitter suit.
The anticipated triumph of Oppenheimer, a masterful historical epic about the father of the atomic bomb, was confirmed. In addition to the Oscars for Best Picture and Directing for Christopher Nolan, the film walked away with five other awards: Best Actor for Cillian Murphy who was impressive as Robert Oppenheimer, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr. who played a bureaucrat orchestrating the physicist’s humiliation, as well as Oscars for Editing, Cinematography and Best Original Score. “For better or worse, we now live in the world of Oppenheimer and the atomic bomb,” Cillian Murphy emphasized, dedicating his award “to the peacemakers around the world.”
Oppenheimer left little room for other films, but Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet, already a Palme d’Or winner at Cannes, snagged the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. In an unfiltered speech, the French director humorously shared that this award would “help her get through her midlife crisis.” She also mentioned the unique conditions under which she wrote her film, “locked at home with two young children during the lockdown, sticking them in front of cartoons to get a bit of peace, with no boundary between diapers and work.” Her authentic and offbeat tone was greatly appreciated.
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Another highlight was the victory of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, who won his 2nd Oscar for Best Animated Feature for The Boy and The Heron, his first film in 10 years and potentially his last feature. This dreamlike tale, following a young boy during World War II, was chosen over the favorite Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Absent from the ceremony, 83-year-old Miyazaki shared that he was inspired by his own childhood memories for this testamentary film. A star-studded cast lent their voices to the English version, including Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe, Florence Pugh, Christian Bale and Mark Hamill.
Among other highlights, Poor Things, a fantasy film starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, won Oscars for Best Costumes, Set Decoration, and Makeup and Hairstyling. The Oscar for Best International Feature Film went to the British movie The Zone of Interest about the Holocaust, with director Jonathan Glazer delivering a plea against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. 20 Days in Mariupol, a film about the siege of the Ukrainian city, received the Oscar for Best Documentary.
The ceremony was entertaining and spectacular, with a symphony orchestra and live singers for the “In Memoriam” segment for the departed stars. The song What Was I Made For? from the movie Barbie, performed in a delicate whisper by Billie Eilish, snagged the Oscar for Best Original Song.
Host Jimmy Kimmel maintained a balance between sharp humor and serious moments, not hesitating to jab at Donald Trump or to joke about the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences not nominating any female directors this year. In a lighter vein, wrestler John Cena, nearly naked and only clad in a toga, presented the Oscar for Best Costumes!
Here is the complete list of winners of the 96th Academy Awards:

  • Best Picture: Oppenheimer

  • Best Director: Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer

  • Best Actress: Emma Stone in Poor Things

  • Best Actor: Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer

  • Best Original Screenplay: Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for Anatomy of a Fall

  • Best Adapted Screenplay: Cord Jefferson for American Fiction

  • Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer


  • Best Supporting Actress: Da’Vine Joy Randolph in Winter Break

  • Best International Feature Film: The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)

  • Best Animated Feature: The Boy and The Heron

  • Best Animated Short: War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko

  • Best Documentary Feature: 20 Days in Mariupol

  • Best Documentary Short: The Last Repair Shop

  • Best Live Action Short: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

  • Best Original Score: Oppenheimer

  • Best Original Song: What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell from Barbie

  • Best Sound Mixing: The Zone of Interest

  • Best Makeup and Hairstyling: Poor Things

  • Best Production Design: Poor Things

  • Best Costume Design: Poor Things

  • Best Visual Effects: Godzilla: Minus One

  • Best Film Editing: Oppenheimer

  • Best Cinematography: Oppenheimer


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