Academy Awards 2026
2026’s award season railway made its final and definitive stop in a middle Sunday in March this year and as usual brought to Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre the great and the good of mainstream and global cinema, gathered for the industry’s biggest and most glitzy back-patting extravaganza at the 98th edition of the Academy Awards.
American TV host and ex-talk show stalwart Conan O’Brien returned as host while as usual there were emotional speeches and some pre-requisite hit-and-miss comedy on show, plus some predictable politics, controversy, and a little Oscars history too, but there was also the small matter of awarding filmmakers for their achievements over the last year. Ryan Coogler’s period hybrid horror ‘Sinners’ led the field with a record setting 16 nominations closely followed by Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark comedy revolutionist thriller ‘One Battle After Another’ securing 13 noms and winning the most with 6 including the big one “best picture”, with the rest of the nominations spread out between several contenders including ‘Marty Supreme’, ‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Sentimental Value’.
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: Getty
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‘One Battle After Another’ (Winner)
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‘Bugonia’
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‘F1’
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‘Frankenstein’
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‘Hamnet’
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‘Marty Supreme’
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‘The Secret Agent’
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‘Sentimental Value’
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‘Sinners’
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‘Train Dreams’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Marty Supreme’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Marty Supreme’
Directing
Image Source: Getty
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Paul Thomas Anderson for ‘One Battle After Another’ (Winner)
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Chloé Zhao for ‘Hamnet’
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Josh Safdie for ‘Marty Supreme’
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Joachim Trier for ‘Sentimental Value’
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Ryan Coogler for ‘Sinners’
Our pick from the nominees: Josh Safdie for ‘Marty Supreme’
Our pick overall: Guillermo del Toro for ‘Frankenstein’
Actor in a Leading Role
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Michael B. Jordan in ‘Sinners’ (Winner)
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Timothée Chalamet in ‘Marty Supreme’
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Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘One Battle After Another’
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Ethan Hawke in ‘Blue Moon’
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Wagner Moura in ‘The Secret Agent’
Our pick from the nominees: Timothée Chalamet in ‘Marty Supreme’
Our pick overall: Timothée Chalamet in ‘Marty Supreme’
Actress in a Leading Role
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Jessie Buckley in ‘Hamnet’ (Winner)
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Rose Byrne in ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’
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Kate Hudson in ‘Song Sung Blue’
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Renate Reinsve in ‘Sentimental Value’
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Emma Stone in ‘Bugonia’
Our pick from the nominees: Jessie Buckley in ‘Hamnet’
Our pick overall: Jessie Buckley in ‘Hamnet’
Actor in a Supporting Role
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Sean Penn in ‘One Battle After Another’ (Winner)
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Benicio del Toro in ‘One Battle After Another’
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Jacob Elordi in ‘Frankenstein’
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Delroy Lindo in ‘Sinners’
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Stellan Skarsgård in ‘Sentimental Value’
Our pick from the nominees: Jacob Elordi in ‘Frankenstein’
Our pick overall: Jacob Elordi in ‘Frankenstein’
Actress in a Supporting Role
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Amy Madigan in ‘Weapons’ (Winner)
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Wunmi Mosaku in ‘Sinners’
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Elle Fanning in ‘Sentimental Value’
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Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in ‘Sentimental Value’
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Teyana Taylor in ‘One Battle After Another’
Our pick from the nominees: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in ‘Sentimental Value’
Our pick overall: Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in ‘Sentimental Value’
Writing- Original Screenplay
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‘Sinners’ by Ryan Coogler (Winner)
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‘Blue Moon’ by Robert Kaplow
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‘It Was Just an Accident’ by Jafar Panahi
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‘Marty Supreme’ by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
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‘Sentimental Value’ by Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier
Our pick from the nominees: ‘Marty Supreme’ by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
Our pick from the nominees: ‘Marty Supreme’ by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
Writing- Adapted Screenplay
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‘One Battle After Another’ by Paul Thomas Anderson (Winner)
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‘Bugonia’ by Will Tracy
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‘Frankenstein’ by Guillermo del Toro
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‘Hamnet’ by Chloé Zhao and Maggie O’Farrell
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‘Train Dreams’ by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Bugonia’ by Will Tracy
Our pick overall: ‘Bugonia’ by Will Tracy
Music- Original Score
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‘Sinners’ by Ludwig Göransson (Winner)
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‘Bugonia’ by Jerskin Fendrix
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‘Frankenstein’ by Alexandre Desplat
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‘Hamnet’ by Max Richter
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‘One Battle After Another’ by Jonny Greenwood
Our pick from the nominees: ‘Frankenstein’ by Alexandre Desplat
Our pick overall: ‘Frankenstein’ by Alexandre Desplat
Music- Original Song
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“Golden” from ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ (Winner)
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“Dear Me” from ‘Diane Warren: Relentless’
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“I Lied to You” from ‘Sinners’
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“Sweet Dreams of Joy” from ‘Viva Verdi!’
