What happened at the Oscars? Best picture announced, historic winner shouts out ‘little girls who look like me’

The 98th Academy Awards on Sunday saw “One Battle After Another” win big with six awards, including best picture, director, supporting actor and casting.

“Sinners” followed with four awards, including best actor for leading man Michael B. Jordan.

• IN PICTURES: Hottest looks on the 2026 Oscars red carpet

Jessie Buckley took home best actress for “Hamnet.”

Comedian Conan O’Brien returned for a second year to host the ceremony, held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Here’s a look back at how the show played out:

Anderson talks the racial politics of `One Battle After Another’

After his big wins of the night, Paul Thomas Anderson came to the press room to speak with reporters about his wins for best picture, director and adapted screenplay. He answered three questions -- the maximum the Academy had been allowing for winners consistently throughout the night -- but the last question zeroed in on criticism of “One Battle After Another.”

Some of the film’s detractors have found fault with the portrayal of the Black women characters, particularly Teyana Taylor’s Perfidia. Anderson said the character is “flawed,” and that he and the filmmakers wanted to capture the nuance of her life.

“It’s complicated,” he said. “We always knew that we were trying to make something complicated.” The point of Perfidia’s arc is to set up the story of her daughter, Willa, played by Chase Infiniti. “What happens when your parents, who are damaged, and handed quite a difficult history to you, how do you manage that? That’s our story,” he said.

First Oscar, first tooth

Best actress winner Jessie Buckley elaborated on her thoughts on the “crazy alchemy” of winning the award on the U.K. and Ireland version of Mother’s Day when speaking to reporters in the press room. She plays a grieving mother in the historical fiction drama “Hamnet.”

In addition to being Oscars Sunday, the day also marked Buckley’s first Mother’s Day as a mom, and Buckley said her daughter, who is eight months old, got her first tooth this week. It’s a big milestone, but perhaps not quite as big as her mom snagging her first Oscar.

Jessie Buckley on being first Irish winner of best actress

“It feels like some kind of crazy alchemy that all these things are colliding,” she said of the historic win backstage, plus the collision with Mother’s Day in the U.K. and Ireland.

Michael B. Jordan gets standing ovation from reporters, expresses gratitude

When best actor winner Michael B. Jordan came backstage, he had to wait about a full minute for many in the crowd of reporters to stop cheering and sit down before he could answer any questions.

The “Sinners” star who played twin brothers in the genre-bending vampire epic said his win feels “timely.”

“I’m here because of the people who came before me,” he said.

“I’ve been extremely blessed in my life,” he continued. “There’s a lot of people who’ve seen me grow up in this industry, grow up in this town, and they looked out for me -- and they didn’t have to.”

Ryan Coogler praises teachers

Backstage, Ryan Coogler was greeted with cheers and many a raised placard for questions by members of the press. He credited an English professor when he was 17 who read an assignment and suggested he go to Hollywood and write screenplays.

The scene from the Governors Ball

At the Governors Ball the happiest area was the Warner Bros. “One Battle After Another” tables where Leonardo DiCaprio, sipping red wine, and Benicio Del Toro, with champagne and not a few small beers, held court with studio executives, including producer Pam Abdy.

Elsewhere, Renate Reinsve ditched her shoes and walked barefoot through the party, which was carpeted. Mandy Patinkin sat alone sampling sushi and trying to make a phone call as the music blared. Kirsten Dunst stayed close to Alicia Silverstone, and Kerry Condon sampled the prime rib.

Ryan Coogler used to run plays. Now he wins Oscars for screenplays

The best original screenplay Oscar winner for “Sinners” was once a star wide receiver at Sacramento State, where he had 112 catches over his college career.

Coogler was also a two-time All-Academic selection in the Big Sky Conference.

He joins a rather exclusive club of sports figures who won Oscars, one that includes NBA greats Kobe Bryant, Stephen Curry, Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Durant and Mike Conley Jr.

Why Joachim Trier quoted James Baldwin

Joachim Trier said he cited James Baldwin -- “All adults are responsible for all children” -- because of revelations about crimes being done to children and the conflicts being waged in the world.

“Me and most people around me have been at times crying a lot,” Trier, a father, said, citing Palestinian, Ukrainian and Sudanese children suffering, in addition to other conflicts.

He said people need to “cross the aisle” to be more collaborative in protecting children.

Serena on MBJ: ‘So happy’

Serena Williams put a clip of Michael B. Jordan’s best actor speech onto social media and needed two words to sum up her feelings.

