In an upset win, Gints Zilbalodis’ animated tale of a cat who wakes up to a world invaded by water took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, while the second chapter in Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic won for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Design on a night that also saw Iranian filmmakers Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi, with visas approved just yesterday, arrive in the U.S. in time to win Best Animated Short for ‘In the Shadow of the Cypress.’
The 2025 awards season is finally over… as first-time host Conan O’Brien brought a welcome, breezy and sorely needed touch of humility and humor to the 97th Annual Academy Awards. And a giant head full of red hair.
In what could be called an upset in most circles, Gints Zilbalodis’ Flow took home the Oscar for Best Animated Feature, while the second of Denis Villeneuve’s three-part Dune epic, Dune: Part Two, won for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Design.
Iranian filmmakers Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi, who literally had their passports approved at the last possible moment in order to attend the ceremony, made it with a few hours to spare… just in time to win the Best Animated Short Film award for their haunting, powerful film, In the Shadow of the Cypress.
Congratulations to all the winners (listed in bold) and nominees!
Performance by an actor in a leading role
- Adrien Brody in The Brutalist (winner)
- Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown
- Colman Domingo in Sing Sing
- Ralph Fiennes in Conclave
- Sebastian Stan in The Apprentice
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
- Yura Borisov in Anora
- Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain (winner)
- Edward Norton in A Complete Unknown
- Guy Pearce in The Brutalist
- Jeremy Strong in The Apprentice
Performance by an actress in a leading role
- Cynthia Erivo in Wicked
- Karla Sofía Gascón in Emilia Pérez
- Mikey Madison in Anora (winner)
- Demi Moore in The Substance
- Fernanda Torres in I'm Still Here
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
- Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown
- Ariana Grande in Wicked
- Felicity Jones in The Brutalist
- Isabella Rossellini in Conclave
- Zoe Saldaña in Emilia Pérez (winner)
Best animated feature film of the year
- Flow - Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman (winner)
- Inside Out 2 - Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen
- Memoir of a Snail - Adam Elliot and Liz Kearney
- Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl - Nominees to be determined
- The Wild Robot - Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann
Achievement in cinematography
- The Brutalist - Lol Crawley (winner)
- Dune: Part Two - Greig Fraser
- Emilia Pérez - Paul Guilhaume
- Maria - Ed Lachman
- Nosferatu - Jarin Blaschke
Achievement in costume design
- A Complete Unknown - Arianne Phillips
- Conclave - Lisy Christl
- Gladiator II - Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
- Nosferatu - Linda Muir
- Wicked - Paul Tazewell (winner)
Achievement in directing
- Anora - Sean Baker (winner)
- The Brutalist - Brady Corbet
- A Complete Unknown - James Mangold
- Emilia Pérez - Jacques Audiard
- The Substance - Coralie Fargeat
Best documentary feature film
- Black Box Diaries - Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari and Hanna Aqvilin
- No Other Land - Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham (winner)
- Porcelain War - Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev, Aniela Sidorska and Paula DuPre' Pesmen
- Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat - Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius and Rémi Grellety
- Sugarcane - Nominees to be determined
Best documentary short film
- Death by Numbers - Kim A. Snyder and Janique L. Robillard
- I Am Ready, Warden - Smriti Mundhra and Maya Gnyp
- Incident - Bill Morrison and Jamie Kalven
- Instruments of a Beating Heart - Ema Ryan Yamazaki and Eric Nyari
- The Only Girl in the Orchestra - Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington (winner)
Achievement in film editing
- Anora - Sean Baker (winner)
- The Brutalist - David Jancso
- Conclave - Nick Emerson
- Emilia Pérez - Juliette Welfling
- Wicked – Myron Kerstein
Best international feature film of the year
- Brazil - I'm Still Here (winner)
- Denmark - The Girl with the Needle
- France - Emilia Pérez
- Germany - The Seed of the Sacred Fig
- Latvia - Flow
Achievement in 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
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (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
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
- “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez; Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard (winner)
- “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight; Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
- “Like A Bird” from Sing Sing; Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
- “Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez; Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
- “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late; Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Best motion picture of the year
- Anora - Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers (winner)
- The Brutalist - Nominees to be determined
- A Complete Unknown - Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, Producers
- Conclave - Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, Producers
- Dune: Part Two - Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, Producers
- Emilia Pérez - Nominees to be determined
- I'm Still Here - Nominees to be determined
- Nickel Boys - Nominees to be determined
- The Substance - Nominees to be determined
- Wicked - Marc Platt, Producer
Achievement in 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 animated short film
- Beautiful Men - Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande
- In the Shadow of the Cypress - Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi (winner)
- Magic Candies - Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio
- Wander to Wonder - Nina Gantz and Stienette Bosklopper
- Yuck! - Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet
Best live action short film
- A Lien - Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz
- Anuja - Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai
- I'm Not a Robot - Victoria Warmerdam and Trent (winner)
- The Last Ranger - Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw
- The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent - Nebojša Slijepčević and Danijel Pek
Achievement in 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
Achievement in 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
Adapted screenplay
- A Complete Unknown - Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks
- Conclave - Screenplay by Peter Straughan (winner)
- Emilia Pérez - Screenplay by Jacques Audiard; In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
- Nickel Boys - Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
- Sing Sing - Screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John "Divine G" Whitfield
Original screenplay
- Anora - Written by Sean Baker (winner)
- The Brutalist - Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
- A Real Pain - Written by Jesse Eisenberg
- September 5 - Written by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; Co-Written by Alex David
- The Substance - Written by Coralie Fargeat
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
