The 96th Academy Awards ceremony was held on March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. The ceremony was presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), commonly referred to as Oscars. The glamorous occasion was attended by several Hollywood actors. The movie ‘Oppenheimer’ emerged as the biggest winner of the 96th Academy Awards, bagging seven awards out of a total of 23 awards. The event was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, the famous US television comedian, for the fourth time. This year, Oscars were awarded in 23 categories honouring films that were released in the year 2023.
Significant Nominations
On January 23, 2024, the nominations for the Oscar were announced. With 13 nominations, ‘Oppenheimer’ was leading followed by 11 nominations for ‘Poor Things’ and 10 nominations for the ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’. The movies ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie’ competed against each other in six categories, including the ‘Best Motion Picture’ category.
Director and producer Steven Spielberg was nominated for the 13th time in the Oscars for the Best Motion Picture of year. Martin Scorsese was the oldest nominee who was nominated for the 10th time for the Best Director category. Music composer John Williams was nominated for the 54th time in the 96th Academy Awards.
Ten actors received their first Oscars nominations this year. This was the fifth year in a row where at least one ‘Best Motion Picture’ category nominee was directed by a woman. This year’s women nominations for Best Picture included Greta Gerwig for ‘Barbie’, Celine Song for ‘Past Lives’ and Justine Triet for ‘Anatomy of a Fall’. ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ and ‘Past Lives’ were the only two predominantly non-English films that were nominated for the major category. Further, six couples received nominations which they shared together in their respective categories.
2024 Oscar Awards
The biographical thriller ‘Oppenheimer’, directed by Christopher Nolan, won seven awards in the 96th Academy Awards. It secured the prestigious title of Best Picture. With J. Robert Oppenheimer as the pivotal character, the film depicts a complex picture of the fierce race for the development of the first atomic bomb. Christopher Nolan emerged as the winner for the ‘Best Director’ category. For playing the title role of Oppenheimer, Irish actor Cillian Murphy won the ‘Best Actor’ award. He won the award for skilfully enacting the pride and guilt of J. Robert Oppenheimer as he handles the creation of the first atomic bomb and combats with its repercussions. Robert Downey Jr won the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ award for portraying the role of Lewis Strauss, the American government official, businessman, philanthropist, and naval officer in ‘Oppenheimer’. Ludwig Goransson, Hoyte van Hoytema and Jennifer Lame won the ‘Best Music (Original Score)’, ‘Best Cinematography’ and the ‘Best Film Editing’ awards, respectively, for ‘Oppenheimer’.
The film, ‘Poor Things’, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Tony McNamara, is based on the 1992 novel by Alasdair Gray. Next to ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Poor Things’ won four Oscars in 2024. Actress Emma Stone won the ‘Best Actress’ award for portraying the role of Bella Baxter in ‘Poor Things’. Apart from this, James Price and Shona Heath won the award for ‘Best Production Design’ and, Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, and Josh Weston won the award for ‘Best Makeup and Hairstyling’, and, Holly Waddington for ‘Best Costume Design’, all for ‘Poor Things’.
The film, ‘The Zone of Interest’ of the UK, directed by Jonathan Glazer won two awards at the 2024 Oscars. It won the award for the ‘Best International Feature Film’. Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn won the awards for the ‘Best Sound’ for ‘The Zone of Interest’.
The ‘Best Supporting Actress’ award was won by Da’Vine Joy Randolph for the portrayal of the character Mary Lamb in the movie ‘The Holdovers’.
Singers Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell were awarded for ‘Music (Original Song)’, ‘What Was I Made For?’. This song was co-written by them for the soundtrack of the movie ‘Barbie’. The song, ‘I’m Just Ken’ from the same movie, written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, and performed by Ryan Gosling, was also nominated in the same category.
The Oscars for the ‘Best Live Action Short Film’ was won by Wes Anderson and Steven Rales for the adaptation of the Roald Dahl fairy tale ‘The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar’. Benedict Cumberbatch portrayed the role of Henry Sugar in a comedic performance in the film. ‘War is Over!’, inspired by the music of John and Yoko and directed by Dave Mullins, was conferred with the ‘Best Animated Short Film’ award.
Ukrainian documentary film ‘20 Days in Mariupol’, by Ukrainian filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, won the award for the ‘Best Documentary Feature Film’. The award for the ‘Best Documentary Short Film’ was given to ‘The Last Repair Shop’ directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers. The film revolves around the unique initiative in Los Angeles since 1959, where musical instruments are provided and repaired for public school students at no charge by a small team of artisans.
The ‘Best Original Screenplay’ award was conferred to the French filmmakers Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for the French legal drama, ‘Anatomy of a Fall’. The award for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ was given to ‘American Fiction’ written and directed by Cord Jefferson. It is based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett.
Japanese film producer of Anime, Toshio Suzuki, won the award for the ‘Best Animated Feature Film’ for his semi-autobiographical Japanese animated film titled, ‘The Boy and the Heron’. It is a whimsical narrative revolving around a boy coping with the loss of his mother. The film is directed by Hayao Miyazaki.
‘Godzilla Minus One’, the Japanese film directed and written by Takashi Yamazaki clinched the ‘Best Visual Effects’ honour in the 96th Academy Awards.
Governors Awards
The AMPAS also held its 14th annual Governors Awards that signifies lifetime achievement within the film industry. It was presented on January 9, 2024. The Academy Honorary Award was presented to Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks, and Carol Littleton. The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award was presented to Michelle Satter.
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