“So happy,” the tennis legend wrote in reaction to the “Sinners” star getting the Oscar.

Best original song winners had many more thanks to give backstage

The winners for “Golden” in “KPop Demon Hunters” thanked additional colleagues and family members after they were cut off during their acceptance speech.

Singer songwriter EJAE said she wanted to shoutout her fellow performers Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna, who voiced the singing parts along her in the film.

The cast also delivered thanks to their fans watching in Korea.

“I was very nervous but it was such an honor to be performing, it’s such an incredible stage,” EJAE said. “It was not on my bucket list because I did not think it was possible.”

The Korean American said it was an “incredible experience” to honor their ancestors by beginning their performance with Korean traditional music.

After the show, it’s time to eat and drink

First stop for Oscar winners and invited guests after the show ends is the Governors Ball. They’ll ride escalators up to the Ray Dolby Ballroom atop the shopping and entertainment complex where the ceremony is held.

The show typically runs three hours or more, creating a powerful need for immediate food and drink after sitting that long.

Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck is in his 32nd year catering the party. He’s supported by 75 savory chefs and 45 pastry chefs.

Winners can sip on signature cocktails like “The Sequel” with tequila and “After Glow” without booze while waiting for their names to be engraved on their golden statues.

This isn’t a sit-down dinner. It’s the first chance for Oscar-goers to let their hair down on the night’s party circuit, gossip about the show over the din of a live band and move on to the next bash. Over 300 servers swarm the crowd with food on trays and small plates. More elaborate grazing stations feature cheese and charcuterie, wood-fired pizzas, Japanese izakaya, and hand-carved wagyu and steak frites.

A slider bar serves ribeye burgers, Thai sausage dogs, pastrami and fried cod to go with tempura onion rings. A handroll and sushi bar includes spicy ahi tuna, sea bream and salmon. Need to soothe your incurable sweet tooth? Hit the tables featuring patisserie, madeleine and tiramisu, chocolate decadence, and gelato.

Vegans will feel at home since the party has offered over 50% plant-based and vegetarian dishes since 2013.

Everyone leaves feeling like a winner after picking up one of the 2,000 mini chocolate Oscars airbrushed with 24-karat edible gold dust.

Conan keeps things (pretty much) on schedule

The runtime of the show clocked in at 3 hours and 40 minutes, which is pretty typical for the show and somewhat modest considering 24 awards were handed out Sunday evening. The longest ceremony lasted over four hours in 2002.

A bizarre, pre-taped epilogue to the Oscars showed O’Brien being named the Oscars’ “Host for Life” after his performance tonight.

That’s before he’s locked into an office where a green gas fills the room. An unconscious O’Brien is carried out to show his name plaque replaced by... Mr. Beast?

‘One Battle After Another’ wins best picture

The film was the big winner at this year’s Oscars, leading the way with six wins.

It becomes the 42nd film in Oscars history with at least six statuettes.

“Sinners” won four this year and “Frankenstein” won three.

Jessie Buckley, ‘Hamnet,’ wins best actress

Four people in Jessie Buckley’s Irish family stood up and waved toward the stage from the mezzanine, far out of sight of the stage.

“My family, my Irish family, they’re all here, Ireland bought them flights,” Buckley said. “Mom, dad, thank you for teaching me to dream and to never be defined by expectation but to carve your own passion.”

“We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds. Thank you for recognizing me in this role,” she said.

Historic Oscar winner shouts out ‘little girls who look like me’

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman and Black person to win the cinematography award told reporters in the press room that she was worried about using her time wisely for her acceptance speech. “Are they going to kick me off?” she recalled wondering. Still, she managed to give a grounded, moving speech, and one she hopes will inspire future filmmakers.

“A lot of little girls who look like me will sleep really well tonight because they’ll want to become cinematographers,” she said. “I know that.”

She decided to ask all the women in the Dolby Theatre to stand up during her speech because “moments like this don’t happen without women kind of standing up for you and advocating for you,” she said.

The win “isn’t about me anymore,” she continued. “It’s about so much more and I wanted it for all of the ladies in the room, and I wanted it for all the girls at home.”

Michael B. Jordan, ‘Sinners,’ wins best actor

The loudest and rowdiest applause of the evening likely came from inside the press room when Michael B. Jordan was announced as the winner of the best actor prize. Reporters in the room burst into raucous cheers before presenter Adrien Brody could even finish reading out the “Sinners” star’s name.

