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It was an explosive night at the 96th annual Academy Awards, with biopic Oppenheimer taking home the most trophies, and artists and protesters seizing the spotlight to draw attention to the deadly conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
Outside the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, California, traffic came to a standstill as protesters called for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Palestinian enclave that has been the target of a five-month Israeli military offensive.
And inside the auditorium, actors and artists took advantage of their triumphs to ask for peace, based on themes presented in the different nominated films.
With 13 nominations, the Oppenheimer biopic was the favorite for the night’s Oscar ceremony. And he fulfilled the first predictions about his success at the Oscars, with seven victories in the main categories.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the night.
Oppenheimer cleans up with seven wins
With its gripping portrait of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called father of the atomic bomb, the Oppenheimer film started the night slowly but quickly gained momentum and took home some of the ceremony’s top awards.
Robert Downey Jr earned the first win of the night with his long-awaited Best Supporting Actor trophy. But his co-star Cillian Murphy faced stiff competition in the Best Actor category and still took home the golden statuette, prevailing over leading men like Paul Giamatti.
The film also scored a long-awaited win in the Best Director category for Christopher Nolan, whose relationship with the Academy Awards dates back more than two decades.
Nolan was first nominated for an Academy Award in 2002 for the memory loss mystery Memento, but while his films won major awards at the Oscars, Nolan himself always came up empty-handed.
However, that changed with Sunday’s ceremony. Not only did Nolan take home the Best Director award, but his wife, producer Emma Thomas, came onstage with him to receive the Best Picture honor, the most coveted trophy of the night.
Flower Moon Killers Are Excluded
One of the final categories of the night was Best Actress, and the Dolby Theater auditorium held its breath as the presenters revealed the winner.
The race was one of the closest of the night, but Lily Gladstone was widely believed to be the favourite, on the verge of a historic victory for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon.
Never before had a Native American woman won the category, much less been nominated. Gladstone, a member of the Nez Perce and Blackfeet nations, played the role of Mollie Kyle, a real-life Osage woman who loses a close family member in a 1920s massacre known as the Osage Reign of Terror.
It was a quietly impressive performance, with Gladstone radiating a constant intelligence in every scene. But in a surprise twist, she lost the Best Actress category to another top contender, Emma Stone, who gave a zany, out-of-character performance in the surreal comedy Poor Things.
With Gladstone’s loss, Killers of the Flower Moon was completely out of the Oscar race, despite having 10 nominations. Meanwhile, Poor Things scored four wins, mostly in technical categories like Best Production Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Gaza in the Oscars spotlight with red button pins
However, on and off stage, world events dominated the conversation. Outside the Dolby Theater, groups such as the Los Angeles affiliate of Jewish Voice for Peace held signs and shouted for a ceasefire in Gaza, blocking several lanes of traffic.
Among the protesters were SAG-AFTRA Members for a Ceasefire, a group of working actors.
Protesters said they sought to ensure that Israel’s attack on the southern Gaza city of Rafah was not ignored, even amid the glitz and glamor of the night.
More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in Israel’s military offensive, which has raised concerns about the risk of genocide and famine.
Calls for peace in Gaza continued on the Oscars red carpet, with celebrities including singer Billie Eilish and Poor Things star Ramy Youssef wearing “Artists for Ceasefire” badges to raise awareness about the crisis. humanitarian that is developing.
“I think it’s a universal message: Let’s stop killing children,” Youssef told Variety magazine. “Let’s not be part of more wars.”
The director of the chilling Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest also lent his voice to the cause, while accepting his Oscar for Best International Feature Film.
“Right now, we stand here as men refuting their Judaism and the Holocaust hijacked by an occupation that has brought so many innocent people into conflict, whether it be the victims of October 7 in Israel or the current attack on Gaza,” he said. between applause.
Documentary renews calls for peace in Ukraine
The war in Gaza was not the only international conflict that captured the attention of the Oscars. With an award in the Best Documentary Feature category, the film 20 Days in Mariupol renewed attention on the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
More than two years have passed since Russia launched its large-scale military assault in February 2022. With his documentary, filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov captured the early days of that war, as the southeastern city of Mariupol faced Russian bombs.
Chernov’s victory in the category was historic. From the Oscars stage he explained that he would bring home Ukraine’s first Oscar, but that he would trade it all for peace in his homeland.
“I’m probably the first director on this stage who will say: I wish I had never made this movie. I wish I could exchange this for Russia never attacking Ukraine, never occupying our cities,” he said with deep emotion as he looked at the crowd.
“But I can’t change history. I cannot change the past,” he continued, appealing to the filmmakers present in the audience to continue shedding light on Ukraine.
“We can ensure that history is righted, that the truth prevails, and that the people of Mariupol and those who have given their lives are never forgotten. Because cinema forms memories and memories form history.”
The US Congress is currently struggling to approve aid to Ukraine, amid Republican opposition to the funding.
Host Kimmel criticizes Trump from stage
Political divisions in the United States (and the upcoming presidential election in November) also briefly influenced the night’s events.
The Oscars offered their usual mix of spectacle and glamour. In one of the night’s highlights, Canadian actor Ryan Gosling took the stage to perform his Barbie-themed power ballad, I’m Just Ken, live, dressed in a bright pink suit and accompanied by dancers wearing Barbie hats. cowboy.
In another surprising moment, actor and wrestler John Cena appeared naked on stage to present the Best Costume award.
But four-time Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel couldn’t resist adding a little political humor to the night’s movie banter.
He first attacked Katie Britt, a U.S. senator from Alabama who recently rebutted President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
Kimmel compared Britt to the Frankenstein-like heroine of Poor Things, played by Oscar winner Stone.
“Emma played a grown woman with a child’s brain, like the lady who rebutted the State of the Union on Thursday night,” Kimmel joked.
Then, before the night was over, Kimmel reappeared on stage to read a mean social media post directed at him. His actor? Former President Donald Trump, a frequent target of Kimmel’s comedy.
“Has there ever been a worse host than Jimmy Kimmel at the Oscars?” Kimmel said, reading from the screen of his phone. Looking up, he addressed the president, who faces four criminal charges, directly: “Thank you for watching. Haven’t you already spent your time in jail?