2020 Oscars: ‘Parasite’ wins Best Picture, makes Academy Awards history
Bong Joon Ho’s social and class warfare comedy-drama Parasite has won Best Picture at the 92nd Academy Awards, making history as the first foreign language film ever to win the top prize. Director Bong Joon Ho also won Best Director, despite him and his film missing out to 1917 at the Directors Guild, Producers Guild and BAFTA.
The four acting winners followed the Critics Choice, Golden Globe, SAG and BAFTA winners as Renée Zellweger (Judy), Joaquin Phoenix (Joker), Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) and Laura Dern (Marriage Story) with Oscar wins tonight. Phoenix tearfully defies the concept of Joker and exposes the gender inequality, animal rights, LGBTQ+ rights or indigenous rights that exist, highlighting his own “scoundrel” and “difficult” nature in his Oscar speech.
He continued, saying “Whether we’re talking about gender inequality or racism or queer rights or indigenous rights or animal rights, we’re talking about the fight against injustice. We’re talking about the fight against the belief that one nation, one people, one race, one gender or one species has the right to dominate, control, use, and exploit another with impunity.”
“Our heroes unite us,” said Renée Zellweger in her Best Actress acceptance speech. “[They are] the best among us who inspire us to find the best in ourselves.” When asked backstage how she compared her first and newest Oscar wins she said, “The time away and the time in between has helped me to appreciate it in a different way.”
Dern’s speech included a tribute to her Oscar-nominated parents, Diane Ladd (Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore) and Bruce Dern (Nebraska) “They say never meet your heroes but sometimes you’re blessed and they’re your parents.”
“You are original,” Brad Pitt said in his acceptance speech. “You are one of a kind. The film industry would be a much drier place without you.” Talking to the press backstage, Pitt hit Senate Republicans for not calling witnesses during the recent impeachment trial of President Trump. “I think when gamesmanship trumps doing the right thing, it’s a sad day, and I don’t think we should let it slide,” Pitt told the media pool. “I’m very serious about that.”
The screenplay winners aligned with WGA and BAFTA, rewarding Parasite in Original and Jojo Rabbit in Adapted. With Greta Gerwig and Krysty Wilson-Cairns losing there will be no female Oscar-winning screenwriter this decade, the first time that’s happened since the 1960s.
Toy Story 4 won Animated Feature, making it the first sequel to a sequel win the award. The only previous sequel winner was Toy Story 3. Hair Love won animated short. The film began as a Kickstarter project before reaching fruition.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘s Barbara Ling and Nancy Haigh are the first female duo to win Production Design in Oscars history. Jacqueline Durran won her second Costume Design Oscar in seven nominations, for Little Women.
American Factory won Documentary Feature, the second in this category for Netflix after 2018’s Icarus. Learning to Skateboard in a War Zone (If You’re a Girl) won Documentary Short Subject. Winner Carol Dysinger won a Student Academy Award in 1977, which was awarded to her by Frank Capra.
Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker) is the first female winner for Original Score in over 20 years and the first ever since the combination of the category (briefly split between Comedy and Drama). In her speech she said, “To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters, when you hear the music bubbling up, please speak up. We need to hear your voices.”
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For the second year in a row, the Oscars will went hostless and was produced by Lynette Howell Taylor and Stephanie Allain for the first time.
In addition to the five nominated song performances, the show will feature a special appearance by Questlove and a guest-conducted segment by Eímear Noone. Noone is the first woman to conduct during an Oscars telecast.
Recent Grammy winner Billie Eilish performed for the In Memoriam segment, (singing The Beatles’ “Yesterday”) and the show was opened with a performance of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” by Grammy-nominated singer and actress Janelle Monáe (Harriet, Moonlight) and Emmy, Grammy and Tony-winning star Billy Porter. Eminem was the big surprise no one saw coming when he appeared onstage to perform his Oscar-winning hit “Lose Yourself” from 8 Mile. The rapper didn’t perform the song at the ceremony back in 2003 nor was he present to accept the award. He had the audience rocking out and received one of the night’s few early standing ovations. Rapper Utkarsh Ambudkar also entertained doing a rap recap of the night’s diversity and winners up to that point.
Here is the full list of nominations for the 92nd Academy Awards, with winners updated.
BEST PICTURE
“Ford v Ferrari” (Walt Disney) Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and James Mangold, Producers
“The Irishman” (Netflix) Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
“Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight) Carthew Neal and Taika Waititi, Producers
“Joker” (Warner Bros.) Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Producers
“Little Women” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Amy Pascal, Producer
“Marriage Story” (Netflix) Noah Baumbach and David Heyman, Producers
“1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Sam Mendes, Pippa Harris, Jayne-Ann Tenggren and Callum McDougall, Producers
“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing) David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh and Quentin Tarantino, Producers
WINNER – “Parasite” (Neon) Kwak Sin Ae and Bong Joon Ho, Producers
DIRECTOR
“The Irishman” (Netflix) Martin Scorsese
“Joker” (Warner Bros.) Todd Phillips
“1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Sam Mendes
“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Quentin Tarantino
WINNER – “Parasite” (Neon) Bong Joon Ho
BEST ACTOR
Antonio Banderas in “Pain and Glory” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Leonardo DiCaprio in “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Adam Driver in “Marriage Story” (Netflix)
WINNER – Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker” (Warner Bros.)
Jonathan Pryce in “The Two Popes” (Netflix)
BEST ACTRESS
Cynthia Erivo in “Harriet” (Focus Features)
Scarlett Johansson in “Marriage Story” (Netflix)
Saoirse Ronan in “Little Women” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Charlize Theron in “Bombshell” (Lionsgate)
WINNER – Renée Zellweger in “Judy” (LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Hanks in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Anthony Hopkins in “The Two Popes” (Netflix)
Al Pacino in “The Irishman” (Netflix)
Joe Pesci in “The Irishman” (Netflix)
WINNER – Brad Pitt in “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kathy Bates in “Richard Jewell” (Warner Bros.)
WINNER – Laura Dern in “Marriage Story” (Netflix)
Scarlett Johansson in “Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight)
Florence Pugh in “Little Women” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Margot Robbie in “Bombshell” (Lionsgate)
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“The Irishman” (Netflix) Screenplay by Steven Zaillian
WINNER – “Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Taika Waititi
“Joker” (Warner Bros.) Written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
“Little Women” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written for the screen by Greta Gerwig
“The Two Popes” (Netflix) Written by Anthony McCarten
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“Knives Out” (Lionsgate) Written by Rian Johnson
“Marriage Story” (Netflix) Written by Noah Baumbach
“1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Written by Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Quentin Tarantino
WINNER – “Parasite” (Neon) Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won; Story by Bong Joon Ho
FILM EDITING
WINNER – “Ford v Ferrari” (Walt Disney) Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland
“The Irishman” (Netflix) Thelma Schoonmaker
“Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight) Tom Eagles
“Joker” (Warner Bros.) Jeff Groth
“Parasite” (Neon) Yang Jinmo
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“The Irishman” (Netflix) Rodrigo Prieto
“Joker” (Warner Bros.) Lawrence Sher
“The Lighthouse” (A24) Jarin Blaschke
WINNER – “1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Roger Deakins
“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Robert Richardson
PRODUCTION DESIGN
“The Irishman” (Netflix) Production Design: Bob Shaw, Set Decoration: Regina Graves
“Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight) Production Design: Ra Vincent, Set Decoration: Nora Sopková
“1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Production Design: Dennis Gassner, Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
WINNER – “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Production Design: Barbara Ling, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
“Parasite” (Neon) Production Design: Lee Ha Jun, Set Decoration: Cho Won Woo
COSTUME DESIGN
“The Irishman” (Netflix) Sandy Powell and Christopher Peterson
“Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight) Mayes C. Rubeo
“Joker” (Warner Bros.) Mark Bridges
WINNER – “Little Women” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Jacqueline Durran
“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Arianne Phillips
ORIGINAL SCORE