Michael B. Jordan’s dad stood up and pumped his fist toward the stage. The actor said his father flew in from Ghana for the Oscars.

He was one of the many, many people who gave the “Sinners” star a rousing, standing ovation for his first Oscar win.

“I stand here because of the people that came before me,” he said, adding thanks for the support he’s received throughout his life.

“I feel it, I know you guys want to me to do well, and I want to do that because you guys bet on me.”

Paul Thomas Anderson, ‘One Battle After Another,’ wins best director

Anderson dedicated his win to Adam Somner.

“He’s in a really big bar up in the sky right now,” Anderson said of his late collaborator. “He’s having a gin and tonic, and he is so happy.”

Anderson said of the trophy for best director: “There will always be some doubt in your heart that you deserve it. But there is no question the pleasure of having it for myself.”

`Golden’ from `KPop Demon Hunters’ wins best original song

The vocalists behind the song, EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, performed it live for the Oscars audience earlier in the night.

As the group of winners accepted the award, the music started up. EJAE, who spoke first, put her hand up and said, “Please stop.” The music kept going as her fellow winners tried to speak and then the lights dimmed as they cut to commercial.

Inside, two people continued to try to speak, the audience seemed a little upset and the mic was completely cut off. The play-off music was loud and definitive.

`Sentimental Value’ wins best international feature for Norway

“This film is about a very dysfunctional family and it’s the opposite of what I felt with this beautiful group behind me,” the filmmaker behind the feature, Joachim Trier, said.

He also quoted James Baldwin: “All adults are responsible for all children,” adding that people should not vote for politicians who don’t take this into account.

Why France submitted `It Was Just an Accident’ and Tunisia did `The Voice of Hind Rajab’ for best international feature

Per Academy rules, a country may only submit one film for consideration in the international feature film category.

In Iran, a government-backed committee controlled film submissions, and was unlikely to consider dissident films like “It Was Just an Accident” by filmmaker Jafar Panahi.

So France submitted the film instead. Panahi lives in France for part of the year, the cofinancing company was French, some of the producers were French, the editing was done in Paris and the film played in France.

“The Voice of Hind Rajab,” about the story of a 6-year-old killed in Gaza, is Tunisia’s entry. The director Kaouther Ben Hania is Tunisian, and Palestine submitted a different film.

Mics are on

Audience members waved golden light sticks in the air, a common sight at Korean pop concerts, as “Kpop Demon Hunters” singers EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami took the stage to sing “Golden.”

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, `Sinners,’ wins best cinematography

Arkapaw becomes first woman and Black person to win the award.

“I really want all the women in this room to stand up, because I feel like I don’t get here without you guys.”

The crowd began applauding as the women in the audience got on their feet.

Andy Jurgensen, `One Battle After Another,’ wins best film editing

“I would like to dedicate this to my aunt, Barbara Hall, who was film archivist for the Academy for over 25 years, showing me old movies and teaching me about film history,” Jurgensen said.

`F1′ gets best sound win

The prize recognized the work of Gareth John, Al Nelson, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gary A. Rizzo and Juan Peralta in the movie.

Ludwig Göransson, `Sinners,’ wins best score

Blues changed the life of Göransson’s family.

“My dad bought his first blues album in Sweden, 1964,” Göransson said.

“Even though it was on the other side of the world from a place my dad had never been, and a place he could not relate to, the music was so powerful it changed my dad’s life.”

‘Mr. Nobody Against Putin’ wins best documentary feature

“‘Mr Nobody Against Putin’ is about how you lose your country. And what we saw when working with this footage is that you lose it through countless small, little acts of complicity,” filmmaker David Borenstein said.

“We all face a moral choice, but luckily, even a nobody is more powerful than you think,” he said.

‘All the Empty Rooms’ wins best documentary short

In this short directed by Joshua Seftel and produced by Conall Jones, journalist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp document the empty bedrooms of children killed in school shootings over the course of seven years.

Gloria Cazares, whose child was killed in the Uvalde school shooting, accepted the award.

“My daughter, Jackie, was nine years old when she was killed in Uvalde. Since that day, her bedroom has been frozen in time,” she said.

Jimmy Kimmel is back (again)

Jimmy Kimmel’s return to the Oscars stage (“Wait, am I not hosting?”) and ABC telecast where he served as host four times still can’t possibly be as dramatic as the year he just had.

ABC and parent company Disney yanked his late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” off the air in September for remarks he made following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Kimmel’s indefinite suspension was celebrated by President Donald Trump. But it wouldn’t even be a week before he returned to the air with much stronger ratings than before.

