The Oscars finally happened on Sunday, and it was definitely an event worth remembering. We saw Hollywood come alive, after a challenging year and half, and it came back with a bang. After two months of deliberation, the committee decided to opt out of doing Zoom speeches, and held the event in two separate locations so that they could keep old Oscar traditions alive. We saw our favourite celebrities walk down the red carpet looking stunning as they always do, but there was something that set apart this year's event from the rest.
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Making Oscar history
Yesterday was a historic day for numerous reasons. Many firsts were broken at the 93rd Academy Awards this year. For the first time, the Academy nominated 70 women, and 15 of them went home with a well-deserved Oscar—one of them with two! According to The Wrap, women received 36% of the awards handed out this year, as compared to the 27.8% in 2019.
Not only was this a revolutionary year for women, but the nomination list was the most diverse in Oscar history.
Female winners
The name that has been on everyone’s lips since yesterday is Chloé Zhao. She is the first Asian, the first woman of colour, and the second woman to receive the Best Director award. Her film, Nomadlandalso won the award for Best Picture,and that’s not all. Frances McDormand won the Best Actress award for her role in the film as well.
Youn Yuh-jung won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film Minari and she is the first Korean actress and second Asian actress to win in the category. Hair stylists Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson also made Oscar history by being the first Black stylists to win the award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling!
Other women who received Oscars include Emerald Fennell who won Original Screenplay for Promising Young Woman, and Dana Murray who produced Soul, the Best Animated Feature.
