New Delhi: Beijing-born Chloe Zhao made history at the 93rd Academy Awards as the first Asian woman and only the second woman ever to win the Oscar for best director for the film Nomadland.
The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow was the first woman ever to win the coveted prize eleven years ago.
Korean actor Yuh-Jung Youn, 73, won the best supporting actress winner for immigrant tale Minari, and became the first South Korean actor to win an Oscar. British actor Daniel Kaluuya completed his awards grand slam this year with the Oscar for best supporting actor for his performance in Judas And The Black Messiah.
In an upset, 83-year-old Anthony Hopkins (The Father) walked away with the best actor trophy, which many believed to be a cinch for the late Chadwick Boseman for his performance in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. The win makes Hopkins the oldest performer to bag an acting Oscar ever.
The best actress award went to Nomadland star Frances McDormand, who last won an Oscar in 2018 for her stellar turn as a ferocious, heartbroken mother in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Netflix had a big night at the Oscars, bringing home a total of seven trophies, though it failed to pick up an award in the big three categories – best picture and best actor/actress. The streamer had come into Sunday night with 36 nominations, far more than any studio or OTT platform.
Producers of the annual awards gala, including director Steven Soderbergh, had said that the award ceremony this year would be more like a movie than a TV show. And, indeed it was, with limited audience capacity and celebrities not wearing masks. The ceremony was moved to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles amid the Covid2019 restrictions.
Dark comedy Another Round, from Denmark, was awarded best international feature film. India's official entry this year - Jallikattu - failed to make the final nominations.
The first Oscar of the evening went to Emerald Fennell who won best original screenplay for Promising Young Woman; best adapted screenplay was won by The Father. The White Tiger, starring actress Priyanka Chopra, was nominated in this category.
The movie Soul, the first from Pixar to feature a black lead character, won best animated feature and also the award for best original score. Christopher Nolan's Tenet won the award for best visual effects.
The winners are chosen in a secret ballot by the 9,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
