Oscars 2021 – live: Winners, acceptance speeches and highlights from the Academy Awards
Chloé Zhao wins Best Director while Frances McDormand earns Best Actress prize
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Road movie Nomadland won the top prize at the 93rd Academy Awards, which fulfilled many expectations but threw in a couple of surprise wins in an unusual ceremony.
The film’s director Chloe Zhao also made history, becoming the first woman of colour to win the award for directing, and the second woman in history — and the film scooped the Best Actress prize for its star Frances McDormand.
Sir Anthony Hopkins won the Best Actor Oscar — his first since The Silence of the Lambs in 1992 — for his performance in The Father, about a man slipping into dementia, defeating presumptive favourite Chadwick Boseman, who died last year aged 43 following a private four-year battle with colon cancer.
Daniel Kaluuya, who was born in London to Ugandan parents, is the first black British winner of the best Supporting Actor prize for his turn as community organiser and member of the Black Panther Party Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah.
There were a number of surprise wins. David Fincher’s Mank led the pack with 10 nominations, but ultimately won two.
Due to coronavirus, the Oscars moved out of their usual venue, the Dolby Theatre, and were based out of Los Angeles’s Union Station instead. The ceremony’s format was overhauled too, with attendees observing social distancing and some joining via video link from other parts of the world.
Nomadland had been a favourite to win Best Picture; it fulfilled that expectation, beating The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Minari, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal, and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Minari actor Youn Yuh-jung also won over the crowd in her acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress, which was presented to her by Brad Pitt. “Mr Brad Pitt, finally, nice to meet you!” she told him after making her way onto the stage. She then proceeded to acknowledge the ways in which her name has been mispronounced throughout the awards season, telling the crowd: “Tonight, you are all forgiven.”
With her win, Youn became the first Korean actor to take home an Academy Award.
Follow our liveblog for highlights from the ceremony and the buzz-worthy aftermath.
Laura Dern is presenting the Oscar for Best International Feature Film. The nominees are Another Round, Better Days, Collective, The Man Who Sold His Skin, and Quo Vadis, Aida?. And the winner is... Another Round, Denmark’s entry starring Mads Mikkelsen!
And Laura Dern is now presenting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The nominees are Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7), Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah), Leslie Odom Jr (One Night in Miami…), Paul Raci (Sound of Metal), and Lakeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah).
And the winner is...
Daniel Kaluuya for Judas and the Black Messiah! Here’s the actor arriving on the red carpet earlier tonight:
In his acceptance speech, Kaluuya pays tribute to God, his co-star and co-nominee Lakeith Stanfield, and Fred Hampton, the community organiser and member of the Black Panther Party he portrays in Judas and the Black Messiah.
For more background on Fred Hampton and the story told in Judas and the Black Messiah, you can read the piece below. Hampton, a community organiser and member of the Black Panther Party, died at the age of 21 in 1969 after 14 police officers raided his Chicago apartment.
The true story behind Fred Hampton movie Judas and the Black Messiah
Fred Hampton, a community organiser and member of the Black Panther Party, died in 1969 in a police raid
Earlier this evening, Viola Davis paid a moving, sincere tribute to Chadwick Boseman, her co-star in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Both Davis and Boseman are nominated tonight for their work in the film. You can read more about Davis’s remarks here:
Viola Davis pays tribute to Chadwick Boseman at the Oscars
Boseman and Davis are both in contention for awards at this year’s Oscars
The Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom team takes home the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Costume Designer Ann Roth also wins in her category for her work on the film.
Here is Emerald Fennell accepting her Oscar for Best Original Screenplay earlier this evening, and Florian Zeller after he won Best Adapted Screenplay:
Bong Joon-Ho, the director of Parasite, which swept last year’s Oscars, is presenting the Oscar for Best Director. The nominees are Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round), David Fincher (Mank), Lee Isaac Chung (Minari), Chloé Zhao (Nomadland), and Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman).
And the winner is... Chloé Zhao for Nomadland!
“This is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves, and to hold on to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do that,” Zhao says of her Academy Award.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments