The 96th Academy Awards ceremony took place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel for the fourth time. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer swept the night with seven awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Cillian Murphy) and Best Supporting Actor (Robert Downey Jr.). The other categories in which it won include Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Original Score.
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>The Oscar season finally brought down the curtains to the Barbenheimer saga. While Barbie was more successful in the box office, it won a solitary Oscar, for Best Original Song, that went to Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For?
>The 96th Academy Awards marked many firsts. This was Christopher Nolan’s first Oscar for Best Director. Jonathan Glazer’s Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest became the first-ever British film to win the Oscar for Best International Feature Film.
>After being nominated eight times over the last 22 years, Wes Anderson finally won his first-ever Academy Award, in the Best Live Action Short Film category, for his adaptation of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. There’s a Kolkata connect as well. Dev Patel plays Dr Z. Z. Chatterjee in the film.
>War-torn Ukraine won her first-ever Oscar. 20 Days in Mariupol, which tells of the Russian invasion, was named Best Documentary Feature. Talking of war, Jonathan Glazer‘s speech addressed the Israel-Palestine conflict. Various celebrities also wore red pins in support of a ceasefire in Gaza.
>It was a season of seconds too. Emma Stone won her second Best Actress Oscar for Poor Things, after previously winning for La La Land. Hayao Miyazaki won his second Oscar, as his swansong The Boy and the Heron was named Best Animated Feature Film, more than two decades after winning his first Oscar for Spirited Away. The legendary animator also received an honorary Oscar in 2014.