Sex worker drama 'Anora' claims top prizes at Academy Awards

(Reuters) - "Anora," the story of a sex worker who gets a chance at a new life when she marries a wealthy client on a whim, won five Academy Awards on Sunday, including the coveted best picture Oscar.

The movie's 25-year-old star, Mikey Madison, was named best actress. The film also won best director for Sean Baker and trophies for original screenplay and editing.

Madison scored an upset over Demi Moore, who had been favored to win best actress for her role in "The Substance."

"I grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood always felt so far away from me," Madison said on stage. "To be here standing in this room today is really incredible."

She said she wanted to "thank and honor the sex worker community." She said, "I will continue to be an ally."

"Anora" emerged as the winner in an unpredictable Oscars race that included the papal thriller "Conclave," the Jewish immigrant story "The Brutalist" and the blockbuster musical "Wicked."

Adrien Brody claimed his second Academy Award, winning the best actor trophy for his role as a Jewish immigrant and architect who chases the American dream in "The Brutalist."

, opening a new tab musical "Emilia Perez."

Kieran Culkin, who started acting as a child, received the Best Supporting Actor award for playing one of two cousins who travel to Poland to study their family's roots in "A Real Pain."

Winners of the gold Oscar statuettes are chosen by the roughly 11,000 actors, producers, directors, and film craftspeople who make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN DOCUMENTARY A WINNER

"No Other Land," a film showing the alliance that develops between a Palestinian activist and an Israeli journalist amid their peoples' conflict on the occupied West Bank, won the documentary feature film Oscar on Sunday.

The prize for best animated feature went to the independent film "Flow," the first movie from Latvia to win an Oscar. The Brazilian movie "I'm Still Here" received the Best International Feature award.

Nominees Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo opened the Oscars celebration with a "Wizard of Oz"-themed medley including the showstopping hit "Defying Gravity" from their film "Wicked."

Grande, Saldana, Selena Gomez, and other stars wore shiny and sculptural gowns. Timothee Chalamet chose a canary yellow tuxedo, prompting a jab from the Oscars host, comedian Conan O'Brien.

"You will not get hit on your bike tonight," O'Brien said.

Midway through the show, O'Brien brought a group of Los Angeles firefighters to the stage and thanked them for their work during the January wildfires. He also invited them to deliver a few jokes.

"It's great to be back with Conan," said Pasadena Fire Captain Jodi Slicker. "Usually when he calls, he's stuck in a tree."

Adrien Brody won his second-best actor Oscar on Sunday for playing an immigrant architect in the epic postwar drama "The Brutalist."

The 51-year-old New York City native had previously won for "The Pianist," when he became the youngest best actor winner at age 29.

Brody joins an elite group of multiple winners in this category that includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Jack Nicholson, and Spencer Tracy.

Brody has said his mother escaped from Hungary and moved across the Atlantic, echoing the journey of the character he plays, a modernist architect named Laszlo Toth.

"I understand a great deal about the repercussions of that on her life and her work as an artist," he told reporters at the Venice Film Festival. Brody's mother is the celebrated photographer Sylvia Plachy.

Brody, whose acting credits include numerous roles in Wes Anderson movies, has worked with a who's who of prestige directors including Woody Allen, Peter Jackson, Spike Lee, Barry Levinson, Terrence Malick, Roman Polanski, and Steven Soderbergh.

His commercial work includes roles in "King Kong" and "Predators." His upcoming movies include "Emperor," a medieval action epic.

Mikey Madison claimed her first Academy Award on Sunday, winning best actress for her role as a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch in the drama "Anora."

The 25-year-old beat "The Substance" actor Demi Moore, Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres, Cynthia Erivo of "Wicked" and "Emilia Perez" star Karla Sofia Gascon.

In "Anora," Madison plays an exotic dancer named Ani who gets married on a whim to Ivan, a member of a wealthy Russian family. Ivan's family does not respond well to the marriage.

Madison grew up in the San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles. At 16, she landed a role on the FX television series "Better Things." She also had a small part in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time ...in Hollywood" and starred in "Scream V."

Her "Anora" role also earned Madison Best Actress honors at the Independent Spirit Awards and Britain's BAFTAs.