His jokes at Trump’s expense prompted the president to post that ABC needed to “get the bum off the air.”

But Kimmel instead got a contract extension in December.

‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ gets win for best visual effects

The award recognizes the work of Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett.

`Frankenstein,’ picks up another win

Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau won best production design for the film.

`An intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail’

Barbra Streisand’s tribute to Robert Redford highlighted the late actor-director’s history of defending press freedoms, protecting the environment and encouraging new voices in film.

“Bob had real backbone on and off the screen,” she said.

Babs, as Redford used to call her, sang “The Way We Were” at the end of her tribute.

“I miss him now more than ever, even though he loved teasing me,” she said, explaining how she got the nickname.

Rachel McAdams paid tribute to women -- and Diane Keaton, in particular

“Believe me when I say there is an actress of my generation who was not inspired by and enthralled with her absolute singularity,” she said.

McAdams told the audience a Girl Scout song Keaton used to sing set on film sets:

“Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, the other is gold. A circle is round, it has no end. That’s how long, I will be your friend.”

Reiner’s actors join Billy Crystal onstage in tribute

Billy Crystal opened the in memoriam segment honoring his best friend, Rob Reiner.

He ticked off a list of Reiner’s films, including “When Harry Met Sally,” starring Crystal and Meg Ryan, “Stand By Me,” “Say Anything” and “This is Spinal Tap,” among many others.

A photo of Reiner and his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner, appeared behind Crystal.

The Reiners were found dead in their Los Angeles home in December. Their son, Nick Reiner, has been charged in the deaths of his parents and has pleaded not guilty.

Having a slew of actors with longstanding ties to Reiner -- Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland, Fred Savage, Demi Moore, John Cusack, Ione Skye and many others -- come on stage for the tribute was reminiscent of how the Academy did the same for director John Hughes at the Oscars 16 years ago.

Ryan Coogler, `Sinners,’ wins best original screenplay

For his first original film, not adapted from any source material, Coogler won the original screenplay Oscar -- his very first. He’s also up for more awards tonight.

Before accepting his award for original screenplay, Coogler embraced his wife, Zinzi Coogler, who is a producer and worked with him on “Sinners.” He then went down the line with his cast, hugging Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo and, lastly, his frequent collaborator and friend, Michael B. Jordan.

During his speech, he asked the “Sinners” cast and crew to stand up. “You’re all winners in my book,” he said.

Paul Thomas Anderson, `One Battle After Another,’ wins best adapted screenplay

In adapting Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel about a subculture of aging rebels, “Vineland,” Anderson reworked everything from the timeline to the characters’ names to more details than can be listed in brief.

But he does capture the humour, the cynicism and the sweep of Pynchon, the sense of a ragged community of outsiders caught up by forces far beyond even its own paranoid assumptions.

“I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we’re handing off to them,” Anderson said.

Sean Penn, best supporting actor winner, has skipped the Oscars, again

He won as supporting actor for “One Battle After Another.”

“Sean Penn couldn’t be here this evening,” presenter Kieran Culkin said. “Or didn’t want to, so I’ll be accepting the award on his behalf.”

Penn did little campaigning this awards season, and also stayed away from the Actor Awards and BAFTA Awards, where he won trophies.

It’s not the first time Penn has no-showed at the Oscars.

The 65-year-old actor has never appeared too attached to Hollywood hardware, whether he wins or loses. He previously gave one of his Oscars to Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

An Oscars tie is rare, but not a first

The live action short category resulted in a tie (“Two People Exchanging Saliva” and “The Singers” each got statuettes) this year. But this is not the first time this has happened at the Oscars.

The most recent tie came during the 2013 Oscars honoring films from 2012, when “Zero Dark Thirty” and “Skyfall” tied for the sound editing category. There have been five other ties in Oscars history, making Sunday’s tie the seventh.

The first tie, which was at the 5th Academy Awards almost 100 years ago, was based on an old rule. Wallace Beery (“The Champ”) and Fredric March (“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”) tied for best actor. They came within exactly one vote of each other, and in accordance with Academy rules at the time, they shared the recognition. That rule has since changed and only an exact match in totals would qualify as a tie today, according to the Academy.

2 live action shorts tie for the win in that category

“Thank you to the Academy for supporting a movie that is weird, that is queer, and made by a majority of women!” said Natalie Musteata of “Two People Exchanging Saliva.”