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“Train Dreams” from ‘Train Dreams’
Our pick from the nominees: “I Lied to You” from ‘Sinners’
Our pick overall: “I Lied to You” from ‘Sinners’
Animated Feature Film
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‘KPop Demon Hunters’ (Winner)
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‘Arco’
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‘Elio’
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‘Little Amélie or the Character of Rain’
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‘Zootopia 2’
Our pick from the nominees: ‘Zootopia 2’
Our pick overall: ‘Zootopia 2’
Best International Feature Film
Image Source: AMPAS
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‘Sentimental Value’ (Norway) (Winner)
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‘It Was Just an Accident’ (France, Iran)
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‘Sirāt’ (Spain)
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‘The Secret Agent’ (Brazil)
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‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ (Tunisia, France)
Our pick from the nominees: ‘The Secret Agent’ (Brazil)
Our pick overall: ‘The Secret Agent’ (Brazil)
Cinematography
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‘Sinners’ by Autumn Durald Arkapaw (Winner)
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‘Frankenstein’ by Dan Laustsen
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‘Marty Supreme’ by Darius Khondji
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‘One Battle After Another’ by Michael Bauman
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‘Train Dreams’ by Adolpho Veloso
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Frankenstein’ by Dan Laustsen
Our Pick Overall: ‘Frankenstein’ by Dan Laustsen
Film Editing
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‘One Battle After Another’ by Andy Jurgensen (Winner)
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‘F1’ by Stephen Mirrione
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‘Marty Supreme’ by Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie
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‘Sentimental Value’ by Olivier Bugge Coutté
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‘Sinners’ by Michael P. Shawver
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘One Battle After Another’ by Andy Jurgensen
Our Pick Overall: ‘One Battle After Another’ by Andy Jurgensen
Visual Effects
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‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ (Winner)
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‘F1’
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‘Jurassic World Rebirth’
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‘The Lost Bus’
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‘Sinners’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘F1’
Our Pick Overall: ‘F1’
Production Design
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‘Frankenstein’ (Winner)
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‘Hamnet’
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‘Marty Supreme’
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‘One Battle After Another’
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‘Sinners’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Frankenstein’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Frankenstein’
Costume Design
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‘Frankenstein’ (Winner)
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‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’
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‘Hamnet’
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‘Marty Supreme’
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‘Sinners’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Frankenstein’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Frankenstein’
Makeup and Hairstyling
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‘Frankenstein’ (Winner)
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‘Kokuho’
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‘Sinners’
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‘The Smashing Machine’
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‘The Ugly Stepsister’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Frankenstein’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Frankenstein’
Documentary Feature Film
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‘Mr Nobody Against Putin’ (Winner)
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‘The Alabama Solution’
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‘Come See Me in the Good Light’
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‘Cutting Through Rocks’
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‘The Perfect Neighbor’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Mr Nobody Against Putin’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Mr Nobody Against Putin’
Best Sound
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‘F1’ (Winner)
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‘Frankenstein’
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‘One Battle After Another’
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‘Sinners’
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‘Sirāt’
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Sinners’
Our Pick Overall: ‘Sinners’
Best Casting
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‘One Battle After Another’ by Cassandra Kulukundis (Winner)
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‘Hamnet’ by Nina Gold
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‘Marty Supreme’ by Jennifer Venditti
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‘The Secret Agent’ by Gabriel Domingues
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‘Sinners’ by Francine Maisler
Our Pick from the Nominees: ‘Marty Supreme’ by Jennifer Venditti
Our Pick Overall: ‘Marty Supreme’ by Jennifer Venditti
So there you have it, ‘One Battle After Another’ leads the field in wins including the big one, followed by ‘Sinners’ 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 reasonably well executed ceremony with not much 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, BlueSky and Twitter (X).
Oscars 2026 highlights, courtesy of The Mirror:
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