At the "Oscars 2025," the top film award went to "Anora," a movie centered around Russians.

On the night of March 3, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the winner of the 97th Academy Awards. The award went to the film "Anora," directed by Sean Baker, which tells the story of a stripper's romance with the son of a Russian oligarch.

This was revealed during the ceremony's broadcast.

Competing for the title of Best Film of the Year were:

• “Brutalist” by Brady Corbet;
• “Bob Dylan: A Complete Stranger” by James Mangold;
• “Conclave” by Edward Berger;
• “Dune: Part 2” by Denis Villeneuve;
• “Emilia Perez” by Jacques Audiard;
• “I’m Still Here” by Casey Affleck;
• “Nickel Boys” by RaMell Ross;
• “Substance” by Coralie Fargeat;
• “Wicked: The Sorceress” by Jon M. Chu.

Among the nominees in the Best Documentary Feature category was the American-Ukrainian-Australian film “Porcelain War” by directors Slava Leontiev and Brendan Bellomy, which explores the lives of artists in Kharkiv at the onset of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, the award went to the Palestinian-Israeli film “No Other Land.”

Winners in other categories:

• Best Actor – Adrien Brody for his role in “Brutalist,” and Best Actress – Maika Monroe for her performance in “Anora”;
• Best Supporting Actor – Kieran Culkin in “Real Pain,” Best Supporting Actress – Zoe Saldaña in “Emilia Perez”;
• Best Director – Sean Baker (“Anora”);
• Best Short Film – “I Am Not a Robot” by Victoria Warmerdam;
• Best Cinematography – Low Crawley (“Brutalist”);
• Best International Film – “I’m Still Here” by Walter Salles;
• Best Short Documentary – “The Only Girl in the Orchestra” by Molly O'Brien;
• Best Original Screenplay – Sean Baker (“Anora”), Best Adapted Screenplay – Peter Straughan (“Conclave”);
• Best Animated Feature – “Flow: The Last Cat on Earth” by Gints Zilbalodis;
• Best Animated Short – “In the Shadow of the Cypress” by Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani;
• Best Original Song – El Mal, “Emilia Perez”;
• Best Score – Daniel Blumberg (“Brutalist”);
• Best Makeup and Hairstyling – the team from “Substance”;
• Best Costume Design – Paul Tazewell for “Wicked: The Sorceress”;
• Best Production Design – the team from “Wicked: The Sorceress”;
• Best Editing – Sean Baker for “Anora”;
• Best Sound – the team from “Dune: Part 2”;
• Best Visual Effects – the team from “Dune: Part 2.”

The film “Emilia Perez” received the most nominations this year, with a total of 13. In contrast, the film about Russians, “Anora,” won the most awards, triumphing in 5 categories.

Reference. The Academy Awards were established by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 1927. Since then, the organization has held 97 award ceremonies. Since gaining independence, Ukraine has repeatedly submitted films for this prestigious award, but most did not make it to the nominations.

In 2024, Ukraine won its first Oscar – the award was given to the documentary film “20 Days in Mariupol” by Myroslav Chernov, which covers the Russian siege of the city at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Background. Previously, Mind reported on the winners of the “Golden Globe – 2025.” For more details about the award, read the link.