New Faces on the Forefront: Oscars 2025
The night was a classy mix of old and new, with a wide range of fantastic stories represented.
This year’s 97th Oscars had a plethora of first-time nominees in many categories. It’s difficult to believe that women with illustrious careers like Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres have never received any Oscar love. Wicked and Emilia Pérez being nominated marks the first time two musicals have been nominated for Best Picture since Oliver! and Funny Girl in 1968. It’s important to note firsts because they often introduce a bold idea, mark a new trend, or introduce a rising talent. Last night, all of these things were celebrated.
Conan O’Brien had command of the stage and audience. His zingers were solid and inoffensive, and he never waxed on. That’s not his type of comedy. And while he doesn’t have the vocal chops of Billy Crystal, his original opening musical number “I Won’t Waste Time” was a joyful nod to past Oscars live performances, particularly those by Oscars host le meilleur Crystal.
The show actually moved along at a pretty good pace. First golden statue went to Best Supporting Actor, which Kieran Culkin claimed after a very successful awards season. It was his first Oscar nomination and first win for the role of Benji Kaplan in Jesse Eisenberg’s nuanced and reflective A Real Pain. He said he knew the role was different when he first read it. “It just felt like it was the first time I ever read something and went, ‘I fully understand this guy. I don't even want to read it again. I wanna show up on the day and go, ‘What scene are we doing? Oh yes, this one.’ And the words got in here really quickly because they were so well written. It wasn't until almost a year later when I watched it that I was like, ‘Oh my, God, I know someone exactly like this,’ and I didn't realize I was doing that.”
Latvia’s Flow won for Best Animated Feature, with Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman accepting. When asked how this win would affect how they approach their next project, Gints responded, “I've been already working on the next project and I'm just very excited to get back to work on it. I think this will make it easier, probably, and will also help this film to find an audience.”
Another first was Paul Tazewell winning for Wicked’s Costume Design. He’s the first African-American man to win the award. He’s been pushing forward, doing what he loves for over thirty-five years, and tonight means something to him. “This is the pinnacle of my career.”
There was another musical number, a tribute to James Bond. Blackpink’s Lisa did a rendition of “Live and Let Die,” Doja Cat belted out “Diamonds are Forever,” Raye sang a strong version of “Skyfall.” These ladies had some big shoes to fill, though. Paul McCartney and Wings, Dame Shirley Bassey, and Adele are music icons, but they managed to do a decent, if not spectacular job, of honoring these songs.
This year’s In Memoriam was beautifully done, with the orchestra playing Mozart’s moving “Lacrimosa” as clips of beloved actors, directors, producers and film executives flitted by. As always, some people were omitted. Olivia Hussey, Tony Todd, Alain Delon, and Bernard Hill were some notable ones.
Best International Feature Film went to Walter Salles poignant drama set in 70s Brazil I’m Still Here. Salles knew the family when he was a child, which could explain why they come across as so natural and real. There is not a false note in the film and Fernanda Torres is a wonder to watch.
Neon’s Anora took home the gold for Best Picture, as well as four other Oscars. Best Actress was a bit of a surprise with up-and-comer Mikey Madison winning over favored Demi Moore. Anora is only the second film to win both the Palm d’Or at Cannes and the Best Picture Oscar. The other film was Parasite, also a Neon distributed film. Baker’s budget for Anora was $6 million and he believes in keeping the spirit of indie cinema alive. His last couple of awards speeches have advocated for keeping cinemas alive because they are necessary for the communal experience of film and the artform of visual storytelling.
Many were surprised director Denis Villenueve wasn’t nominated for Best Director. Dune: Part Two didn’t walk away with nothing, though. It won Best Visual Effects and Best Sound. Gareth John, Richard King, and Ron Bartlett accepted for Sound, with Doug Hemphill not in attendance. When asked how closely they had to work with editing, here’s how they responded. Richard King, “Very closely. We were talking every day. Picture editing, sound editing work hand in glove together. A lot of the rhythms are set in picture editing. Joe Walker did an amazing job of creating a rhythm to the film. Visual rhythm, which we latched onto, and you know, emulated with sound. Ron Bartlett, “Joe's not just a regular picture editor. He's an amazing man who's also a classical composer and really knows sound, so it was a joy to work with him and
really get his perspective on things. He was a big, big inspiration to all of us.”
The night was a classy mix of old and new, with a wide range of fantastic stories represented. Even if a lot of the audience watching last night's Oscars hadn’t seen the films nominated, now’s a perfect excuse to see all the excellent films that were nominated and/or won in a theater or on a streaming platform.
Here's a full list of winners.
Sonya Alexander started off her career training to be a talent agent. She eventually realized she was meant to be on the creative end and has been writing ever since. As a freelance writer she’s written screenplays, covered film, television, music and video games and done academic writing. She’s also been a script reader for over twenty years. She's a member of the African American Film Critics Association and currently resides in Los Angeles.
