CODA was a surprise winner at the 94th Annual Academy Awards, taking home the top prize for Best Picture at the iconic Dolby Theatre on Sunday night.
Jessica Chastain was named Best Actress for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, while Will Smith’s Best Actor win for his performance in King Richard was overshadowed by him taking to the stage to slap Chris Rock.
Accepting the award, he apologised to the Academy for the incident and said he wanted to be “a vessel for love”.
““Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said. I look like the crazy father just like they said about Richard Williams. But love will make you do crazy things,” he said.
Jane Campion was named Best Director for film The Power of the Dog, making her only the third woman to ever take home the prize, and Kenneth Branagh won his first Oscar for Best Original Screenplay with film Belfast. Sian Heder won Best Adapted Screenplay for CODA.
In her speech, Chastain paid tribute to fellow nominees Olivia Colman, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Kristen Stewart. “I love you guys so much and to be included in the conversation with you is such an honour,” she said.
American actor Troy Kotsur won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in deaf-language film CODA, making him the only the second deaf actor to win an Oscar, after co-star Marlee Matlin won the first.
Last year’s Best Supporting Actor winner Daniel Kaluuya and singer H.E.R. presented the award for Best Supporting Actress to Ariana DeBose for West Side Story, making her the second Anita to win one.
“Even in this weird world that we live in, dreams do come true,” the Afro-Latina actress said. “To anyone who’s ever questioned your identity… there is indeed a place for us.”
The win comes after a controversial snub from the Oscars for DeBose’s co-star Rachel Zegler, who did not initially receive an invite to the ceremony, despite West Side Story being nominated for seven awards.
She appeared at the show to co-present the award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects alongside Jacob Elordi - which Dune won.
“I never thought I would be here six days ago... dreams really can come true, and pretty fast too,” she quipped.
Following West Side Story’s win, the team behind Dune also went onto win Best Sound.
The Queen of Basketball scooped the award for Best Documentary Short Subject, while The Windshield Wiper won the award for Best Animated Short Film.
Japan’s Drive My Car netted Best International Feature Film, while Riz Ahmed accepted the award for Best Live Action Short Film The Long Goodbye and Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh won Best Makeup and Hairstyling for The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
Dune collected several more awards over the course of the night, winning Best Original Score for Hans Zimmer’s music, Greig Fraser winning Best Cinematography, Joe Walker winning Best Film Editing and Patrice Vermette and Zsuzsanna Sipos winning Best Production Design.
Billie Eilish and brother Finneas walked away with the Oscar for Best Original Song for their James Bond song, No Time to Die, while the Best Animated Feature Film gong went to Encanto.
Jenny Beavan won Best Costume Design for her work on Disney film Cruella, and Questlove won the award for Best Documentary Feature for Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).
