After nearly a month of anticipation after the nominations for this year’s Academy Award winners were announced, The 2020 Oscars ceremony was held on Sunday, Feb. 9, honoring and acknowledging all of the hard work that has been put into the film industry over the past year.

The awards consist of many categories, such as Best Picture, Actor/Actress in a Leading Role, Animated Feature Film and Best Director, to name a few. One of the more controversial award winners was the South Korean film, “Parasite”, which won best picture. Bong Joon Ho, the director of “Parasite”, not only won an Oscar for best picture, but was also awarded best director. 

“Hands down ‘Parasite’ deserved the award. It was a genre-bending masterpiece,” sophomore Owen Mills said. “A transcendent film that will set the tone for the next decade of cinema.”

“Parasite” was the first movie directed by Joon Ho to be nominated for an Oscar, although he has directed at least eight other films and written at least 11.

“Bong Joon Ho was the most deserving of the award by far. He is one of the best directors working today and is an unmatched voice in the realm of cinema, as well as one of my personal favorite directors,” Mills said. “He’s been making great films for a long time now and I’m so happy to see him finally pull away with the award.”

With each Oscar that is awarded, the winner will typically give a speech, thanking their family, friends and people who helped them in their career. However, when Joaquin Phoenix won an Oscar for actor in a leading role, he used his speech as an opportunity to speak out about injustices in the world, saying “I think that we’ve become very disconnected from the natural world, and many of us, what we’re guilty of is an egocentric worldview — the belief that we’re the center of the universe.” Despite his somewhat untraditional speaking points, many people were moved by Phoenix’s speech. 

“His speech was about freaking animals and stuff. I thought it was pretty interesting,” sophomore Simon Hodge said. “I’ve never seen a speech like it.”

Although the Oscars are rewards for artistic and technical merit in the film industry, some believe that after 92 years, more could be done in order to give everyone the recognition that they deserve.

“I do believe the Academy should do a better job of acknowledging young talented directors,” Mills said. “Big names like Tarantino and Scorsese no longer need to headline the show. It’s time we let the lesser-known artists shine.”

BEST PICTURE

• “Ford v Ferrari”
• “The Irishman”
• “Jojo Rabbit”
• “Joker”
• “Little Women”
• “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
• “Marriage Story”
• “PARASITE”- WINNER
• “1917”

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Kathy Bates, “Richard Jewell”
• LAURA DERN, “MARRIAGE STORY”- WINNER
• Scarlett Johansson, “Jojo Rabbit”
• Florence Pugh, “Little Women”
• Margot Robbie, “Bombshell”

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Tom Hanks, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”
• Anthony Hopkins, “The Two Popes”
• Al Pacino, “The Irishman”
• Joe Pesci, “The Irishman”
• BRAT PITT, “ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD”- WINNER

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)

• “In the Absence”
• “LEARNING TO SKATEBOARD IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL)”- WINNER
• “Life Overtakes Me”
• “St. Louis Superman”
• “Walk Run Cha-Cha”

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• “AMERICAN FACTORY”- WINNER
• “The Edge of Democracy”
• “Honeyland”
• “For Sama”
• “The Cave”

ORIGINAL SONG

• I’m Standing With You, “Breakthrough”
• Into the Unknown, “Frozen II”
• Stand Up, “Harriet”
• (I’m Gonna) LOVE ME AGAIN, “ROCKETMAN”- WINNER
• I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away, “Toy Story 4”

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”
• “I Lost My Body”
• “Klaus”
• “Missing Link”
• “TOY STORY 4”- WINNER

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• “The Irishman”
• “JOJO RABBIT”- WINNER
• “Little Women”
• “The Two Popes”
• “Joker”

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• “Marriage Story”
• “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”
• “PARASITE”- WINNER
• “Knives Out”
• “1917”

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• Antonio Banderas, “Pain and Glory”
• Leonardo DiCaprio, “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
• Adam Driver, “Marriage Story”
• JOAQUIN PHOENIX, “JOKER”- WINNER
• Jonathan Pryce, “The Two Popes”

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Cynthia Erivo, “Harriet”
• Scarlett Johansson, “Marriage Story”
• Saoirse Ronan, “Little Women”
• RENEE ZELLWEGER, “JUDY”- WINNER
• Charlize Theron, “Bombshell”

DIRECTOR

• Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
• Quentin Tarantino, “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
• BONG JOON HO, “PARASITE”- WINNER
• Sam Mendes, “1917”
• Todd Phillips, “Joker”

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• “ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD”- WINNER
• “The Irishman”
• “1917”
• “Jojo Rabbit”
• “Parasite”

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• “1917”- WINNER
• “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
• “The Irishman”
• “Joker”
• “The Lighthouse”

COSTUME DESIGN

• “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood”
• “LITTLE WOMEN”- WINNER
• “The Irishman”
• “Jojo Rabbit”
• “Joker”

SOUND EDITING

• “1917”
• “FORD V FERRARI”- WINNER
• “Star Wars: The rise of Skywalker”
• “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
• “Joker”

SOUND MIXING

• “1917”- WINNER
• “Ford v Ferrari”
• “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood”
• “Ad Astra”
• “Joker”

ANIMATED SHORT FILM

• “Dcera (Daughter)”
• “HAIR LOVE”- WINNER
• “Kitbull”
• “Memorable”
• “Sister”

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

• “Brotherhood”
• “Nefta Football Club”
• “THE NEIGHBORS’ WINDOW”- WINNER
• “Saria”
• “A Sister”

ORIGINAL SCORE

• “1917”, Thomas Newman
• “JOKER”, HILDUR GUÐNADÓTTIR- WINNER
• “Little Women”, Alexandre Desplat
• “Marriage Story”, Randy Newman
• “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”, John Williams

VISUAL EFFECTS

• “Avengers: Endgame”
• “The Lion King”
• “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
• “The Irishman”
• “1917”- WINNER

FILM EDITING

• “The Irishman”
• “FORD V FERRARI”- WINNER
• “Parasite”
• “Joker”
• “Jojo Rabbit”

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

• “BOMBSHELL”- WINNER
• “Joker”
• “Judy”
• “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
• “1917”