The Oscars Made it Rain for ‘Anora’ and its Gritty Tale of Love and Life with Five Wins

HOLLYWOOD, California — As one would expect, the 97th Academy Awards, held at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, was a night filled with surprises, emotional speeches (and less than favorable post-win interviews), and outstanding musical performances. Hosted By Conan O’Brien in his Oscars debut, the ceremony celebrated the best in film with independent cinema taking center stage, and for good reason.

At the end of the evening, the indie drama Anora emerged as the night’s biggest winner securing major plum for Best Picture, Best Director for Sean Baker and Best Actress for young actress Mikey Madison. The film’s unexpected dominance came at the tail-end of the Oscars’ campaign period that somehow placed epics from major players like The Brutalist and even Emilia Perez at the forefront of awards’ predictions, thereby reinforcing the continuing influence of independent filmmakers and the search for a more unsanitized look at real-world stories that are raring to be told.

Adrien Brody won Best Actor for his performances in The Brutalist, marking a return to Oscar glory for the acclaimed actor. Meanwhile, A Real Pain’s Kieran Culkin secured Best Supporting Actor, further solidifying his reputation as one of Hollywood’s most versatile performers. In a widely-polarizing awards stage and press room appearance on her win, Zoe Saldaña took home her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for Emilia Pérez.

The Oscars also featured electrifying musical performances from top artists, including Doja Cat, Lisa of Blackpink, and Raye. A standout moment of the night was Queen Latifah’s heartfelt tribute to legendary music producer Quincy Jones, earning her and the honored artist a standing ovation.

Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, now Academy Award nominees, also took the stage singing musical classics that was concluded by an applauded performance of “Defying Gravity” from Wicked—easily one of 2024’s biggest box office and pop culture wins. The Wizard of Oz medley came on the heels of a love letter to Los Angeles, still trying mightily to stand back up from the devastation of the January wildfires. Grande gave a heartwarming performance of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from 1939’s classic The Wizard of Oz quickly followed by Erivo with “Home” from the 1975 musical The Wiz.

 With Anora cementing its place in Oscars history, the success of independent films continues to shape the future of Hollywood and of cinema and entertainment culture as a whole. As the industry evolves, telling and embracing bold storytelling  the 97th Academy Awards will be remembered as a night when fresh voices triumphed on cinema’s biggest stage.

See full list of winners below:

Anora – Best Picture

Sean Baker (Anora) – Best Director & Best Original Screenplay & Best Film Editing

Mikey Madison (Anora) – Best Actress in a Leading Role

Adrien Brody (The Brutalist) – Best Actor in a Leading Role 

Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain) – Best Supporting Actor 

Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez) – Best Supporting Actress

Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens, Gregory Zalcman (Flow) – Best Animated Feature Film

Shirin Sohani, Hossein Molayemi (In the Shadow of the Cypress) – Best Animated Short Film

Paul Tazewell (Wicked) – Best Costume Design

Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, Marilyne Scarselli (The Substance) – Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales (Wicked) – Best Production Design

Clément Ducol, Camille, Jacques Audiard – Best Original Song (Emilia Pérez – El Mal)

Molly O’Brien, Lisa Remington (The Only Girl in the Orchestra) – Best Documentary Short Film

Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham (No Other Land) – Best Documentary Feature

Victoria Warmerdam, Trent (I’m Not a Robot) – Best Live Action Short Film

Lol Crawley (The Brutalist) – Best Cinematography

Walter Salles (I’m Still Here – Brazil) – Best International Feature Film

Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist) – Best Original Score

Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, Gerd Nefzer (Dune: Part Two) – Best Visual Effects

Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill (Dune: Part Two) – Best Sound

Additional text by Leo Balante