Director Sam A. Davis of “Singers” called his short a “simple story about the power of music and art to bring us together in a moment when we live in an increasingly isolated world.”

Cassandra Kulukundis, `One Battle After Another,’ win inaugural Oscar for best casting

Kulukundis thanked the academy for making this award happen: “I dedicate this to you and to the casting directors who never got a chance to get up here, who didn’t even get a chance to get their name on the movie.”

Kulukundis has served as the casting director on past Oscar favorites including “The Brutalist” and “There Will Be Blood.”

She has worked on all 10 of “One Battle After Another” director Paul Thomas Anderson’s feature films, beginning as an intern on his debut film “Hard Eight” in 1996.

Conan teases the smartphone generation

Host Conan O’Brien aimed his comedic barbs towards screenagers and the generally phone-obsessed in a short pre-taped segment about a (surely fictional) film lab that reimagines classic films to be optimal for smart phone viewing.

So-called “advanced” technology isolates the most visually interesting part of the shot for the vertical-only version, but that is often not the most interesting or dynamic part of the shot. An example was the infamous orgasm scene from the late Rob Reiner’s “When Harry Met Sally,” where the vertical-only shot does not show an animated Meg Ryan, but rather a woman in the background who is taking a sip from a glass.

`Frankenstein’ gets wins for best costume design and best hair and makeup

Only five awards into the night, “Frankenstein” is a two-time winner already after taking home the Oscar for costume design, as well as hair and makeup.

“While we’re making this film, we had the sense we’re part of something very special, and tonight confirms that,” makeup artist Mike Hill said. Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey were the other artists on the award-winning team.

“On behalf of myself and the amazing team that I work with, the artisans, the alchemists, dream weavers, we’re so grateful to the Academy for recognizing our craft,” said Kate Hawley, the film’s costume designer.

`Sinners’ starts off strong -- and on stage

Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq are performing “I Lied to You,” the nominated original song from “Sinners.” They’re joined by a bevy of performers onstage -- Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey and Alice Smith among them -- for a near-recreation of the scene in “Sinners” where the song is introduced.

It is one of the more memorable moments in the film, where a blues song in a Mississippi juke joint opens up to showcase hip-hop DJs, rock `n’ roll guitarists, ballerinas and more, illustrating the Black music genre’s place at the foundation of American popular culture.

When the live tribute performance to “Sinners” wrapped on stage, there was a slew of applause, some of which came from people who stood for the ovation.

The highest praise may have come from Michael B. Jordan himself, who nodded and smiled.

The message was clear: The star approved, big time.

The Girl Who Cried Pearls’ wins best animated short

The Canadian film is about a poor boy who falls in love with a girl who cries those gemstones, and he decides to pawn them for money. Directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, the boy ends up making a choice between pearls and love. It takes place in Montreal.

“To Canada,” Lavis and Szczerbowski said while accepting their award.

‘KPop Demon Hunters’ wins best animated feature

Three years ago, Arden Cho was ready to walk away from acting. She’d landed her first lead role in the Netflix series “Partner Track,” only to see it canceled after one season. She was heartbroken.

Her agent wouldn’t let her go. “She refused to say, `You’re done.’ She just kept sending me things,” Cho said. “She just keep being like, `Look, I know you’re not auditioning. I know you’re done, but I think you’d like this.”'

Now, Cho is juggling multiple projects after voicing the lead character Rumi in Netflix’s animated summertime sensation “KPop Demon Hunters,” which has become the all-time most-streamed movie on the platform -- and spawned inescapable earworms “Golden” and “Soda Pop” as its soundtrack dominated pop charts.

And now it’s an Oscar winner.

“This is for Korea and Koreans everywhere,” said “KPop Demon Hunters” co-director Maggie Kang.

Amy Madigan wins best supporting actress

Madigan, following a deep cackle, said she thought of her speech in the shower the day before.

“We’re kind of advised, ‘Don’t say all these names, as nobody knows who the hell these people are,”’ she said. “But you’re not rattling them off. They mean something to you; that you couldn’t be here without them.”

AP Film Writers Jake Coyle and Lindsey Bahr both picked Teyana Taylor (“One Battle After Another”) to win best supporting actress. So did 40% of readers on apnews.com, with Amy Madigan (“Weapons”) their second pick.

Madigan won -- and Taylor seemed to be the first to leap from her seat in celebration when she was announced.

Conan’s off and running with the jokes

Conan O’Brien is off and running at the Oscars.

“I’m Conan O’Brien and I’m honored to be the last human host of the Academy Awards,” O’Brien said. “Yes! Yeah! Next year it’s going to be a Waymo in a tux.”

And the jokes kept coming.

“Last year when I hosted Los Angeles was on fire,” O’Brien said. “But this year, everything’s going great.”

He also quipped that there’s an alternate Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock, a nod to the hubbub over Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show.

And we’re off, with help from the Beastie Boys and Aunt Conan

Conan O’Brien’s opening skit: He complains about wearing too much makeup as Aunt Gladys from “Weapons,” says he looks like “Bette Davis with lupus” and it’s all done to the soundtrack of “Sabotage” from the Beastie Boys, all as he runs through various scenes of this year’s nominated films.

“I can’t believe I learned Norwegian for this,” he says, via subtitles, at one point. He then got chased onto the stage by a horde of children.

The irreverent tone for the opening is now set.

Police scrum removes protester blocking Oscars traffic

Police arrested one protester on Sunday who was part of a group blocking traffic near the Oscars.

Protesters wearing shirts saying, “Stop child trafficking” huddled in the middle of the road a few blocks from the Oscars. Some sat in the road while others marched and shouted, “Turn the files into trials,” in reference to the Jeffrey Epstein files, and, “Save our children not the pedos.”

Other protesters held signs related to the wars in Iran and Gaza.

After a few minutes, police broke up the blockade and ushered protesters to the sidewalks. A scrum of police forcibly removed one protester sitting in the middle of the road.

The Los Angeles Police Department said information on police response to Oscars-related incidents and arrest numbers were not yet available.

Ava DuVernay says independence is key for creativity

The director of “Selma” and “13th” had some advice for fellow industry professionals.

“You see the industry consolidating, companies are eating each other and becoming one big thing that are controlled by entities that may or may not believe in what you’re making,” DuVernay said.

“It’s so important to remain independent on your own money, make your own films, find your ways to get it to audiences.”

Amy Madigan’s famous defiance in 1999

Amy Madigan is here! Oscar buzz for the “Weapons” star is bringing a defiant moment back into the spotlight.

Madigan and husband Ed Harris refused to clap for “On the Waterfront” director Elia Kazan when he received an honorary award at the 1999 Oscars.

In 1952, Kazan revealed the names of former colleagues, who participated in Communist Party activities with him, to the House Un-American Activities Committee. It was a controversial move during the Red Scare when Hollywood figures were getting blacklisted, ending the careers of hundreds.

“Yeah, there was no way we were going to do that. No way,” Madigan recently told the New York Times.

The first winner of the night: Green, on the red carpet

Kate Hudson, Demi Moore, Charithra Chandran and Wunmi Mosaku all have a little something in common at the Oscars: They’re wearing green.

Different shades, sure, but on the red carpet, it sure seemed to be green that was stealing the show. An early trend, for certain.

A film about a Russian school teaching wartime ideology is nominated for best documentary

Not long after Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, schools in Russia were told to hold lessons and events that would promote the Kremlin’s war narrative and boost patriotism.

In the mining town of Karabash, some 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) east of Moscow, teacher Pavel Talankin was making government-mandated videos of those lessons in his school. But he also was secretly working with American filmmaker David Borenstein on what would become the documentary “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” nominated for best documentary.

In multiple interviews after the film’s release in early 2025, Talankin said he kept filming for over two years in Karabash School No. 1, coordinating with Borenstein. He left Russia in 2024 for safety reasons, carrying copies of his footage on hard drives.

The documentary follows Talankin, his students and other teachers as they navigate Russia’s wartime ideology, imposed as part of the school curriculum. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2025 and won the BAFTA award for best documentary this year.

Raphael Saadiq hopes `Sinners’ song will move audience

He will be onstage tonight performing “I Lied to You,” which is up for best original song.

“That’s what we want to do, that’s what music is supposed to do, we’re supposed to move people,” he said.

Oscars’ In Memoriam segment will be extended

The Oscars will be saying farewell to a lot of cinema titans, and taking more time to do so.

Among them are Robert Duvall, Robert Redford, Diane Keaton and Rob Reiner.

Other talents who died in the last year include Brigitte Bardot, Val Kilmer, Michael Madsen, Terence Stamp, Diane Ladd, Sally Kirkland, Tom Stoppard and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

Already this year, the film world has lost Catherine O’Hara, Robert Carradine, Eric Dane, James Van Der Beek and Bud Cort.

