The 96th edition of the Academy Awards, held on March 10, 2024, was one of the better-produced shows in recent years, led by executive producer and showrunner Raj Kapoor along with executive producers Molly McNearney and Katy Mullan. Throughout the run of the show, all the 10 Best Picture nominees were introduced and clips from the films were shown on the screen, so at the end of the show, the winner would be announced directly.
All five Best Original Song nominees were performed live, and the Academy also brought back the presentation format of five past winners in the four acting categories to highlight the works of this year’s nominees before announcing the winners.
Late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel was back to hosting the Oscars for the fourth time and kept things moving along with his signature quips and witty punchlines.
The evening commenced on an inspirational note with an emotional Da’Vine Joy Randolph winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work as head cook Mary Lamb in “The Holdovers.”
Aside from Joy Randolph’s win, the other stand-out honors that reflected inclusion and diversity were “The Last Repair Shop,” which won Best Documentary Short Film, and Cord Jefferson, who won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “American Fiction.”
The Japanese creative community had some significant wins at the 2024 Academy Awards as well. Animation maestro director Hayao Miyazaki and producer Toshio Suzuki won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film for their work in “The Boy and the Heron.” Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima won best visual effects for “Godzilla Minus One.” Both films were international critical and commercial successes.
“To Kill a Tiger,” nominated for Best Documentary Feature by Indian-Canadian filmmaker Nisha Pahuja, lost to the political documentary “20 Days in Mariupol.” While “20 Days” accounts for the current strife between Russia and Ukraine, the important social message “Tiger” sends—of a father standing up against the patriarchy and getting justice for his daughter who was sexually violated as a minor—should continue to be seen as a shining example for all men and women around the world.
Another film that also needs as much visibility as possible is the Live Action Short Film nominee “Invincible,” which communicates the issue of mental health prevalent amongst teenagers. Expertly crafted by filmmaker Vincent René-Lortie, the entry had an almost blink-and-you-miss moment when it was announced that filmmakers Wes Anderson and Steven Rales, who won the Live Action Short Oscar for “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” were not present at the show. The short film categories (live action and documentary shrt) are crucial springboards for young, independent filmmakers like René-Lortie, so it will be exciting to see more of this rising talent pool nominated in the forthcoming years.
Amid the plethora of predicted award wins and surprising losses during the show, there was one unanimous winner: the absolutely charming Ryan Gosling, who infused all his “Kenergy” with a knock-out performance of “I’m Just Ken” from the “Barbie” soundtrack, which was nominated for best original song. Dressed in a hot pink crystal-sequined Gucci suit, Gosling enthralled and entertained the audience, and it felt as though he could have ended the show right after the number and taken every one to his own after-party.
Talking about after parties, the Oscars are not truly over until the parties run their course into the early hours of the next day. While the world was plugged into the usual suspects such as the star-studded Vanity Fair and the Elton John parties, some less-publicized hidden gems buzzed through the grassroots, such as Oscar nominee Robbie Ryan’s (Best Cinematography, “Poor Things”) eclectic private party at the Elysian Park Theatre, nestled between Silver Lake and Highland Park. Ryan was the DJ himself and played some brilliant beats from drum and bass to tribal fusion, and had the crowd dancing the night away on the disco-lit stage floor.
One has to wonder if underground, private gatherings could be the way to party after the Oscars—Ryan’s party even made it to the Irish news network RTE News’ Oscar coverage from Los Angeles. There was chatter backstage among winners about heading there because “he is a man who knows how to party.”