The 2025 Oscar winners list

Did "Emilia Pérez" sweep, or did controversy ruin the film's chances of taking home the night's top prize?

By Nardos Haile

Staff Writer

Published March 2, 2025 7:03PM (EST)

An Oscar statue is pictured on the red carpet of the 97th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2025.  (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
An Oscar statue is pictured on the red carpet of the 97th Annual Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 28, 2025. (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

The 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 2, caps the end of a controversial year in film. 

The Academy has given comedian Conan O'Brien his first opportunity to host the prestigious night in film at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, following Jimmy Kimmel's four-time hosting run.

This year's nominees illustrate stories of loss, perseverance and regaining one's sense of identity and power, whether you're Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) on the planet of Arrakis or Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) in the magical world of Oz. Best picture nominees like "Anora," "The Brutalist" and "Nickel Boys" illuminate personal, intimate stories of struggle and the human experience. The crime musical “Emilia Pérez, from French director Jacques Audiard, dominated nominations with 14 nods, the most ever for a non-English language film. But a soaring Oscar campaign has taken a sharp nosedive because of unearthed offensive tweets from lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who is the first trans actress to be nominated for best actress.

Los Angeles also took a critical hit in January after the raging Southern California fires destroyed thousands of properties and displaced countless people in the LA area, including numerous people who work in the industry and Academy members. The catastrophic fires disrupted Hollywood during the awards season, postponed Oscar events and extended the Oscars voting period.

Despite such tragedy, the "Emilia Pérez" controversy and conversations on disclosing the use of artificial intelligence and intimacy coordinators, at least Chalamet had an Oscar campaign run of whimsical, epic proportions for the Bob Dylan biopic, "A Complete Unknown."

Here are the 97th Academy Award winners in full:

 
Best picture
"Anora" WINNER
"The Brutalist" 
"A Complete Unknown"
"Conclave"
"Dune: Part Two"
"Emilia Pérez"
"I’m Still Here"
"Nickel Boys"
"The Substance"
"Wicked"
 
Best actor 
Adrien Brody, "The Brutalist" WINNER
Timothée Chalamet, "A Complete Unknown"
Colman Domingo, "Sing Sing"
Ralph Fiennes, "Conclave"
Sebastian Stan, "The Apprentice"
 
Best actress
Cynthia Erivo, "Wicked"
Karla Sofía Gascón, "Emilia Pérez"
Mikey Madison, "Anora" WINNER
Demi Moore, "The Substance"
Fernanda Torres, "I’m Still Here"

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Best supporting actor
Yura Borisov, "Anora"
Kieran Culkin, "A Real Pain" WINNER
Edward Norton, "A Complete Unknown"
Guy Pearce, "The Brutalist"
Jeremy Strong, "The Apprentice"
 
Best supporting actress
Monica Barbaro, "A Complete Unknown"
Ariana Grande, "Wicked"
Felicity Jones, "The Brutalist"
Isabella Rossellini, "Conclave"
Zoe Saldaña, "Emilia Pérez" WINNER
 
Animated feature 
"Flow" WINNER
"Inside Out 2"
"Memoir of a Snail"
"Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl" 
"The Wild Robot"
 
Documentary feature
"Black Box Diaries"
"No Other Land" WINNER
"Porcelain War"
"Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat"
"Sugarcane"
 
International feature
"I’m Still Here" WINNER
"The Girl with the Needle"
"Emilia Pérez"
"The Seed of the Sacred Fig"
"Flow"
 
Best director
Sean Baker, "Anora" WINNER
Brady Corbet, "The Brutalist"
James Mangold, "A Complete Unknown"
Jacques Audiard, "Emilia Pérez"
Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance"
 
Cinematography
Lol Crawley, "The Brutalist" WINNER
Greig Fraser, "Dune: Part Two"
Paul Guilhaume, "Emilia Pérez"
Ed Lachman, "Maria"
Jarin Blaschke, "Nosferatu"
 
Best original screenplay
Sean Baker, "Anora" WINNER
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, "The Brutalist"
Jesse Eisenberg, "A Real Pain"
Mortiz Binder, Time Fehlbaum and Alex David, "September 5"
Coralie Fargeat, "The Substance"
 
Best adapted screenplay 
James Mangold and Jay Cocks, "A Complete Unknown"
Peter Straughan, "Conclave" WINNER
Jacques Audiard, "Emilia Pérez"
RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes, "Nickel Boys"
Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, "Sing Sing"
 
Film editing
"Anora" WINNER
"The Brutalist"
"Conclave"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Wicked"
 
Original song
“El Mal,” "Emilia Pérez" WINNER
“The Journey," "The Six Triple Eight"
“Like a Bird," "Sing Sing"
“Mi Camino," "Emilia Pérez"
“Never Too Late," "Elton John: Never Too Late"
 
Original score
"The Brutalist" WINNER
"Conclave"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Wicked"
"The Wild Robot"
 
Sound
"A Complete Unknown"
"Dune: Part Two" WINNER
"Emilia Pérez"
"Wicked"
"The Wild Robot"
 
Production design
"The Brutalist"
"Conclave"
"Dune: Part Two"
"Nosferatu"
"Wicked" WINNER
 
Visual effects
"Alien: Romulus"
"Better Man"
"Dune: Part Two" WINNER
"Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes"
"Wicked" 

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Makeup & hairstyling
"A Different Man"
"Emilia Pérez"
"Nosferatu"
"The Substance" WINNER
"Wicked"
 
Costume design
Arianne Phillips, "A Complete Unknown"
Lisy Christl, "Conclave"
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman, "Gladiator II"
Linda Muir, "Nosferatu"
Paul Tazewell, "Wicked" WINNER
 
Best animated short
"Beautiful Men"
"In the Shadow of the Cypress" WINNER
"Magic Candles"
"Wander to Wonder"
"Yuck!"
 
Best documentary short

 

"Death by Numbers"
"I am Ready, Warden"
"Incident"
"Instruments of a Beating Heart"
"The Only Girl in the Orchestra" WINNER
 
Best live action short
"A Lien"
"Anuja"
"I’m Not a Robot" WINNER
"The Last Ranger"
"The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent"

By Nardos Haile

Nardos Haile is a staff writer at Salon covering culture. She’s previously covered all things entertainment, music, fashion and celebrity culture at The Associated Press. She resides in Brooklyn, NY.

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