Oscars 2025 Highlights: Winners, Snubs, and Surprises from the 97th Academy Awards

Oscars 2025 Highlights: Winners, Snubs, and Surprises from the 97th Academy Awards

The 97th Academy Awards have come to a close, with Sean Baker’s Anora and Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist taking center stage, dominating multiple categories. Here are the key moments from the 2025 Oscars.

The nominees for Best Picture at the 97th Academy Awards | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Another year, another Oscars ceremony. The stage is set, the stars have arrived, and Hollywood is ready to celebrate its biggest (and most notorious) night for the 97th time.

The 2025 Academy Awards are here, bringing the usual mix of dazzling red-carpet fashion, backstage politics, and industry self-congratulation. Once again, the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles is hosting an unpredictable awards race. Indie hit Anora and the European drama Conclave are locked in a fierce battle, with no clear frontrunner.

Check out the full list of nominees for this year’s Oscars here.

Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or-winning character study, Anora, has already claimed important guild wins, while Edward Berger’s Vatican-set drama has relied on BAFTA momentum and a SAG Ensemble victory—two paths that suggest diverse voting patterns within the Academy. Meanwhile, dark horse contenders like Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist or James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown could also unexpectedly shake things up.

Also Read: Oscars 2025 Predictions: Who Will Win and Who Should Win at the 97th Academy Awards?

History is being made tonight, whether the Academy acknowledges it or not. Emilia Pérez has secured an astonishing 13 nominations—the most ever for a non-English language film—although the film’s awards-season momentum has been overshadowed by off-screen controversies.

Demi Moore’s late-career reinvention in The Substance faces off against Mikey Madison’s breakout performance in Anora, presenting the classic Oscar dilemma of honoring a long-standing career versus embracing the future. The added irony? Hollywood rarely celebrates either for long. In the Best Actor category, Adrien Brody and Timothée Chalamet compete, a potential passing of the torch or a reminder that Hollywood favors familiar faces.

Also Read: Oscars 2025: From ‘Naatu Naatu’ to ‘Lagaan’, India’s Biggest Wins and Losses at the Academy Awards

Hosting this year’s ceremony is late-night veteran Conan O’Brien, making his Oscars debut. Whether his humor can cut through the evening’s usual bloat remains to be seen.

Indian viewers can watch the Oscars live on Star Movies and JioHotstar, Monday, March 3, at 5:30 AM IST.

Oscars 2025 Winners Announced:

March 3, 2025, 09:17 AM IST:
Anora wins Best Picture.
Sean Baker’s Anora takes home the top honor of the night, securing five total wins, including Best Actress for Mikey Madison. Baker ties Walt Disney's record for the most Oscars won in four categories. "Long live independent films," Baker declared in his acceptance speech.

March 3, 2025, 09:12 AM IST:
Mikey Madison wins Best Actress.
Mikey Madison wins her first Oscar for her role in Anora. In her emotional acceptance speech, she thanks the women of the sex worker community and the people of Brighton Beach, New York, where the film was shot.

March 3, 2025, 09:04 AM IST:
Sean Baker wins Best Director.
Sean Baker takes home his third Oscar of the night for Anora, having already won Best Editing and Best Original Screenplay. He is still in the running for Best Picture. In his speech, he extolled the importance of the communal theatrical experience.

March 3, 2025, 08:55 AM IST:
Adrien Brody wins Best Actor.
Adrien Brody wins his second Oscar for his portrayal of Hungarian emigre Laszlo Toth in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist. Brody previously held the record as the youngest actor to win the Best Actor Oscar for The Pianist.

March 3, 2025, 08:40 AM IST:
The Brutalist wins Best Original Score.
Daniel Blumberg wins Best Original Score for The Brutalist, marking the second win of the night for the film.

March 3, 2025, 08:31 AM IST:
I’m Still Here wins Best International Feature.
Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here, Brazil’s submission for the Oscars, wins Best International Feature Film, beating out films like Emilia Pérez, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, The Girl with the Needle, and Flow.

March 3, 2025, 08:28 AM IST:
The Brutalist wins Best Cinematography.
Lol Crawley wins his first-ever Oscar for Best Cinematography for The Brutalist, a film that marked his first nomination.

March 3, 2025, 08:13 AM IST:
I’m Not A Robot wins Best Live Action Short.
Victoria Warmerdam and Wim Goossens Trent win the Oscar for Best Live Action Short.

March 3, 2025, 08:04 AM IST:
Dune: Part Two wins Best Visual Effects.
Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, and Gerd Nefzer win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects for Dune: Part Two.

March 3, 2025, 08:03 AM IST:
Dune: Part Two wins Best Sound.
Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett, and Doug Hemphill win the Oscar for Best Sound for their work on Dune: Part Two.

March 3, 2025, 07:48 AM IST:
No Other Land wins Best Documentary Feature.
Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, and Yuval Abraham win the Oscar for No Other Land. They use their moment to call for an end to the violence in Gaza and criticize American foreign policy as an obstacle to peace.

March 3, 2025, 07:43 AM IST:
The Only Girl in the Orchestra wins Best Documentary Short.
Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington win the Oscar for the Netflix short The Only Girl in the Orchestra.

March 3, 2025, 07:38 AM IST:
Emilia Perez wins Best Original Song.
“El Mal,” performed by Zoe Saldaña and written by Jacques Audiard, Camille & Clément Ducol, wins the Oscar for Best Original Song. They were also nominated for the song “Mi Camino” in the same category.

March 3, 2025, 07:29 AM IST:
Wicked wins Best Production Design.
Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales win their first Oscar for Best Production Design for their work on Wicked.

March 3, 2025, 07:19 AM IST:
Zoe Saldaña wins Best Supporting Actress.
Zoe Saldaña wins her first Oscar for her performance in Emilia Pérez. She makes history as the first American actress of Dominican origin to win an Academy Award.

March 3, 2025, 07:14 AM IST:
Anora wins Best Film Editing.
Sean Baker wins his second Oscar of the night for Anora. He is still vying for wins in two more categories, including Best Director and Best Picture.

March 3, 2025, 07:09 AM IST:
LISA, Doja Cat, and RAYE perform Bond songs.
K-pop star LISA is joined by Doja Cat and RAYE to perform iconic 007 songs, receiving a standing ovation.

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