WINNER – “Joker” (Warner Bros.) Hildur Guðnadóttir
“Little Women” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Alexandre Desplat
“Marriage Story” (Netflix) Randy Newman
“1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Thomas Newman
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (Walt Disney) John Williams
ORIGINAL SONG
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” from “Toy Story 4” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
WINNER – “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from “Rocketman” (Paramount) Music by Elton John, Lyric by Bernie Taupin
“I’m Standing With You” from “Breakthrough” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Into The Unknown” from “Frozen II” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
“Stand Up” from “Harriet” (Focus Features) Music and Lyric by Joshuah Brian Campbell and Cynthia Erivo
SOUND EDITING
WINNER – “Ford v Ferrari” (Walt Disney) Donald Sylvester
“Joker” (Warner Bros.) Alan Robert Murray
“1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Oliver Tarney and Rachael Tate
“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Wylie Stateman
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (Walt Disney) Matthew Wood and David Acord
SOUND MIXING
“Ad Astra” (Walt Disney) Gary Rydstrom, Tom Johnson and Mark Ulano
“Ford v Ferrari” (Walt Disney) Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Steven A. Morrow
“Joker” (Warner Bros.) Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic and Tod Maitland
WINNER – “1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Mark Taylor and Stuart Wilson
“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler and Mark Ulano
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
WINNER – “Bombshell” (Lionsgate) Kazu Hiro, Anne Morgan and Vivian Baker
“Joker” (Warner Bros.) Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou
“Judy” (LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions) Jeremy Woodhead
“Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” (Walt Disney) Paul Gooch, Arjen Tuiten and David White
“1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Naomi Donne, Tristan Versluis and Rebecca Cole
VISUAL EFFECTS
“Avengers: Endgame” (Walt Disney) Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick
“The Irishman” (Netflix) Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli
“The Lion King” (Walt Disney) Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman
WINNER – “1917” (Universal/Amblin Partners) Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” (Walt Disney) Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy
ANIMATED FEATURE
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” (Universal) Dean DeBlois, Bradford Lewis and Bonnie Arnold
“I Lost My Body” (Netflix) Jérémy Clapin and Marc du Pontavice
“Klaus” (Netflix) Sergio Pablos, Jinko Gotoh and Marisa Román
“Missing Link” (United Artists Releasing) Chris Butler, Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight
WINNER – “Toy Story 4” (Walt Disney) Josh Cooley, Mark Nielsen and Jonas Rivera
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
WINNER – “American Factory” (Netflix) Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert and Jeff Reichert
“The Cave” (National Geographic) Feras Fayyad, Kirstine Barfod and Sigrid Dyekjær
“The Edge of Democracy” (Netflix) Petra Costa, Joanna Natasegara, Shane Boris and Tiago Pavan
“For Sama” (PBS Distribution/Channel 4/Frontline) Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts
“Honeyland” (Neon) Ljubo Stefan
INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
“Corpus Christi” Poland
“Honeyland” North Macedonia
“Les Misérables” France
“Pain and Glory” Spain
WINNER – “Parasite” South Korea
ANIMATED SHORT
“Dcera (Daughter)” (Miyu Distribution) Daria Kashcheeva
WINNER – “Hair Love” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Matthew A. Cherry and Karen Rupert Toliver
“Kitbull” (Walt Disney) Rosana Sullivan and Kathryn Hendrickson
“Memorable” Bruno Collet and Jean-François Le Corre
“Sister” Siqi Song
DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“In the Absence” Yi Seung-Jun and Gary Byung-Seok Kam
WINNER – “Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl)” Carol Dysinger and Elena Andreicheva
“Life Overtakes Me” (Netflix) John Haptas and Kristine Samuelson
“St. Louis Superman” (MTV Documentary Films/AJE Witness) Smriti Mundhra and Sami Khan
“Walk Run Cha-Cha” (The New York Times Op-Docs) Laura Nix and Colette Sandstedt
LIVE ACTION SHORT
“Brotherhood” (Travelling, les films qui voyagent) Meryam Joobeur and Maria Gracia Turgeon
“Nefta Football Club” Yves Piat and Damien Megherbi
WINNER – “The Neighbors’ Window” Marshall Curry
“Saria” Bryan Buckley and Matt Lefebvre
“A Sister” Delphine Girard
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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