‘One Battle After Another’ was the big winner of the 98th edition of the award
The 2026 edition of the Oscars was marked by the victory of “One Battle After Another” in six categories, including best filmwhile “Pecadores” took four statuettes.
The night featured great performances, witty jokes, red carpet couture and tear-filled acceptance speeches.
Check out a summary of the most memorable moments of the night:
1. Musical numbers… and an unusual tie
The first musical number of the night recreated an extraordinary scene from the film “Pecadores”a montage that covers the history of black music from Africa to Delta Blues and hip-hop.
Actor Miles Caton led other castmates in a performance of “I Lied to You,” accompanied by high-profile performers like dancer Misty Copeland, who performed despite having recently undergone hip replacement surgery.
Later, the three singers of the fictional girl group HUNTR/X, from “Guerreiras do K-Pop”, sang “Golden”.
The film, the biggest hit in Netflix’s history, won the awards for best animated feature film and original song, the first K-pop song to win in the category.
The Oscar audience also witnessed a rare tie: two films won the award for best short film, “Two People Exchanging Saliva” and “The Singers”.
“You just ruined 22 million Oscar prizes”, joked the comedian and host of the night, Conan O’Brien, after the acceptance speeches.
2. Politics takes the stage
When presenting the award for best international film, Spanish actor Javier Bardem made a statement in his language: “No to war and free Palestine”.
The Norwegian film “Sentimental Value”, by Norwegian Joachim Trier, won the award. In his speech, the filmmaker paraphrased the famous African-American author James Baldwin, when he stated “that all adults are responsible for all children”.
“Let’s not vote for politicians who don’t take this seriously,” he said.
The night’s big winner, Paul Thomas Anderson, stated that he made the most awarded film at the ceremony, “One Battle After Another”, for his children, as an apology. “I wrote this film to apologize to my children for the mess we left in this world that we are handing over to them,” he said.
Pavel Talankin, co-director and star of best documentary winner “Mr. Nobody Against Putin,” urged: “Stop all these wars right now.”
3. Goodbye to the big ones
A great moment “In Memoriam” marked the ceremony after a year that took several cinema legends.
Veteran actor and comedian Billy Crystal paid an emotional tribute to his late friend and collaborator Rob Reiner, who was murdered alongside his wife in their Los Angeles home late last year.
Some notable Hollywood figures who died last year were also remembered, such as Diane Keaton, Catherine O’Hara and Robert Redford.
The legendary Barbra Streisand, 83 years old, sang some excerpts from “The Way We Were” for her friend and co-protagonist Redford.
“Bob had a real strength, both on and off the screen,” said Streisand. “I called him an intellectual cowboy who forged his own path (…). I miss him more now than ever.”
4. Promotion Opportunity
The Oscars were broadcast on the ABC network, owned by Disney, which took the opportunity to promote the studio’s upcoming films.
While presenting two categories, Sigourney Weaver and Pedro Pascal, protagonists of the Star Wars saga film “The Mandalorian and Grogu”, interacted with the character Baby Yoda, who was in the middle of the audience.
Vogue magazine doyenne Anna Wintour appeared alongside Oscar winner Anne Hathaway. The two performed a comedic routine that also served as advertising for “The Devil Wears Prada 2”.
Marvel’s “The Avengers” stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. also reunited on stage ahead of the premiere of “Avengers: Doctor Doom,” scheduled for December.
5. Conan’s jokes
O presenter Conan O’Brien made reference to politics and threw barbssome with global repercussions and others aimed at guests.
“It’s great to be hosting the Oscars again. Last year, when I hosted, Los Angeles was on fire. But this year, everything is wonderful,” he joked.
O’Brien also made a scathing comment about the industry, aimed at Netflix executive director Ted Sarandos: “It’s his first time in a theater,” said the comedian.
He even mentioned the scandal surrounding late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein: “It’s the first time since 2012 that there are no British actors nominated for best actor or best actress,” O’Brien said. “A British spokesman said: ‘Yes, at least we’ve caught our pedophiles’.”
Timothée Chalamet, protagonist of “Marty Supreme” and who left the ceremony without the statuette, was another target. O’Brien mocked the actor for his recent comments in which he disparaged ballet and opera.
*AFP
