The 2020 Oscars took place on Sunday, February 9th at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. Now in its 92nd year, the annual award honored cinematic achievements in the film industry. Once again, the Oscars opted out of having a host for the second year in row.
In what will go down as an historic year for the Academy and international filmmaking, Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite emerged triumphant, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature. These awards mark the first Oscar nominations and wins for South Korea, no doubt a staggering feat for the country.
Accepting the award for Best Director, Bong admitted, “Just to be nominated was a huge honor. I never thought I’d win,” personally thanking his competition in Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Todd Phillips, and Sam Mendes. He even asked for a “Texas Chain Saw” to split the award, doubling down on his mission to “drink until morning.”
Cracking open the night was Brad Pitt’s Best Supporting Actor win for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Clearly holding back tears, the veteran stud celebrated the industry, Tarantino, and his co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, who he added, “I’d ride on your coattails any day, man.”
On the opposite end came another win from a frontrunner as Laura Dern took home Best Supporting Actress for Marriage Story. With her birthday on Monday, the veteran star blew out the candles early, thanking her family in attendance: “You lift me up every day.”
Perhaps the only surprising element of Joaquin Phoenix’s win for Best Actor for Joker was his acceptance speech, which spanned from fighting injustice, to leaning on love and compassion, to rebuffing the concept of cancel culture. He signed off with a lyric from his brother, the late River Phoenix: “Run to the rescue with love and peace will follow.” Oof.
Rounding out the rather-predictable acting wins was Best Actress winner Renée Zellweger for Judy. Her second Oscar to date, Zellweger acknowledged that Judy Garland had never won an Oscar and dedicated her award to the late legend and her enduring legacy.
In another shocker, albeit much lighter, Taika Waititi snagged Best Adapted Screenplay for his one-time controversial dramedy Jojo Rabbit. A tad speechless, Waititi turned the spotlight on his mother: “Thank you for being my mother and for many other reasons, for giving me the book that I adapted. This film wouldn’t have existed without you doing that.”
Hildur Guðnadóttir picked up Best Original Score for Joker, accepting the award to a standing ovation — and presenters Gal Gadot, Sigourney Weaver, and Brie Larson, no less. Guðnadóttir urged women across the world to “speak up, we need to hear your voices.”
As everyone and their mother (who saw and purchased Rocketman) might have expected, Sir Elton John picked up Best Original Song for “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again”. The legend performed the track earlier in the night.
One of the earlier surprises came from one of the more obvious picks, in hindsight, as Pixar once again triumphed with Toy Story 4 for Best Animated Feature. On the animated shorts front, however, Hair Love pulled through with a much-deserved win.
Roger Deakins picked up his second Oscar for Best Cinematography for his outstanding portraits in 1917. It should be noted that he previously won in 2018 for Blade Runner 2049, and that came after losing 13 nominations. Redemption at its finest.
American Factory secured its much-anticipated Best Documentary Feature win. Produced by Obama’s Higher Ground Productions, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert accepted the award, signing off with a Karl Marx quote: “Workers of the world unite.”
Drilling down the Best Picture nominees by the numbers, Parasite topped out with 4 wins; 1917 secured 3; Joker, Ford v Ferrari, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood raced away with 2; and Marriage Story, Jojo Rabbit, and Little Women nabbed one each.
The Irishman was completely shut out.
The full list of winners can be found below. Consult our original predictions to see how we fared, and peruse through all of our coverage over the epic night.
Best Picture:
Parasite
Ford v Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Director:
Bong Joon-ho, Parasite
Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Martin Scorsese, The Irishman
Todd Phillips, Joker
Sam Mendes, 1917
Best Actor:
Joaquin Phoenix, Joker
Antonio Banderas, Pain and Glory
Adam Driver, Marriage Story
Leonardo DiCaprio, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Jonathan Pryce, The Two Popes
Best Actress:
Renée Zellweger, Judy
Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
Scarlett Johansson, Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan, Little Women
Charlize Theron, Bombshell
Best Supporting Actor:
Brad Pitt, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Tom Hanks, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins, The Two Popes
Al Pacino, The Irishman
Joe Pesci, The Irishman
Best Supporting Actress:
Laura Dern, Marriage Story
Kathy Bates, Richard Jewell
Scarlett Johansson, Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh, Little Women
Margot Robbie, Bombshell
Best Original Screenplay:
Parasite, Bong Joon Ho & Jin Won Han
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino
Knives Out, Rian Johnson
Marriage Story, Noah Baumbach
1917, Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Best Adapted Screenplay:
Jojo Rabbit, Taika Waititi
The Irishman, Steven Zaillian
Joker, Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
Little Women, Greta Gerwig
The Two Popes, Anthony McCarten
Best International Feature Film:
Parasite
Corpus Christi
Honeyland
Les Miserables
Pain and Glory
Best Documentary Feature Film:
American Factory
The Cave
The Edge of Democracy
For Sama
Honeyland
Best Documentary Short:
Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone
In the Absence
Life Overtakes Me
St. Louis Superman
Walk Run Cha-Cha
Best Animated Feature Film:
Toy Story 4
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
I Lost My Body
Klaus
Missing Link
Best Animated Short Film:
Hair Love
Dcera (Daughter)
Kitbull
Mémorable
Sister
Best Live Action Short Film:
The Neighbors’ Window
Brotherhood
Nefta Football Club
A Sister
Saria
Best Original Score:
Joker, Hildur Guðnadóttir
1917, Thomas Newman
Marriage Story, Randy Newman
Little Women, Alexandre Desplat
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, John Williams
Best Original Song:
“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” – Elton John & Bernie Taupin, Rocketman
“I’m Standing With You” – Diane Warren, Breakthrough
“Into the Unknown” – Robert Lopez & Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Frozen 2
“Stand Up” – Joshuah Brian Campbell & Cynthia Erivo, Harriet
“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” – Randy Newman, Toy Story 4
Best Production Design:
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Nancy Haigh & Barbara Ling
The Irishman, Regina Graves & Bob Shaw
Jojo Rabbit, Ra Vincent
1917, Dennis Gassner & Lee Sandales
Parasite, Lee Ha-Jun
Best Cinematography:
1917, Roger Deakins
The Irishman, Rodrigo Prieto
Joker, Lawrence Sher
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Robert Richardson
The Lighthouse, Jarin Blaschke
Best Costume Design:
Little Women, Jacqueline Durran
The Irishman, Christopher Peterson and Sandy Powell
Jojo Rabbit, Mayes C. Rubeo
Joker, Mark Bridges
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Arianne Phillips
Best Film Editing:
Ford v Ferrari, Andrew Buckland & Michael McCusker
The Irishman, Thelma Schoonmaker
Jojo Rabbit, Tom Eagles
Joker, Jeff Groth
Parasite, Jinmo Yang
Best Sound Mixing:
1917
Ad Astra
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Best Sound Editing:
Ford v Ferrari
Joker
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Best Visual Effects:
1917
Avengers: Endgame
The Irishman
The Lion King
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Bombshell
Joker
Judy
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
1917
