The 2024/25 film awards season is officially over, and the Oscars ceremony saw a clear winner. Anora, an independent film about a sex worker falling in love with the son of a Russian oligarch, was crowned Best Picture, along with awards for directing, screenplay, lead actress, and editing. While the film was widely considered the favourite to win the top honour, few predicted its impressive overall haul of five awards.
Anora’s sweep of the major categories, combined with three awards for The Brutalist (including a win for lead actor), marks this year’s Oscars as a recognition and celebration of independent cinema. Mainstream box-office hits likeWicked and Dune: Part Two were awarded only in technical categories. The Academy chose to crown films loved in the film community but less known outside of it, providing much-needed publicity that will encourage casual viewers to turn their attention toward independent films — a success in what I see as one of the primary goals of the Oscars.
Beyond the awards for Anora, the most important moment of the night was Flow winning Best Animated Feature over the favoured, Hollywood-produced The Wild Robot. As a low-budget, international film, without a major distributor behind its campaign, Flow does not fit the typical Oscar winner in this category. Yet, the passion for the film carried it through the season all the way to the biggest award possible. This marks a truly great shift in how the Academy perceives animated films, and paves the way for aspiring animation filmmakers, proving that they don’t need major studio support to achieve recognition for their work.
As for the ceremony itself, the Oscars have usually subjected us to plenty of cringe moments and tasteless jokes. Fortunately, this year’s ceremony was different. Conan O’Brien performed well in the difficult role of the host, and his humour landed well with the audience both in the auditorium and at home. Sure, there were a few dubious creative choices, such as the confusingly out-of-place tribute to the James Bond franchise, but the ceremony can be considered an overall success. Moreover, despite largely celebrating independent films over mainstream blockbusters, this year’s show amassed the biggest audience in five years. As many people turn away from live television, the ratings of the Oscars contradict this trend, indicating that the future of the Academy Awards looks bright. With many deserving winners and an enjoyable ceremony, the Oscars gave us little to complain about, and plenty to look forward to for the next season.
“1988 Academy Awards red carpet” by Alan Light is licensed under CC BY 2.0.