Chloé Zhao makes Oscar history, winning best director award for Nomadland
Associated Press
At a socially distanced Oscar ceremony retooled for the pandemic, Chloé Zhao made history Sunday. The “Nomadland” filmmaker won best director, becoming just the second woman in the 93 year of the Academy Awards to win the award and the first woman of color.
Only Kathryn Bigelow, 11 years ago for “The Hurt Locker,” had previously won the award. The win, widely expected, caps the extraordinary rise of the China-born Zhao, a lyrical filmmaker whose “Nomadland” is just her third feature. Her film, the favorite to win best picture, is a wistful open-road drama about itinerant life in the American West.
Oscars Latest: H.E.R. wins the best original song trophy
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7:30 p.m.
“Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” has won the Academy Award for best original song.
The Oscar goes to songwriters Dernst Emile II and Tiara Thomas and H.E.R., who also performed it.
From the stage at Union Station in Los Angeles on Sunday night, H.E.R. thanked her father for playing her funk and soul from the late 60s, when the film about Black Panthers leader Fred Hampton was set.
“All those days of listening to Sly and the Family Stone, and Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye really paid off,” she said.
Oscars Latest: Anthony Hopkins wins best actor in a surprise
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8:20 p.m.
Anthony Hopkins has won his first Oscar since he was victorious for playing Hannibal Lecter.
Despite his pedigree, Hopkins was a surprise as the winner of the Academy Award for best actor for his work on “The Father.”
The late Chadwick Boseman was expected to win the award, which, in a very rare move from the academy, was the last to be handed out this year instead of best picture.
It was also an anti-climax on a show where Hopkins wasn’t present to accept the trophy. Joaquin Phoenix’s reading of his name was the last dramatic moment of a most unusual ceremony.
Oscars Latest: Anthony Hopkins takes the top acting trophy
Poll
Yes
8:20 p.m.
Anthony Hopkins has won his first Oscar since he was victorious for playing Hannibal Lecter.
Despite his pedigree, Hopkins was a surprise as the winner of the Academy Award for best actor for his work on “The Father.”
The late Chadwick Boseman was expected to win the award, which, in a very rare move from the academy, was the last to be handed out this year instead of best picture.
It was also an anti-climax on a show where Hopkins wasn’t present to accept the trophy. Joaquin Phoenix’s reading of his name was the last dramatic moment of a most unusual ceremony.