Tears and Bears: The 95th Academy Awards Recap

This year’s 95th Academy Awards premieres with several groundbreaking moments, from first-time winners to greater recognition in international storytelling. Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, this year’s Oscars highlights the hard work that goes into each film, elevating them to art.

Everything, Everywhere, All At Once has made incredible history for its incredible sweep in the Oscars, from Best Directors (Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert) to Best Lead Actress (Micelle Yeoh) to Best Picture. This ceremony marks several firsts for the Academy, especially for its primarily Asian American cast and crew. Michelle Yeoh and Daniel Kan agree that this is “history in the making.”

In addition to this history, this year’s Oscars bring to the stage a unique set of events that do not include violence against hosts or presenters. For instance, Jimmy Kimmel brings his sense of humor to his hosting duties with several references to Will Smith’s slap during last year’s Oscars, the incredible length of the show, and the 2016 La La Land mix-up with a pun involving Nobel Peace Prize Winner Malala. Additionally, when Elizabeth Banks presented the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, she had to do so alongside Cocaine Bear (who was a man in a mascot suit). Not to mention Lady Gaga’s surprise performance of “Hold My Hand” from the film Top Gun: Maverick, which she dedicated to those who are suffereing thanks to everything that has happened over the couse of the year.  

Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan also make Oscars history tonight with their nomination for Best Supporting Actor and Actress for their roles in Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Their speeches are incredibly emotional as they express gratitude for finally earning this recognition. Quan describes his life, from his life in a refugee camp to acting as a kid to his current work in All At Once. “Keep your dreams alive,” Quan encourages his audience. Jamie Lee Curtis expresses similar sentiments, describing how she wasn’t the only person to win this award. Instead, she listed her parents, the cast and crew of All At Once, and those who worked with her in several genre films. “We just won an Oscar,” she cheers tearfully.

The following list describes other noteworthy winners: Brendan Fraser, ”Naatu Naatu” from RRR, and Sarah Polley.

All of them creating important landmarks for their careers and the industry. 

Best Director

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) 

Todd Field (“Tár”) 

Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)

Best Film Editing

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” — Paul Rogers

“The Banshees of Inisherin” — Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

“Elvis” — Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

“Tár” — Monika Willi

“Top Gun: Maverick” — Eddie Hamilton

Best Original Song 

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR” — music by M.M. Keeravaani, lyric by Chandrabose  

“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman” — music and lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick” — music and lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne

Best Sound

“Top Gun: Maverick” — Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

“All Quiet on the Western Front” — Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

“Avatar: The Way of Water” — Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

“The Batman” — Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

“Elvis” — David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

Best Adapted Screenplay

“Women Talking” — Sarah Polley

“All Quiet on the Western Front” — Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” — Rian Johnson

“Living” — Kazuo Ishiguro

“Top Gun: Maverick” — screenplay by Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

Best Original Screenplay

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” — Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

“The Banshees of Inisherin” — Martin McDonagh

“The Fabelmans” — Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner

“Tár” — Todd Field

“Triangle of Sadness” — Ruben Östlund

Best Visual Effects

“Avatar: The Way of Water” — Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

“All Quiet on the Western Front” — Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

“The Batman” — Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

“Top Gun: Maverick” — Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Best Original Score 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” — Volker Bertelmann

“Babylon” — Justin Hurwitz

“The Banshees of Inisherin” — Carter Burwell

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” — Son Lux

“The Fabelmans” — John Williams

Best Production Design 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” — production design by Christian M. Goldbeck, set decoration by Ernestine Hipper

“Avatar: The Way of Water” — production design by Dylan Cole and Ben Procter, set decoration by Vanessa Cole

“Babylon” — production design by Florencia Martin, set decoration by Anthony Carlino

“Elvis” — production design by Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy, set decoration by Bev Dunn

“The Fabelmans” — production design by Rick Carter, set decoration by Karen O’Hara

Best Animated Short Film

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” — Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

“The Flying Sailor” — Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

“Ice Merchants” — João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

“My Year of Dicks” — Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It” — Lachlan Pendragon

Best Documentary Short Film 

“The Elephant Whisperers” — Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

“Haulout” — Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

“How Do You Measure a Year?” — Jay Rosenblatt

“The Martha Mitchell Effect” — Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

“Stranger at the Gate” — Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Best International Feature Film 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany) 

“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina) 

“Close” (Belgium)

“EO” (Poland) 

“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland) 

Best Costume Design 

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — Ruth E. Carter

“Babylon” — Mary Zophres

“Elvis” — Catherine Martin

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” — Shirley Kurata

“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” — Jenny Beavan

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

“The Whale” — Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

“All Quiet on the Western Front” — Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

“The Batman” — Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

“Elvis” — Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

Best Cinematography 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” — James Friend

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” — Darius Khondji

“Elvis” — Mandy Walker

“Empire of Light” — Roger Deakins

“Tár” — Florian Hoffmeister

Best Live Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye” — Tom Berkeley and Ross White

“Ivalu” — Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

“Le Pupille” — Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

“Night Ride” — Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

“The Red Suitcase” — Cyrus Neshvad

Best Documentary Feature Film 

“Navalny” — Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

“All That Breathes” — Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” — Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

“Fire of Love” — Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

“A House Made of Splinters” — Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

Best Supporting Actress

Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 

Hong Chau (“The Whale”) 

Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”)  

Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Supporting Actor

Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) 

Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)

Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Best Animated Feature Film 

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” — Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On” — Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” — Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

“The Sea Beast” — Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

“Turning Red” — Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Best Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front” — Malte Grunert, producer

“Avatar: The Way of Water” — James Cameron and Jon Landau, producers

“The Banshees of Inisherin” — Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, producers

“Elvis” — Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, producers

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” — Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, producers

“The Fabelmans” — Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, producers

“Tár” — Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, producers

“Top Gun: Maverick” — Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, producers

“Triangle of Sadness” — Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, producers

“Women Talking” — Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, producers

Best Lead Actor

Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) 

Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) 

Bill Nighy (“Living”) 

Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 

Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) 

Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)

Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) 

Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)