Although celebrated on a much smaller scale, this year’s 93rd Academy Awards managed to make history with another huge Asian win!

The 93rd Academy Awards this past weekend was a very different affair in light of hyped up security and safety procedures. It turned Hollywood’s biggest red carpet event of the year into a sobering one, where even the Oscars’ world-famous after-parties were put on hiatus.

Following a year of of interruptions to film productions around the world, studios have had to complete their productions in more controlled settings with strict SOPs in place. And with cinemas being shuttered due to the ongoing pandemic, Hollywood faced its most challenging year in cinema, all while streaming services saw a giant leap in their consumer base.

Held almost two months later than usual, the Oscar ceremony, this year was an in-person event split between the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.

However, it was still the Oscars and die-hard movie buffs know that there’s always new history being in movie land. This year, Chloé Zhao snagged the Best Director award for Nomadland, also becoming the first woman of colour to win the coveted award. The last time a woman won in this category was in 2010 when Kathryn Bigelow received the award for The Hurt Locker.

Another first for the 93rd Academy Awards was Yuh-Jung Youn becoming the first Korean actress to win an Oscar for her supporting role in Minari.

Daniel Kaluuya is finally getting the recognition he deserves in film by taking home the Best Supporting Actor awards for his portrayal of Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah. He also made sure to cause a stir with his tongue-in-cheek acceptance speech. And Frances McDormand once again asserted her deep well of talent by claiming her third Best Actress Oscar for Nomadland.

However, the shocker of the night happened when Anthony Hopkins was given the Best Actor award for his performance on The Father, an outcome no one saw coming seeing how the beloved late Chadwick Boseman was thought to be favoured posthumously for the award following his turn in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Another departure from the usual came with the Best Actor Oscar taking the coveted final award spot, rather than Best Picture.

THE NOMINEES AND WINNERS

Best Picture
The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland – Winner
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Actor
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father – Winner
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari

Best Actress
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland – Winner
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Best Director
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
David Fincher, Mank
Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland – Winner

Best Supporting Actress
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari – Winner

Best Supporting Actor
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah – Winner
Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah

Best International Feature
Another Round – Winner
Better Days
Collective 
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Animated Feature
Onward
Over the Moon
Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon 
Soul – Winner
Wolfwalkers

Best Documentary Feature
Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher – Winner
Time

Best Original Score
Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul – Winner

Best Original Song
“Fight for You,” Judas and the Black Messiah – Winner
“Hear My Voice,” The Trial of the Chicago 7
“Husavik,” Eurovision Song Contest
“Io Si (Seen),” The Life Ahead
“Speak Now,” One Night in Miami

Best Original Screenplay
Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman – Winner
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Adapted Screenplay
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Father – Winner
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The White Tiger

Best Cinematography
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank – Winner
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Winner
Mank
Pinocchio

Best Costume Design
Emma
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – Winner
Mank
Mulan
Pinocchio

Best Film Editing
The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal – Winner
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Sound
Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Soul
Sound of Metal – Winner

Best Live-Action Short
Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers – Winner
White Eye

Best Animated Short
Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You – Winner
Opera
Yes-People

Best Documentary Short
Colette – Winner
A Concerto is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha

Best Visual Effects
Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet – Winner

Best Production Design
The Father 
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank – Winner
News of the World
Tenet