Among the foreign talents who died were Joan Plowright, Claudia Cardinale, Dharmendra, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Mohammad Bakri, Bela Tarr and Jimmy Cliff.

Given the large number of bold-faced names, producers have decided the In Memoriam segment will be longer than usual.

Assembling the segment involves deciding who gets placed in what order, choosing music and the graphic design of the names and titles, as well as where pauses are built in for the select giants of the film world.

It’s up to the academy to decide who is included, which often leads to outcries about who gets excluded.

A surprise moment of humour in `Hamnet’

Maggie O’Farrell, who wrote the book that was adapted into Chloe Zhao’s best picture nominee, said she knew the movie wouldn’t be a “conventional, antiseptic kind of costume drama.” One scene in particular read differently from her novel: Will’s proposal.

“They make it really funny, which I never expected it to be,” O’Farrell said.

What will the new casting Oscar be rewarding?

For the first time in Oscars history, a statuette will be handed out not only to the stars but also to the person who casts them.

The inaugural casting Oscar doesn’t recognize the performance of the actors, unlike the Actor Awards’ best cast prize, which “Sinners” won earlier this month, and other comparable accolades. This award, by contrast, recognizes the behind-the-scenes creative process and collaboration by a casting director with the filmmakers to select the actors for their roles and craft a cohesive ensemble.

The nominees are Nina Gold (“Hamnet”), Jennifer Venditti (“Marty Supreme”), Cassandra Kulukundis (“One Battle After Another”), Gabriel Domingues (“The Secret Agent”) and Francine Maisler (“Sinners”). Each of the five films they worked on are also up for best picture.

‘Cutting Through Rocks’ subject stays in Iran

The directors of the nominated Iranian documentary “Cutting Through Rocks” plan to be at the Oscars ceremony, but the woman at the center of their film won’t make it as they’d hoped.

The film, shot over many years in Iran by directors Mohammadreza Eyni and Sara Khaki, tells the story of Sara Shahverdi, who fought to loosen the grip of the patriarchy as the first woman to be elected to the council of her village.

“Due to the U.S. travel ban, along with the many ongoing circumstances in Iran, Sara Shahverdi is not able to be present at the Oscars, the directors said in an Instagram post. “We truly hoped to be together after eight years of working on this film side by side, but unfortunately, that won’t be possible.”

“Cutting Through Rocks,” which premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, is nominated for best documentary feature.

A Japan-inspired motif on the carpet

The Oscars red carpet sports an naturalistic, Japan-inspired motif this year, with Japanese maple trees lining the path to the Dolby Theatre and wood slat panels adding texture to some of the walls.

The carpet itself is “red rock,” according to Academy representatives, with shades of earthy brown making it darker than the traditional bright red.

The red carpet is heating up (literally)

If everyone is looking a little shinier today, it’s because it is already quite toasty on the red carpet, which is only going to get more crowded.

Production people say that after two days of blazing heat during rehearsals, they were promised it would be freezing.

Ryan Coogler isn’t dwelling on potential history

Ryan Coogler understands what tonight could mean for Oscar history. He’s just not dwelling on it.

Instead, on Thursday, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker was looking forward to spending one more night with his “Sinners” collaborators who helped bring the film to life.

Coogler could become the first Black filmmaker to win best director in the Academy Awards’ nearly century-long history. While speaking before the eighth annual Macro Pre-Oscars party in Los Angeles, he said he’s trying to stay present as the ceremony approaches.

“I’m just trying to enjoy the days as they come, stay present in the moment,” Coogler told The Associated Press. “When Sunday comes, man, I’m pull up and enjoy celebrating all the movies that’s being celebrated here, including our own.”

Despite looming prison sentence, nominee Jafar Panahi plans to return to Iran

The Iranian dissident filmmaker, whose film “It Was Just an Accident” was inspired by his time as a political prisoner, is facing a yearlong prison sentence and two-year travel ban for the film.

Yet Jafar Panahi still plans to return home.

“I know where I live and under what government,” he told AP through a translator before the war broke out, something he’s reiterated to news outlets since. “I also know that such works of art come with a price that I have to pay.”

“I also have the experience of living in prison with people who are completely anonymous and unknown, and when they can go through massive pain and no one will hear about it. But as soon as something is wrong with me, the entire world knows.”

How AIDS activists inspired immigration organizers’ red carpet symbolism

“ICE OUT” and “BE GOOD” pins have become one of this awards season’s most visible accessories.

