The unconventional 2021 Oscars were weird, wonderful, moving, and often inspirational. There were commentaries rather than film clips, the speeches weren’t cut off, the Academy changed up the order in which winners were announced (never do that again!), and, most noticeably, there was zero snark. There were still plenty of acceptance speeches that spoke to pressing social issues but those speeches also included moments of pure joy over the celebration of films.
Best Supporting Actor winner Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) referenced his mom and dad having sex during his otherwise inspirational speech, and the reaction shot of his shocked mother became an instant meme. Chloé Zhao (Nomadland) made history as the first woman of color and only the second female to win a Best Director Oscar. Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari) gave one of the most entertaining speeches of the Academy Awards while becoming the first Korean to win a Best Supporting Actress award. And Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom‘s Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson also entered the history books as the first Black women to earn Academy Awards in the Hair & Makeup category.
There were snubs (Chadwick Boseman), surprises (Anthony Hopkins), and Glenn Close showing off her Spike Lee knowledge and doing Da Butt. When all the winners had finally been revealed, Nomadland emerged with three wins including Best Picture while Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Judas and the Black Messiah, Sound of Metal, Mank, The Father, and Soul each earned two Oscars.
The 93rd Academy Awards were held on Sunday, April 25, 2021 and broadcast live on ABC from Union Station and the Dolby Theatre.
2021 Oscar Nominees and Winners:
Performance by an actor in a leading role
• Riz Ahmed in “Sound of Metal”
• Chadwick Boseman in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
• WINNER: Anthony Hopkins in “The Father”
• Gary Oldman in “Mank”
• Steven Yeun in “Minari”
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
• Sacha Baron Cohen in “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
• WINNER: Daniel Kaluuya in “Judas and the Black Messiah”
• Leslie Odom, Jr. in “One Night in Miami…”
• Paul Raci in “Sound of Metal”
• Lakeith Stanfield in “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Performance by an actress in a leading role
• Viola Davis in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
• Andra Day in “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
• Vanessa Kirby in “Pieces of a Woman”
• WINNER: Frances McDormand in “Nomadland”
• Carey Mulligan in “Promising Young Woman”
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
• Maria Bakalova in “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
• Glenn Close in “Hillbilly Elegy”
• Olivia Colman in “The Father”
• Amanda Seyfried in “Mank”
• WINNER: Yuh-Jung Youn in “Minari”
Best animated feature film of the year
• “Onward” Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae
• “Over the Moon” Glen Keane, Gennie Rim and Peilin Chou
• “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” Richard Phelan, Will Becher and Paul Kewley
• WINNER: “Soul” Pete Docter and Dana Murray
• “Wolfwalkers” Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young and Stéphan Roelants
Achievement in cinematography
• “Judas and the Black Messiah” Sean Bobbitt
• WINNER: “Mank” Erik Messerschmidt
• “News of the World” Dariusz Wolski
• “Nomadland” Joshua James Richards
• “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Phedon Papamichael
Achievement in costume design
• “Emma” Alexandra Byrne
• WINNER: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Ann Roth
• “Mank” Trish Summerville
• “Mulan” Bina Daigeler
• “Pinocchio” Massimo Cantini Parrini
Achievement in directing
• “Another Round” Thomas Vinterberg
• “Mank” David Fincher
• “Minari” Lee Isaac Chung
• WINNER: “Nomadland” Chloé Zhao
• “Promising Young Woman” Emerald Fennell
Best documentary feature
• “Collective” Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana
• “Crip Camp” Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder
• “The Mole Agent” Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez
• WINNER: “My Octopus Teacher” Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
• “Time” Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn
Best documentary short subject
• WINNER: “Colette” Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard
• “A Concerto Is a Conversation” Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
• “Do Not Split” Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook
• “Hunger Ward” Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman
• “A Love Song for Latasha” Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan
Achievement in film editing
• “The Father” Yorgos Lamprinos
• “Nomadland” Chloé Zhao
• “Promising Young Woman” Frédéric Thoraval
• WINNER: “Sound of Metal” Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
• “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Alan Baumgarten
Best international feature film of the year
• WINNER: “Another Round” Denmark
• “Better Days” Hong Kong
• “Collective” Romania
• “The Man Who Sold His Skin” Tunisia
• “Quo Vadis, Aida?” Bosnia and Herzegovina
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
• “Emma” Marese Langan, Laura Allen and Claudia Stolze
• “Hillbilly Elegy” Eryn Krueger Mekash, Matthew Mungle and Patricia Dehaney
• WINNER: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson
• “Mank” Gigi Williams, Kimberley Spiteri and Colleen LaBaff
• “Pinocchio” Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli and Francesco Pegoretti
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
• “Da 5 Bloods” Terence Blanchard
• “Mank” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
• “Minari” Emile Mosseri
• “News of the World” James Newton Howard
• WINNER: “Soul” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
• WINNER: “Fight For You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas
• “Hear My Voice” from “The Trial of the Chicago 7”
Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite
• “Husavik” from “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga”
Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson
• “Io Sì (Seen)” from “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)”
Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini
• “Speak Now” from “One Night in Miami…”
Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth
Best motion picture of the year
• “The Father” David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, Producers
• “Judas and the Black Messiah” Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, Producers
• “Mank” Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
• “Minari” Christina Oh, Producer
• WINNER: “Nomadland” Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers
• “Promising Young Woman” Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, Producers
• “Sound of Metal” Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, Producers
• “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, Producers
Achievement in production design
• “The Father” Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone
• “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton
• WINNER: “Mank” Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
• “News of the World” Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan
• “Tenet” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
Best animated short film
• “Burrow” Madeline Sharafian and Michael Capbarat
• “Genius Loci” Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise
• WINNER: “If Anything Happens I Love You” Will McCormack and Michael Govier
• “Opera” Erick Oh
• “Yes-People” Gísli Darri Halldórsson and Arnar Gunnarsson
Best live-action short film
• “Feeling Through” Doug Roland and Susan Ruzenski
• “The Letter Room” Elvira Lind and Sofia Sondervan
• “The Present” Farah Nabulsi
• WINNER: “Two Distant Strangers” Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
• “White Eye” Tomer Shushan and Shira Hochman
Achievement in sound
• “Greyhound” Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman
• “Mank” Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin
• “News of the World” Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett
• “Soul” Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker
• WINNER: “Sound of Metal” Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh
Achievement in visual effects
• “Love and Monsters” Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox
• “The Midnight Sky” Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins
• “Mulan” Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram
• “The One and Only Ivan” Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez
• WINNER: “Tenet” Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher
Adapted screenplay
• “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Peter Baynham & Erica Rivinoja & Dan Mazer & Jena Friedman & Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Dan Swimer & Nina Pedrad
• WINNER: “The Father” Screenplay by Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller
• “Nomadland” Written for the screen by Chloé Zhao
• “One Night in Miami…” Screenplay by Kemp Powers
• “The White Tigers” Written for the screen by Ramin Bahrani
Original screenplay
• “Judas and the Black Messiah” Screenplay by Will Berson & Shaka King; Story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas
• “Minari” Written by Lee Isaac Chung
• WINNER: “Promising Young Woman” Written by Emerald Fennell
• “Sound of Metal” Screenplay by Darius Marder & Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder & Derek Cianfrance
• “The Trial of the Chicago 7” Written by Aaron Sorkin
