Sorry, Emilia Pérez, it’s actually Anora’s world. We’re just living in it—and bringing you the behind-the-scenes Oscars details you didn’t see at home.
The little movie that could did pretty much everything at the 97th Oscars. Released by Neon, Anora won statues in five of its six nominated categories, including Best Film Editing, Best Screenplay, Best Actress for star Mikey Madison, Best Director for writer/director Sean Baker, and the big prize of the night, Best Picture. And Baker himself set an Oscar record by accepting four of those statues—the most wins for a single movie by the same nominee.
“This film was made on the blood, sweat, and tears of incredible indie artists,” Baker said after the Best Picture race was called in his favor. “Long live independent film.”
That’s a rallying cry that the audience in the Dolby Theater could get behind. ADWEEK watched the Oscars unfold from the second mezzanine of the awards show’s longtime home, and the back-to-back wins by Madison—who scored an upset victory over presumptive favorite Demi Moore for The Substance—and Anora in the show’s final act brought the curtain down to robust cheers and applause.
It was a big year for small movies beyond Anora, as well. The Latvian animated cat movie Flow successfully stalked and devoured Disney’s Inside Out 2 in the Animated Feature category. I was seated in the same row as some of the producers behind the film, and they leaped to their feet and roared as soon as their victory over the Mouse House was made official.
Meanwhile, the Best Documentary Feature Oscar went to the Palestinian-made feature No Other Land, which was never acquired by a U.S. distributor. And Brady Corbet’s shoestring-budgeted epic The Brutalist won three awards, including a second Best Actor statue for Adrien Brody. Prior to his win, I spied Brody greeting a parade of well-wishers at the orchestra-level bar.
After selling out the 97th Oscars, Disney Advertising helped bring viewers cinematic ads from partners, including Prudential and Visa. But here are the moments that happened during commercial breaks that viewers didn’t see on TV:
