Academy Awards 2025
The 2025 award season railway made its final and most important stop this year once again as a March affair, bringing with it the great and the good of mainstream and global cinema for the industry’s biggest and most glitzy back-patting extravaganza in Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, as they gathered in she shadow of the fires which devastated the state and scarred the industry to award the achievements in cinema over the last twelve months at the 97th edition of the Academy Awards.
American TV host and ex talk show stalwart Conan O’Brien took over hosting duties from local late night star Jimmy Kimmel while as usual there were emotional speeches and some pre-requisite comedy on show, plus some predictable controversy, but there was also the small matter of awarding filmmakers for their achievements over the last year. Jacques Audiard’s controversial Mexican crime/drama musical hybrid ‘Emilia Pérez’ led the field with 13 nominations, followed by Brady Corbet’s period epic ‘The Brutalist’ and Jon M. Chu’s musical fantasy ‘Wicked’ with 10 each, and the rest of the nominations spread evenly across the field, but they were all ultimately bamboozled by Sean Baker’s vibrant modern sex worker Cinderella story ‘Anora’ which took home the most statuettes with 5, including best director and actress as well as the big one—best film.
Although all award shows are subjective and we can endlessly debate over who should win what or even be nominated, this is a chance for films and their makers to be globally recognised for another great twelve months of work, so let’s see who the principal nominees, big winners, and our personal picks are this year.
Best Picture
Image Source: ABC
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‘Anora’ (Winner)
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‘The Brutalist’
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‘A Complete Unknown’
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‘Conclave’
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‘Dune: Part Two’
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‘Emilia Pérez’
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‘I’m Still Here’
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‘Nickel Boys’
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‘The Substance’
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‘Wicked’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Anora’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Anora’
Directing
Image Source: Shutterstock
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Sean Baker for ‘Anora’ (Winner)
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Brady Corbet for ‘The Brutalist’
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James Mangold for ‘A Complete Unknown’
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Jacques Audiard for ‘Emilia Pérez’
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Coralie Fargeat for ‘The Substance’
Our pick from the nominees: Brady Corbet for ‘The Brutalist’
Our pick overall: Denis Villeneuve for ‘Dune: Part Two’
Actor in a Leading Role
Image Source: Getty Images
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Adrien Brody in ‘The Brutalist’ (Winner)
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Timothée Chalamet in ‘A Complete Unknown’
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Colman Domingo in ‘Sing Sing’
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Ralph Fiennes in ‘Conclave’
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Sebastian Stan in ‘The Apprentice’
Our pick from the nominees: Adrien Brody in ‘The Brutalist’
Our pick overall: Adrien Brody in ‘The Brutalist’
Actress in a Leading Role
Image Source: Shuttersterstock
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Mikey Madison in ‘Anora’ (Winner)
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Cynthia Erivo in ‘Wicked’
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Karla Sofía Gascón in ‘Emilia Pérez’
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Demi Moore in ‘The Substance’
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Fernanda Torres in ‘I’m Still Here’
Our pick from the nominees: Mikey Madison in ‘Anora’
Our pick overall: Angelina Jolie in ‘Maria’
Actor in a Supporting Role
Image Source: Getty Images
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Kieran Culkin in ‘A Real Pain’ (Winner)
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Yura Borisov in ‘Anora’
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Edward Norton in ‘A Complete Unknown’
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Guy Pearce in ‘The Brutalist’
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Jeremy Strong in ‘The Apprentice’
Our pick from the nominees: Jeremy Strong in ‘The Apprentice’
Our pick overall: Jeremy Strong in ‘The Apprentice’
Actress in a Supporting Role
Image Source: Reuters
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Zoe Saldaña in ‘Emilia Pérez’ (Winner)
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Monica Barbaro in ‘A Complete Unknown’
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Ariana Grande in ‘Wicked’
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Felicity Jones in ‘The Brutalist’
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Isabella Rossellini in ‘Conclave’
Our pick from the nominees: Felicity Jones in ‘The Brutalist’
Our pick overall: Cailee Spaeny in ‘Civil War’
Writing- Original Screenplay
Image Source: Getty Images
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‘Anora’ by Sean Baker (Winner)
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‘The Brutalist’ by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold
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‘A Real Pain’ by Jesse Eisenberg
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‘September 5’ by Moritz Binder and Tim Fehlbaum
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‘The Substance’ by Coralie Fargeat
Our pick from the nominees: ‘The Brutalist’ by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold
Our pick from the nominees: ‘The Brutalist’ by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold
Writing- Adapted Screenplay
Image Source: Getty Images
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‘Conclave’ by Peter Straughan (Winner)
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‘A Complete Unknown’ by James Mangold
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‘Emilia Pérez’ by Jacques Audiard
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‘Nickel Boys’ by RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes
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‘Sing Sing’ by Greg Kwedar, Clint Bentley, Clarence Maclin and John Whitfield
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Conclave’ by Peter Straughan
Our pick overall: ‘Conclave’ by Peter Straughan
Music- Original Score
Image Source: Getty Images
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‘The Brutalist’ by Daniel Blumberg (Winner)