Brazilian movie "I'm Still Here", set against the backdrop of the military dictatorship and recounting the true story of a mother of five whose husband disappeared, made history on Sunday by earning Brazil its first Oscar in a major category.

However, the film fell short of winning Best Picture, which went to "Anora," and Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres did not win the Oscar for best actress.

Adapted from the poignant 2015 memoir written by Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the son of main character Eunice Paiva, "I Am Still Here" shares the family's heart-wrenching story of loss and resilience in the face of oppression.

In his acceptance speech, director Walter Salles dedicated the award to Eunice Paiva and the two actresses that play her in the movie, Fernanda Torres and her mother Fernanda Montenegro.

"I think it's not a film that has been recognized. It's a culture that's being recognized. It's the way we do cinema in Brazil that is being recognized," Salles told reporters backstage.

The Paiva family was among the many victims of the military regime in Brazil, which lasted for 21 years and was established following a coup d'etat by the armed forces in 1964. During this period, thousands of people were detained, and tortured, and hundreds forcibly disappeared, with many being exiled and persecuted.

Salles sees democracy becoming more fragile around the world.

"I never thought it would be so fragile in this country," he said, referring to the U.S. "And therefore what happened in Brazil in the past feels very close to our present."

The last Brazilian film to be nominated by the Academy in the international category was "Central Station" in 1999, also directed by Salles.

In 1960, France, Italy, and Brazil co-production "Black Orpheus", with a predominantly Brazilian cast and French direction won the international category, but the recipient of the prize was France.

The Oscars ceremony coincided with Brazil's Carnival, and as the news of the win spread, the streets erupted in joy. Thousands of revelers, many of whom were holding Oscar statuettes or dressed as Academy Awards nominee Fernanda Torres, celebrated with music, dance, and festivities, despite widespread frustration over Torres' defeat.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva posted on social media that the award recognized a work that showed the importance of fighting authoritarianism.

"Today is the day to feel even prouder of being Brazilian. Proud of our cinema, our artists, and, above all, proud of our democracy," he wrote.

Accepting the award at Hollywood's Dolby Theatre were the Palestinian Basel Adra, born in 1996, and journalist Yuval Abraham, born in 1995.

The film shows Adra resisting the forced displacement of his people by the Israeli army in the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta. The film shows Israeli soldiers tearing down homes and evicting residents to create a military training zone.

Adra befriends Abraham, but their relationship is challenged by the gap in their living conditions.

Adra said: "'No Other Land' reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people."

Abraham said they made the film because together their voices were stronger.

"We see each other, the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end, the Israeli hostages brutally taken in the crime of October 7 which must be freed.

"When I look at Basel I see my brother but we are unequal. We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military law that destroys his life and he cannot control.

"There is a different path. A political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people. And I have to say as I'm here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path.

"And why? Can't you see that we are intertwined? That my people can be truly safe if Basel's people are truly free and safe. There is another way. It's not too late for life, for the living."

Italian designer Giorgio Armani picked earthy tones for his latest womenswear collection at Milan Fashion Week on Sunday, before adding plenty of sparkle for dazzling evening wear.

The 90-year-old veteran, whose autumn/winter 2025 line was called "Roots", opened the show with golden, sandy, beige and grey jackets and tops worn with loose or silky trousers.

He then turned to darker tones - green, brown, and blue - for an array of sleek coats, dresses, tops, trousers, and knits. There were plenty of velvet trousers and jackets, most of which bore round collars.

"For Giorgio Armani, each collection is a return to his roots," show notes said. "This season, garments take on the volcanic hues and mineral glows of sun-scorched earth, reassuring in its ancestral purity."

For the evening, models wore light and dark grey jackets, dresses, and crop tops paired with skirts that sparkled with shiny sequins. Some of the intricately embroidered tops were paired with sheer trousers.

Accessories included caps, chunky belts, and necklaces. Models wore flat boots.

Armani held the fashion show for his second line, Emporio Armani, on Thursday.

The independent film “Flow” won the Best Animated Feature Film Oscar on Sunday, securing the first Academy Award for Latvia and its Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis.

"Flow" follows a cat that finds refuge on a boat along with other animals that join together after a flood destroys their homes.

