The 94th Academy Awards took place Sunday and encompassed many historic firsts in Hollywood’s representation of marginalized communities.
“CODA” wins big at the Oscars
Best Picture winner, “CODA,” became the first film to feature a predominately deaf cast to win the award and the first distributed by a streaming company. “CODA,” an abbreviation for “Child of Deaf Adults,” tells the story of the only hearing child in a deaf family who has aspirations to study music in lieu of joining the family business. The film was based on the 2014 French Film “La Famille Bélier.”
Additionally, Troy Kotsur became the second ever deaf actor to win an Oscar – the first being his co-star Marlee Matlin who won Best Actress for her performance in “Children of a Lesser God” in 1987.
The film’s director and writer Sian Heder won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay.
A win for queer women of color
Ariana DeBose made history as the first openly queer woman of color and the first Afro-Latina to win an acting-related Oscar for her reprisal role of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story.” In winning Best Supporting Actress, DeBose also became the second Latina actress ever to take home a trophy. The first Latina actress to win an Oscar was Rita Moreno in 1961, who won Best Supporting Actress for the same role as DeBose in the original film.
DeBose concluded her acceptance speech with a message of encouragement for the underrepresented. “To anybody who has ever questioned your identity ever, ever, ever or you find yourself living in the gray spaces, I promise you this: There is indeed a place for us.”
Prior to the 94th Academy Awards, DeBose had won similar accolades at the SAG Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and the Critics’ Choice Awards.
Campion goes home a champion
Jane Campion, director of “The Power of the Dog,” became the first woman to be nominated for Best Director twice and the third woman to actually win the award. This win marked the first time two women took home Best Director in back-to-back ceremonies, following Chloe Zhao’s win last year.
In addition to directing, Campion wrote the screenplay for the film, which was based on Thomas Savage’s eponymous novel. Her writing was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.
“The Power of the Dog” stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee, who were each nominated for their respective roles in the film.
“The Queen of Basketball”
The award for Best Short Documentary went to “The Queen of Basketball,” which tells the story of Lusia “Lucy” Harris. She became the first and only woman to be drafted into the NBA. Coming two months after her death, this historic win added to Harris’ legacy.
“If there is anyone out there that still doubts whether there’s an audience for female athletes, let this Academy Award be the answer,” said Ben Proudfoot, the documentary director.
Fan Favorite Award
The Academy introduced the Fan Favorite Award as a way to acknowledge popular films that the voting members may have missed in their consideration for the award ceremony. This category was announced in February and was voted on via Twitter and the Oscars Fan Favorite website.
Zach Snyder’s zombie-heist film “Army of the Dead” won the Oscar Fan Favorite Award, beating out other box-office hits “Dune” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”