How the 2024 Oscars were distributed

The 96th Academy Awards ceremony took place in Los Angeles. Its triumph, in accordance with all forecasts, was Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which won in seven categories out of the thirteen in which it was nominated, including “Best Film” and “Best Director.” Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Wretched Ones took second place with four awards. Comments Julia Shagelman.

After last year’s ceremony, when the most gold statuettes were awarded got it “Unformatted” action comedy “Everything, Everywhere and At Once”, the current one looked like a return of the Oscars to its roots: the big Hollywood style and honoring films on significant topics. The path along which dressed-up participants walked into the Dolby Theater hall turned red again (last year’s experiment with the “champagne color” was considered a failure); proven by three ceremonies, host Jimmy Kimmel again joked about how long films have now become (especially Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, which has a running time of 26 minutes longer than Oppenheimer – apparently, these minutes are what crippled academics , who did not give a single prize to the work of a modern classic); and to present the acting nominations, the organizers recalled the long-standing format, when five Oscar winners from previous years took to the stage at once. Other categories were sometimes presented by living legends of the film industry: Steven Spielberg announced best director, Al Pacino – best film, and the nostalgic duet of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito (remembering their villainous roles in the Batman films) – best visual effects and editing.

Now Christopher Nolan has finally joined the ranks of the Hollywood aristocracy, whose seventh and eighth nominations resulted in a double victory: he received a prize not only as a director, but also as a producer of Oppenheimer in the Best Film category.

Together with him, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., whom the Film Academy chose, entered history Best Actors in Leading and Supporting Roles accordingly, and also composer Ludwig Göransson, editor Jennifer Lame and operator Hoyte van Hoytema, winners in their respective categories.

Of all the prizes that were predicted for “Oppenheimer,” he did not receive only one—a prize for best sound went to “Zone of Interests”. The film, directed by Jonathan Glazer, also became the first British film to win an Oscar in the category “Best International Film”. The visibly emotional director, in an impassioned but somewhat inconsistent speech, condemned the dehumanization of victims on both sides of the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Another reminder of current political events was the award for Mstislav Chernov’s film “20 days in Mariupol” in the category “Best Documentary”. The director noted that this is the first Oscar for Ukrainian cinema.

If we return to the topic of Oscar surprises, then in reality there were very few of them at this ceremony. Two of them were awards for filmmakers from Japan.

“The Boy and the Bird” by Hayao Miyazaki best animated film bypassing the awards season favorite “Spider-Man: Web of Universes” (the anime patriarch himself, who already has two Oscars, an honorary one for “Spirited Away,” did not come for the third statuette). And the team of specialists who worked on the visual effects of the film “Godzilla: Minus One” beat such heavyweights as the third “Guardians of the Galaxy” and the seventh “Mission: Impossible” in their category.

Another category in which the Academy’s choice was difficult to predict until the hour was “Best Actress”. As a result, Emma Stone, who played in “The Poor Miserables,” received her second Oscar (the winner’s joy was not overshadowed even by the zipper on her dress that came apart at the most crucial moment), and Lily Gladstone, with whom she was nominated for her work in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Stone kept pace throughout the second half of awards season and left the stage empty-handed. There were no surprises in the fourth acting nomination: best supporting actress became Davan Joy Randolph from The Leftovers.

IN script Prize categories also went to pre-determined frontrunners: Cord Jefferson for “American Fiction” and the family duo of Justine Trieu and Arthur Harari for “Anatomy of a Fall.” “The Poor Unfortunates,” in turn, surprised no one by taking home awards in three “technical” categories – for the best work of a production designer, costumes, makeup and hairstyles.

As for Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” whose tribute began the ceremony, she received only one of the potential eight statuettes, for best song. Two songs from the film were actually nominated, but although “I’m Just Ken” performed by Ryan Gosling clearly excited both the audience in the hall and the broadcast audience at home, the prize, in accordance with the trend towards a return to seriousness, went to the mournful “What “Was I Made for” Billie Eilish: at 22, the singer became the youngest winner of two Oscars. And the film’s producers, as the American saying goes, will cry about their loss on the way to the bank, counting the almost one and a half billion dollars they collected at the worldwide box office.