The movie stood out in 2024, having been rendered on a free and open-source software platform called Blender and having no dialogue.

“Flow” rode a tidal wave into the Oscar race after big studio films like “Inside Out 2,” “Moana 2” and “The Wild Robot,” which all had higher box office numbers, lost the Golden Globe to the small independent film.

The "Flow" team also transformed its smaller budget into a nominee for the Best International Film Oscar, achieving rare recognition for an animated film in two major categories and making history with the first Oscar nominations for the Northern European country ever.

Kieran Culkin won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar on Sunday for playing a motor-mouthed American tourist in "A Real Pain."

A star of the HBO program "Succession," Culkin was a heavy favorite to win after sweeping BAFTA, Critic's Choice, Golden Globe, and SAG awards for the movie, which is about two cousins on a Jewish heritage tour of Poland.

"I have no idea how I got here," Culkin said while accepting his award on stage. "I've been acting all my life. I never felt like this was my trajectory."

The movie was also nominated for best original screenplay this year, but missed out on picture and director nods.

Culkin, 42, has also won a Golden Globe for playing Roman Roy in four seasons of "Succession." He played alongside his older brother Macaulay in the "Home Alone" movies, and his younger brother Rory is also an actor.

The lifelong New Yorker's other film roles include "Igby Goes Down," "The Cider House Rules," "Scott Pilgrim vs the World," and the "Father of the Bride" franchise, where he plays the son of Steve Martin and Diane Keaton.

Culkin told New York magazine last year he got cold feet about playing Benji in "A Real Pain," until Emma Stone, a producer on the film and his former girlfriend, convinced him to shoot it.

“It was one of the very, very, very rare scripts that I laughed out loud reading,” he said.

Culkin's "Succession" co-star Jeremy Strong - they play brothers on the show - was also up for best supporting actor, for playing Roy Cohn in "The Apprentice."

Zoe Saldana won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress on Sunday as a Mexico City lawyer and fixer for a former drug lord in the crime drama and musical "Emilia Perez."

It was the first Oscar win for the 46-year-old Saldana and was preceded by wins at the Golden Globes and BAFTA and SAG awards this year for the same role.

Saldana helps the drug lord fake his death and then gets gender-affirming surgery so that Emilia Perez can become a woman, played by Spain's Karla Sofia Gascon. In return, she is given a large sum of money.

She also sings the song "El Mal" in which she criticizes the rich at a charity gala.

Saldana has starred in some of the highest-grossing films including "Avatar" and "Guardians of the Galaxy."

Hollywood’s annual self-congratulatory party reaches its usual, fevered pitch tonight at the 97th Academy Awards. Hosted by the roundly beloved Conan O’Brien, we can at least hold out hope that the 2025 Oscars ceremony will be entertaining of its own accord, regardless of whether it manages to stir up the typical wave of post-awards drama and recrimination. Surely nothing tonight could top the Will Smith/Chris Rock slap of the 2022 Oscars telecast, but you can never really say for certain, can you? Is there anyone in Hollywood who would be angling for a shot at mussing up Conan’s flawless pompadour?

As ever, there’s a wide array of narratives worth following as we head into the 2025 Oscars ceremony. Chief among them is perhaps the nosedive experienced by one-time favorite Emilia Pérez in recent months, following the unearthing of offensive past tweets from actress Karla Sofía Gascón. Gascón had made history by becoming the first openly transgender person nominated for one of the primary acting categories and had been considered a significant favorite in the Best Actress race, despite a divided critical reaction to Emilia Pérez on its own merits. The subsequent backlash against the film has seemingly thrown many of the categories wide open, with Fernanda Torres of I’m Still Here now seen as a potential Best Actress favorite, while films like Anora and The Brutalist–both in the top 10 of our own list of the best movies of 2024–are now considered frontrunners for Best Picture. Other races we’ll be watching: Can Guy Pearce achieve long-deserved recognition in the Best Supporting Actor category for The Brutalist? And how will The Substance and Nosferatu (not to mention The Girl With the Needle) fare as they represent an unusual amount of awards representation for the horror genre?

Check back here throughout the telecast for those answers, as we’ll be updating this space throughout the night with all the winners of the 2025 Oscars. The main broadcast begins at 7 p.m. EST, emanating from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Do you have your predictions ready?

