Advertisement

Oscars 2020 Winners List: Parasite Conquers the Academy Awards

Bong Joon-ho’s comedy thriller changes the game for international filmmaking

Parasite HBO Limited Series Bong Joon-ho Expanded Film
Parasite (Neon)

    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.”

    Advertisement

    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.

    Advertisement

    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.”

    Advertisement

    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.

    Advertisement

    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.

    Advertisement

    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

    Advertisement

    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

    Advertisement

    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

    Advertisement

    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

    Advertisement

    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

    Advertisement

    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

    Advertisement

    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

Advertisement