By Titus Churchill
The Oscars, also known as the Academy Awards, were held on Sunday, March 2, 2025. The Oscars are the highest award in the film industry and were first held in 1929 at a private dinner hosted by Douglas Fairbanks in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
Winning an Oscar is a great honor, and the film that won best picture, Anora, won the most awards on Oscar night, with five awards in all, which ties the record with Walt Disney for most awards won on a single night. Sean Baker, who directed Anora, won best director. Mikey Madison won best actress in a leading role for Anora.
Another highlight of Oscar night was when Adrian Brody won best actor in a leading role for his part in The Brutalist. Adrian Brody portrayed a Hungarian-Jewish architect who survived the Holocaust and moved to America. This was his second win for best actor.
One surprise win of the night was for the best animated feature film, Flow. A foreign film with a small budget from Latvia, Flow took home the Oscar, beating out Hollywood’s Inside Out 2 and The Wild Robot. Gints Zilbalodis, the director of Flow, edited the film using free software on his personal laptop. Flow follows the story of a cat who faces a worldwide flood. Along this journey, the cat befriends a lemur, a dog, a capybara, and a secretary bird, and throughout the entire film there is no dialogue. Filled with stunning scenery and some imaginary creatures, Gints Zilbalodis managed to redefine what it takes to win an Oscar.
If you would like to know all the 2025 Oscar nominations, Common Sense Media has a list along with age recommendations for each film. The Oscar show was likely not suited for younger viewers. Still, it’s interesting to see who the winners are and why they won.
