2026 Oscars Break Records
Angel Alvarado | April 1, 2026
Replicas of Oscar statuettes at a souvenir shop in West Hollywood, Calif. on November 24, 2011. ( Prayitno/Flickr)
This year, on March 15, the 98th Academy Awards were streamed from the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and hosted by Conan O'Brien. Otherwise known as the Oscars, this event is an annual, renowned award ceremony presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to praise and recognize artistic and technical successes within the film industry. It is best known for its prestigious awards for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay.
For the first time since 2001, when Best Animated Feature Film was added, the Oscars launched a new award to recognize the impact casting has on film. This year's winner for Best Casting was Cassandra Kulukundis, who helped choose actors for the film “One Battle After Another” (OBAA). OBAA is a Warner Bros film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, featuring Leonardo DiCaprio playing the role of Bob, an ex-revolutionary who lives off-grid with his daughter, Willa (Chase Infiniti). When his evil nemesis resurfaces, and Willa goes missing, he struggles to find her as they both battle the consequences of their pasts.
OBAA was the headliner of the evening with 13 nominations and six wins in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor (Sean Penn), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing and Best Casting. But when it comes to nominations alone, “Sinners” has 16 nominations, breaking the previous 14 nomination record.
“Sinners” was directed by Ryan Coogler. It follows the story of two twin brothers trying to leave their troubled lives behind, returning to their Mississippi hometown to start again, only to find a newer evil back home. It not only got 16 nominations, but it also won Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography and finally, (the one that made me tear up a bit), Best Lead Actor, which Michael B. Jordan won for his performance as the Smoke Stack twins.
For Best Lead Actress, there were many great nominees like Jesse Buckley, Rose Byrne, Kate Hudson, Renate Reinsve and Emma Stone. Ultimately, Jesse Buckley won for her performance as Agnes in “Hamnet”. “Hamnet”, directed by Chloé Zhao, is a film that follows William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife, Agnes, as they celebrate the birth of their son, only to lose him at a young age, which later inspired Shakespeare to write his immortal play “Hamlet”.
Within the Oscars, there were two musical performances from the films that were being featured, one of which was a rendition of “I Lied To You” by Miles Canton, who plays Preacher Boy, or Samuel Moore, in the film “Sinners”. The performance featured Canton and Raphael Saadiq, with many more musical artists like Eric Gales (Guitarist), Buddy Guy (Guitarist), Brittany Howard (Singer), Christone “Kingfish” Ingram (Guitarist), Bobby Rush (Harmonicist), Shaboozey (Singer), Alice Smith (Singer) and dancers, Misty Copeland (retired ballerina), Jayme Lawson (Actress), Li Jun Li (Actress), on stage recreating the iconic “piercing the veil” scene.
The second performance was a rendition of “Golden” from the film “KPop Demon Hunters”. The performance featured EJAE, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the singing voices behind the main characters of the film. It started off as a display of traditional Korean instrumentalists dressed in Samulnori costumes and dancers dressed in traditional ceremonial Hanboks. It was a lovely mix of celebrating cultural roots, especially since the song won Best Original Song, marking it as the first K-pop song to win the category.
“KPop Demon Hunters”, directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, follows the story of fictional K-pop idol group Huntr/x’s members, Rumi (Arden Cho), Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), who are more than just superstars and are secretly demon hunters who are dedicated to protecting their fans from supernatural dangers. The film also won Best Animated Feature Film.
Moving on to unfortunately overlooked categories, Best International Feature Film had many nominations from all over the world like Brazil - “Secret Agent”, France - “It Was Just An Accident”, Spain - “Sirāt”, Tunisia - “The Voice of Hind Rajab” and Norway - “Sentimental Value” which ended up winning the category. The story, directed by Joachim Trier, centers on two sisters, Nora (Renate Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), who reunite with their famous filmmaker father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), following their mother’s death.
As for Best Documentary Feature Film, there were five nominations: “The Alabama Solution”, “Come See Me in the Good Light”, “Cutting Through Rocks”, “The Perfect Neighbor” and “Mr. Nobody Against Putin”, which ended up winning. Directed by Pavel Talankin and David Borenstein, it documents a Russian schoolteacher (Talankin) who secretly recorded the imposition of pro-war propaganda in his classroom following the invasion of Ukraine. The film was banned in Russia.
Overall, the Oscars had many great nominees and rightly chosen winners. Yet in a time where AI and the ongoing effects of consumerism threaten all forms of art, it is significant and necessary to praise the hard work of artists ranging from actors/actresses, storyboard artists, visual effects artists, composers, directors, producers and many others who put tons of effort into making original and unparalleled works of art for everyone to enjoy.