Mark Ruffalo, Jean Smart and Ariana Grande were among the Hollywood stars donning the protest apparel at January’s Golden Globes. But organizers actually took inspiration from AIDS activists of the 1980s and 90s.

Maremoto Executive Director Jess Morales Rocketto says they followed the example of groups like ACT UP, whose red ribbons appeared at the televised 1991 Tony Awards as a sign of solidarity.

“It is supposed to intervene in a place that would otherwise be 100% about the commerce of brand deals and movie promotions,” she said of the white buttons protesting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement.

Who is performing?

Performances are often the most memorable parts of the Academy Awards. If you disagree it is probably because you skipped the 2024 Oscars when Ryan Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” stole the show. This year, viewers can expect some similarly entertaining moments. EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the voices behind the fictional girl group HUNTR/X, will perform the massive “Golden” from the animated blockbuster “KPop Demon Hunters.” According to the Academy, the performance will feature “a fusion of traditional Korean instrumentalists and dance” as well.

That’s not all: Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq will bring their “Sinners” hit “I Lied To You” to the Oscars stage — and will be joined by Misty Copeland, Eric Gales, Buddy Guy, Brittany Howard, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Bobby Rush, Shaboozey and Alice Smith for the bluesy number.

Josh Groban and the Los Angeles Master Chorale are also scheduled to appear.

These 11 actors earned their first nominations

Best actor:

1. Michael B. Jordan in “Sinners”

2. Wagner Moura in “The Secret Agent”

Best supporting actor:

3. Jacob Elordi in “Frankenstein”

4. Delroy Lindo in “Sinners”

5. Stellan Skarsgård in “Sentimental Value”

Best actress:

6. Rose Byrne in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”

7. Renate Reinsve in “Sentimental Value”

Best supporting actress:

8. Elle Fanning in “Sentimental Value”

9. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in “Sentimental Value”

10. Wunmi Mosaku in “Sinners”

11. Teyana Taylor in “One Battle After Another”

‘Sinners’ already has an Oscar record for nominations. But what does that mean?

“Sinners” is already in uncharted Oscar waters.

It has 16 Oscar nominations, two more than any other film in history. “Titanic,” “La La Land” and “All About Eve” all had 14.

“Titanic” won 11 Oscars, while “La La Land” and “All about Eve” each won six.

So, it’s reasonable to expect a somewhat sizable haul for “Sinners.” Then again, “The Turning Point” and “The Color Purple” probably felt the same way in their Oscar years. They both went 0-for-11 on Oscar night.

“Sinners” grabbed 16 of a possible 17 Oscar nominations this year. The one it didn’t get: best actress.

The record for Oscar wins is 11: “Ben-Hur” (out of 12 nominations), “Titanic” (out of 14 nominations) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (which went a perfect 11-0, sweeping wins in every category that it was up for).

How academy leaders are approaching the Oscars

Lynette Howell Taylor has seen the Oscars from a few different vantage points: As a nominee, in 2019 for “A Star is Born,” as a producer of the broadcast in 2020, as a member of the film academy’s board of governors and, for the last three years, as awards chair. It’s made her first year as the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences feel like a natural transition. And one thing she is certain of is that every Oscars is unique.

“Every year is different,” Taylor said in a recent interview alongside film Academy CEO Bill Kramer. “Every season is different. Every set of movies is different. And so, the show is always different every year.”

It’s a tricky thing to both honor the people in the room while also making an entertaining show for a home audience. But behind the scenes, from returning host Conan O’Brien to the producers and Emmy-winning production design team, is a group of people who know how to dazzle a global audience.

Who’s hosting the Oscars?

After successfully presiding over the 97th Oscars, Conan O’Brien is hosting for the second year straight. His return to the Oscars stage was announced almost a year ago. In a statement last March, he said, “The only reason I’m hosting the Oscars next year is that I want to hear Adrien Brody finish his speech.”

Showrunner and executive producer Raj Kapoor and executive producer Katy Mullan have been toiling for months putting together Sunday’s show.

“His humor, his tone, his reverence to the art form? He really cares about making this a true celebration,” Mullan said of O’Brien. “We’ve been in tears of laugher … There are so many great moments that he’s going to bring to the show.”

One of the themes of the show this year is the human touch, Kapoor said, from the set design to the packages.

“It’s really the story of how we feel this connection and how this heartbeat of cinema is unmistakably human,” Kapoor said. “Hopefully the entire show and how Conan makes you feel and all of it is like it’s all touched by human hands and human creativity.”

The Associated Press