Oscar 2021, the year of diversity and award-sharing

04/26/2021 1:05 AM

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Updated 04/26/2021 1:05 AM

Chloé Zhao's

Nomadland

was the big winner of the night, taking the awards for best picture, direction and leading actress (

Frances McDormand

).

Another great winner was

Anthony Hopkins

, who won for best actor THE father, when everyone believed that it would be a posthumous Oscar to Chadwick Boseman for

The mother of the blues

.

In a ceremony that was historic and completely different from the previous 92 years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Oscars 2021 had a gala with awards that reflected the spirit of diversity that the Hollywood Academy wants to show.

This is how, fulfilling the forecasts, the Chinese

Chloé Zhao

became the second woman in history (and the first Asian) to win the award for Director, for

Nomadlan

d.

Chloe Zhao, the big winner.

Photo EFE

In nearly a century, only five female directors had been nominated in this category.

Kathryn Bigelow had been the only winner: it was for

Living on the Edge

, in 2010.

In addition,

The mother of the blues

, an African American story, won two awards (Makeup and Hair and Costume).

And Daniel Kaluuya was another fixed that was fulfilled: he won the Oscar for supporting actor for his work in

Judas and the Black Messiah

, another film focused on the black community.

A different ceremony

Usually scheduled for the end of winter in the United States, the gala saw its original programming altered this time, scheduled for February 28, as a result of the health emergency generated by the health situation.

But the postponement of almost two months allowed the Academy to organize the gala in person, even with a different routine, since it was divided into two locations in the city of Los Angeles: the traditional Dolby Theater and Union Station, a train station. from the Californian city.

Red carpet at the new Oscars venue, Union Station in Los Angeles.

Photo EFE

In addition, there were connections from activity centers in London and in Paris for the nominees who were unable to travel to the United States.

The ceremony was produced by a team of experts led by none other than Jesse Collins, a veteran live events producer who oversaw both the Super Bowl and this year's Grammys;

Steven Soderbergh, one of the most renowned directors in Hollywood;

and Stacey Sher, a veteran producer.

It was the third year in a row that the Oscars didn't have a lead conductor.

Instead, there were multiple special presentations to meet the producers' goals of making this edition something like a movie event.

Like a movie

Regina King "opened" the ceremony.

She is the director of "One Night in Miami."

AFP photo

Indeed, it all began with titles like those of a movie, anticipating the participants as if they were part of the cast and crew of the film, while the camera followed the walk of the first presenter, Regina King, towards the Union Station stage , the novel headquarters, an art deco train station built in 1939 in what is now the city center.

The choice of a black woman to open the ceremony was another nod from the Hollywood Academy to reaffirm the profile of openness to diversity adopted in recent years

.

In addition

One Night in Miami

, King's debut feature, aspired to three statuettes.

After talking about racism in the United States and the fears she feels as the mother of a young black man ("and there is no money or fame that changes that"), King explained that, as in the making of a movie, attendees they could be free of chinstraps when the ceremony was on the air, but they should be worn over the cuts.

The first winner of the night

Emerald Fennell, the first winner, for her screenplay for "Beautiful Revenge."

Photo REUTERS

Then he announced that the first winner of the night was a woman: Emerald Fennell, for the black comedy

Beautiful Revenge

, took the award in the Original Screenplay category.

She went up to thank him in Los Angeles, showing off a belly from an advanced pregnancy.

The goal was to avoid Zoom connections from the nominees' homes.

Almost everyone was connected live.

This is how the next winner thanked from Paris: it was the French Florian Zeller, who together with Christopher Hampton took the statuette to Screenplay adapted by

The father

.

Award for Denmark

Thomas Vinterberg and his wife, Helene Reingaard Neumann.

AFP photo

Laura Dern announced that the Danish

Another Round

was the winner as International Film.

Its director, Thomas Vinterberg, starred in one of the emotional moments of the gala by dedicating the award to his daughter Ida, who died at the age of 19 in a traffic accident a few days after her father began filming the film.

In a trend that would be repeated throughout the night, Dern dedicated words of praise to each of the nominees in the category of best supporting actor.

Daniel Kaluuya fulfilled the predictions and won the award for his work on

Judas and the Black Messiah

.

“I want to celebrate life, that my mother and father had sex and that is why I am here.

It's amazing! ”Exclaimed the euphoric actor at the end of a too long thank you speech, something that was also a novelty compared to other years.

Argentina and Evita, present

Mia Neal, and her speech in which she mentioned Evita.

Photo REUTERS

Don Cheadle announced that

The Mother of the Blues

took the next two Oscars.

The first, to Makeup and Hair: Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson took the stage to receive him.

Neal recalled the history of racial segregation that his grandfather suffered, and said that the man participated in the first Pan American Games, held in Mar del Plata in 1951. "He traveled to Argentina and met Evita," said the makeup artist.

The other award for

The Mother of the Blues

was for Costume, but its winner, Ann Roth, was the first of the night to not even appear from a distant connection to thank him.

Zhao made history

"Soul", Best Animated Feature Film

From a cinema in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, Bong Joon-ho, director of

Parasite

, the great winner of the 2020 edition, presented the award to the director.

Previous expectations were met: the winner was Zhao, for

Nomadland

.

The protagonist of

The Sound of Metal

, Riz Ahmed, was in charge of announcing that his own film had won in the sound category.

And that

Two Distant Strangers

, by Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, was the best short film.

Reese Witherspoon announced the animation categories.

If something happens to me, I love you

, by Will McCormack and Michael Govier, was the best short film, while

Soul

, by Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, was the best feature film.

An animated record

Thus, Docter took his third Oscar, a record in this area.

The previous two had been for two other Pixar films:

Up

(2009) and

Intense Mind

(2015).

Colette

, by Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard, was the best documentary short film.

While

My Teacher the Octopus

, by Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster, won the award for best documentary feature film.

Tenet

took the award for Visual Effects.

The comic note of a night where humor was conspicuous by its absence was given by Youn Yuh-jung, winner of the supporting actress award for

Minari

.

Among other things, she was excited to have met Brad Pitt in person and said that for that night she forgave everyone who had mispronounced her name.

First for Mank

Halle Berry was in charge of announcing the first two awards of the night for

Mank

, the film that had arrived with the most nominations (ten).

They went into Production Design and Photography Direction.

POS

Look also

Oscar 2021: the award winners live, minute by minute

Oscar 2021: Evita was named at the ceremony and Peronist memes exploded in networks