![Sean Baker (Anora) Takes Home The Top Prize at the 77th Annual DGA Awards [ALL WINNERS]](https://thecontending.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/ANORA.jpg)
Neon’s Anora took home five Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actress at the 97th Annual Academy Awards. Baker personally won four awards tonight, tying the record set by Walt Disney. The Brutalist‘s Adrien Brody took home Best Actor. Kieran Culkin and Zoe Saldana each won their expected awards in the Supporting categories. You can find the full list of winners below.
The show ran fairly well with Conan O’Brien doing a fine job on his first outing as host. We’ll have more reactions on our Contending at the Water Cooler podcast tomorrow night.
Meanwhile, the show opened with this fantastic love letter to LA. If you missed it, then take a few to watch it now.
Plus the Wizard of Oz / Wicked medley performed by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
Here are your 2025 Oscar nominees with winners.
Best motion picture of the year
“Anora” (Neon) *** WINNER ***
“The Brutalist” (A24)
“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight)
“Conclave” (Focus Features)
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.)
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)
“I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics)
“Nickel Boys” (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
“The Substance” (MUBI)
“Wicked” (Universal)
Achievement in directing
“Anora” (Neon) Sean Baker *** WINNER ***
“The Brutalist” (A24) Brady Corbet
“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight) James Mangold
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) Jacques Audiard
“The Substance” (MUBI) Coralie Fargeat
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Adrien Brody in “The Brutalist” (A24) *** WINNER ***
Timothée Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight)
Colman Domingo in “Sing Sing” (A24)
Ralph Fiennes in “Conclave” (Focus Features)
Sebastian Stan in “The Apprentice” (Briarcliff Entertainment/Rich Spirit)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Kieran Culkin in “A Real Pain” (Searchlight) *** WINNER ***
Yura Borisov in “Anora” (Neon)
Edward Norton in “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight)
Guy Pearce in “The Brutalist” (A24)
Jeremy Strong in “The Apprentice” (Briarcliff Entertainment/Rich Spirit)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Mikey Madison in “Anora” (Neon) *** WINNER ***
Cynthia Erivo in “Wicked” (Universal)
Karla Sofía Gascón in “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)
Demi Moore in “The Substance” (MUBI)
Fernanda Torres in “I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Zoe Saldaña in “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) *** WINNER ***
Monica Barbaro in “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight)
Ariana Grande in “Wicked” (Universal)
Felicity Jones in “The Brutalist” (A24)
Isabella Rossellini in “Conclave” (Focus Features)
Adapted screenplay
“Conclave” (Focus Features) *** WINNER ***
“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight)
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)
“Nickel Boys” (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
“Sing Sing” (A24)
Original screenplay
“Anora” (Neon) *** WINNER ***
“The Brutalist” (A24)
“A Real Pain” (Searchlight)
“September 5” (Paramount)
“The Substance” (MUBI)
Achievement in film editing
“Anora” (Neon) Sean Baker *** WINNER ***
“The Brutalist” (A24) David Jancso
“Conclave” (Focus Features) Nick Emerson
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) Juliette Welfling
“Wicked” (Universal)
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“The Brutalist” (A24) Daniel Blumberg *** WINNER ***
“Conclave” (Focus Features) Volker Bertelmann
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) Clément Ducol and Camille
“Wicked” (Universal) John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
“The Wild Robot” (Universal) Kris Bowers
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez” *** WINNER ****
Music by Clément Ducol and Camille
Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight”
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Like A Bird” from “Sing Sing”
Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
“Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez”
Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
“Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late”
Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Best international feature film of the year
“I’m Still Here” *** WINNER ***
“The Girl with the Needle”
“Emilia Pérez”
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”
“Flow”
Best documentary feature film
“No Other Land” *** WINNER ***
“Black Box Diaries” (MTV Documentary Films)
“Porcelain War” (Picturehouse)
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” (Kino Lorber)
“Sugarcane” (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Best animated feature film of the year
“Flow” (Sideshow/Janus Films) *** WINNER ***
“Inside Out 2” (Walt Disney)
“Memoir of a Snail” (IFC Films)
“Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (Netflix)
“The Wild Robot”(Universal)
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“The Substance” (MUBI) *** WINNER ***
“A Different Man” (A24)
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features)
“Wicked” (Universal)
Achievement in cinematography
“The Brutalist” (A24) Lol Crawley *** WINNER ***
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) Greig Fraser
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) Paul Guilhaume
“Maria” (Netflix) Ed Lachman
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features) Jarin Blaschke
Achievement in costume design
“Wicked” (Universal) Paul Tazewell *** WINNER ***
“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight)
“Conclave” (Focus Features) Lisy Christl
“Gladiator II” (Paramount)
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features) Linda Muir
Achievement in production design
“Wicked” (Universal) *** WINNER ***
“The Brutalist” (A24)
“Conclave” (Focus Features)
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.)