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‘Conclave’ by Volker Bertelmann
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‘Emilia Pérez’ by Clément Ducol and Camille
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‘Wicked’ by John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
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‘The Wild Robot’ by Kris Bowers
Our pick from the nominees: ‘Conclave’ by Volker Bertelmann
Our pick overall: ‘Conclave’ by Volker Bertelmann
Music- Original Song
Image Source: Getty Images
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“El Mal” from ‘Emilia Pérez’ by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard (Winner)
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“The Journey” from ‘The Six Triple Eight’ by Diane Warren
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“Like a Bird” from ‘Sing Sing’ by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
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“Mi Camino” from ‘Emilia Pérez’ by Camille and Clément Ducol
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“Never Too Late” from ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Our pick from the nominees: “Never Too Late” from ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Our pick overall: “Never Too Late” from ‘Elton John: Never Too Late’ by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Animated Feature Film
Image Source: Reuters
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‘Flow’ (Winner)
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‘Inside Out 2’
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‘Memoir of a Snail’
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‘Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’
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‘The Wild Robot’
Our pick from the nominees: ‘The Wild Robot’
Our pick overall: ‘The Wild Robot’
Best International Feature Film
Image Source: Getty Images
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‘I’m Still Here’ (Brazil) (Winner)
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‘Emilia Pérez’ (France)
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‘Flow’ (Latvia)
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‘The Girl with the Needle’ (Denmark)
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‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ (Germany)
Our pick from the nominees: ‘I’m Still Here’ (Brazil)
Our pick overall: ‘I’m Still Here’ (Brazil)
Cinematography
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‘The Brutalist’ by Lol Crawley (Winner)
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‘Dune: Part Two’ by Greig Fraser
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‘Emilia Pérez’ by Paul Guilhaume
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‘Maria’ by Ed Lachman
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‘Nosferatu’ by Jarin Blaschke
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘The Brutalist’ by Lol Crawley
Our Pick Overall: ‘The Brutalist’ by Lol Crawley
Film Editing
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‘Anora’ by Sean Baker (Winner)
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‘The Brutalist’ by Dávid Jancsó
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‘Conclave’ by Nick Emerson
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‘Emilia Pérez’ by Juliette Welfling
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‘Wicked’ by Myron Kerstein
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Conclave’ by Nick Emerson
Our Pick Overall: ‘Conclave’ by Nick Emerson
Visual Effects
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‘Dune: Part Two’ (Winner)
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‘Alien: Romulus’
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‘Better Man’
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‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’
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‘Wicked’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Dune: Part Two’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Dune: Part Two’
Production Design
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‘Wicked’ (Winner)
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‘The Brutalist’
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‘Conclave’
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‘Dune: Part Two’
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‘Nosferatu’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Nosferatu’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Nosferatu’
Costume Design
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‘Wicked’ (Winner)
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‘A Complete Unknown’
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‘Conclave’
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‘Gladiator II’
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‘Nosferatu’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Nosferatu’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Nosferatu’
Makeup and Hairstyling
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‘The Substance’ (Winner)
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‘A Different Man’
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‘Emilia Pérez’
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‘Nosferatu’
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‘Wicked’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘The Substance’
Our Pick Overall: ‘The Substance’
Documentary Feature Film
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‘No Other Land’ (Winner)
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‘Black Box Diaries’
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‘Porcelain War’
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‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’
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‘Sugarcane’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’
Best Sound
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‘Dune: Part Two’ (Winner)
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‘A Complete Unknown’
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‘Emilia Pérez’
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‘Wicked’
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‘The Wild Robot’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Dune: Part Two’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Dune: Part Two’
So there you have it, ‘Anora’ leads the field in wins followed by ‘The Brutalist’, while the rest of the awards were spread evenly and several contenders were left out in the cold completely, all in all a long and smoothly executed ceremony with no real scandal or controversy to speak of . . . other than the nominations. Let us know what you think of the Oscar winners and happenings this year, and if you agree with our picks by commenting here and on FilmPhonic at Facebook and Twitter.
Oscars 2025 highlights, courtesy of ABC:
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