Best Picture

Anora — WINNER
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked

Best Directing

Sean Baker – Anora — WINNER
Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
James Mangold – A Complete Unknown
Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist — WINNER
Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison – Anora — WINNER
Demi Moore – The Substance
Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Yura Borisov – Anora
Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain — WINNER
Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce – The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande – Wicked
Felicity Jones – The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini – Conclave
Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez — WINNER

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

A Complete Unknown – James Mangold and Jay Cocks
Conclave – Peter Straughan — WINNER
Emilia Pérez – Jacques Audiard; in collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius, and Nicolas Livecchi
Nickel Boys – RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes
Sing Sing – Screenplay by Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley; story by Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley, Clarence Maclin, and John “Divine G” Whitfield

Best Writing (Original Screenplay)

Anora – Sean Baker — WINNER
The Brutalist – Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold
A Real Pain – Jesse Eisenberg
September 5 – Moritz Binder and Tim Fehlbaum; co-written by Alex David
The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

Best Animated Feature Film

Flow — WINNER
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

Best Documentary Feature Film

Black Box Diaries
No Other Land — WINNER
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane

Best International Feature Film

Emilia Pérez (France) in Spanish – directed by Jacques Audiard
Flow (Latvia) – directed by Gints Zilbalodis
The Girl with the Needle (Denmark) in Danish – directed by Magnus von Horn
I’m Still Here (Brazil) in Portuguese – directed by Walter Salles — WINNER
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany) in Persian – directed by Mohammad Rasoulof

Best Animated Short Film

Beautiful Men
In the Shadow of the Cypress — WINNER
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!

Best Live Action Short Film

A Lien
Anuja
I’m Not a Robot — WINNER
The Last Ranger
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

Best Documentary Short Film

Death by Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
The Only Girl in the Orchestra — WINNER

Best Cinematography

The Brutalist – Lol Crawley — WINNER
Dune: Part Two – Greig Fraser
Emilia Pérez – Paul Guilhaume
Maria – Edward Lachman
Nosferatu – Jarin Blaschke

Best Costume Design

A Complete Unknown – Arianne Phillips
Conclave – Lisy Christl
Gladiator II – Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
Nosferatu – Linda Muir
Wicked – Paul Tazewell — WINNER

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

A Different Man – Mike Marino, David Presto, and Crystal Jurado
Emilia Pérez – Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier, and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
Nosferatu – David White, Traci Loader, and Suzanne Stokes-Munton
The Substance – Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli — WINNER
Wicked – Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, and Sarah Nuth

Best Music (Original Song)

“El Mal” from Emilia Pérez – Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; lyrics by Clément Ducol, Camille, and Jacques Audiard — WINNER
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight – Music and lyrics by Diane Warren
“Like a Bird” from Sing Sing – Music and lyrics by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez – Music and lyrics by Camille and Clément Ducol
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late – Music and lyrics by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt, and Bernie Taupin

Best Music (Original Score)

The Brutalist – Daniel Blumberg — WINNER
Conclave – Volker Bertelmann
Emilia Pérez – Clément Ducol and Camille
Wicked – John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
The Wild Robot – Kris Bowers

Best Production Design

The Brutalist – Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia
Conclave – Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter
Dune: Part Two – Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
Nosferatu – Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová
Wicked – Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales — WINNER

Best Film Editing

Anora – Sean Baker — WINNER
The Brutalist – Dávid Jancsó
Conclave – Nick Emerson
Emilia Pérez – Juliette Welfling
Wicked – Myron Kerstein

Best Sound

A Complete Unknown – Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey, and David Giammarco
Dune: Part Two – Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett, and Doug Hemphill — WINNER
Emilia Pérez – Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz, and Niels Barletta
Wicked – Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson, and John Marquis
The Wild Robot – Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo, and Leff Lefferts

Best Visual Effects

Alien: Romulus – Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin, and Shane Mahan
Better Man – Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft, and Peter Stubbs
Dune: Part Two – Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, and Gerd Nefzer — WINNER
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story, and Rodney Burke
Wicked – Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk, and Paul Corbould

Check back throughout the night as we update this post with every winner from the 2025 Oscars.

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