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features)
Achievement in visual effects
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) *** WINNER ***
“Alien: Romulus” (20th Century)
“Better Man” (Paramount)
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century)
“Wicked” (Universal)
Achievement in sound
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) *** WINNER ***
“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight)
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)
“Wicked” (Universal)
“The Wild Robot”
Best documentary short film
“The Only Girl in the Orchestra” *** WINNER ***
“Death by Numbers”
“I Am Ready, Warden” (MTV Documentary Films)
“Incident” (The New Yorker)
“Instruments of a Beating Heart”
Best animated short film
“In the Shadow of the Cypress” *** WINNER ***
“Beautiful Men” (Miyu Distribution)
“Magic Candies” (Toei Animation)
“Wander to Wonder” (Miyu Distribution)
“Yuck!” (Miyu Distribution)
Best live action short film
“I’m Not a Robot” *** WINNER ***
“A Lien”
“Anuja”
“The Last Ranger”
“The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent”
I can't help but have the sneaking feeling that (a) Sean Baker is going to win all 4 of his Oscars, and (b) this will be the high point of his career, because nothing else he ever does will be anywhere close to this level. Not trying to jinx him or anything, mind you; just a feeling I have.
I 100% agree.
And at some point, probably not too far down the road, someone is going to smack themselves upside the head and yell "WTF were we THINKING to give a movie about a prostitute Best Picture?!?" Because frankly, I'm getting sick of the fact that playing a sex worker of some kind or another still seems to be one of the chief ways for women to either make a lot of money or get some kind of award. There needs to be a new take on the Bechtel Rule, damn it…
Two years in a row 😬
My thoughts exactly; also, giving the award to a 25-year-old just proves The Substance's whole point. The Anora crew better have fun tonight, because it's all going to be downhill from here–these are wins that really aren't going to age well. Frankly pissed that Demi didn't win, so I guess I can add this to still being pissed that Colin Farrell lost to Brendan Fraser a couple of years ago. Grrrrrrr…
I loved Banshees of Inisherin and am still baffled that it went 0 for 9.
Posted a few days after Madison’s BAFTA win on Twitter:
(😬)
https://x.com/BillMccuddy/status/1892966669175173465
In most cases, when a film's win doesn't age well it's because the Academy went with something considered to be the safer, middle-of-the-road choice over something more acclaimed or at least edgier (think Crash vs Brokeback Mountain or Forrest Gump vs Pulp Fiction or Green Book vs Roma).
Anora was the critical darling of the season (and year in general) and arguably one of the edgier/racier selections in the lineup. The closest to competing in that regard might have been The Substance, but it wasn't as acclaimed and was more divisive in audience opinion.
These factors together suggest that Anora's win won't necessarily age that poorly, regardless of the future careers of those involved.
Very well said!
Maybe, maybe not–I found this interesting article this morning: https://www.vox.com/culture/402258/anora-ocscars-mikey-madison-sean-baker-best-picture?utm_medium=email&utm_source=pocket_hits&utm_campaign=POCKET_HITS-EN-DAILY-SPONSORED&PAVED-2025_03_04=&sponsored=0&position=4&category=fascinating_stories&scheduled_corpus_item_id=7b34e5ff-da4f-442e-8954-ea229a15d8c4&url=https://www.vox.com/culture/402258/anora-ocscars-mikey-madison-sean-baker-best-picture
If you don't like the movie that's fine, but I don't see how it being "about a prostitute" is relevant.
Because, as much as anything, it seems to be one of the few roles too many (male) filmmakers have for women–if they don't know what else to do with a female character, they make her a sex worker. It's stupid, boring, proves that attitudes toward women haven't changed nearly as much as they should have over the years.
Anora being a sex worker is part of the story. I don't think it was because Baker didn't know what else to do with the character.
That's not that unusual. Sam Mendes swept the Oscars with his directorial debut, then didn't get another nomination for 20 years. But he's still had a good career.