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Parasite’s Historic Win Highlights the 2020 Oscars

History was made at last night’s Oscars, with Bong Joon-ho’s masterful Parasite becoming the first foreign-language film to win Best Picture. Not only did Parasite nab the night’s biggest award, but Bong Joon-ho also surprised many prognosticators by besting Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Sam Mendes, and Todd Phillips to take home Best Director. Oh, yeah, he also won Best Original Screenplay. It was an unforgettable night for the entire Parasite team.

Over on the actors’ side of things, Brad Pitt toke home Best Supporting for his fantastic turn in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood. The consistently excellent Laura Dern nabbed Best Supporting Actress for her work in Marriage Story. As for the night’s two biggest actor awards, Best Actor went, predictably, to Joaquin Phoenix for playing the demented Arthur Fleck in Joker, and Best Actress found its way, a little less predictably, to Renée Zellweger for her titular performance in Judy.

On the technical front, Ford v Ferrari and 1917 split a large majority of the awards.  1917’s living legend Roger Deakins won Best Cinematographer, and Sam Mendes’ war epic also took home Best Sound Mixing and Best Visual Effects. James Mangold’s stirring Ford v Ferrari earned Best Sound Editing and Best Film Editing Oscars.

Here’s your full list of winners:

Best Picture

Ford v Ferrari

1917 

The Irishman

Joker

Jojo Rabbit

Little Women

Marriage Story

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Parasite – WINNER

Best Director

Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Martin Scorsese – The Irishman

Sam Mendes – 1917

Bong Joon-ho – Parasite – WINNER

Todd Phillips – Joker

Best Actor

Caption: JOAQUIN PHOENIX as Arthur Fleck in Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and BRON Creative’s “JOKER,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise
Caption: JOAQUIN PHOENIX as Arthur Fleck in Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and BRON Creative’s “JOKER,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise

Joaquin Phoenix – Joker -WINNER

Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Adam Driver – Marriage Story

Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory

Jonathan Pryce – The Two Popes

Best Actress

Renée Zellweger – Judy – WINNER

Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story

Cynthia Erivo – Harriet

Charlize Theron – Bombshell

Saoirse Ronan – Little Women

Best Supporting Actor

Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – WINNER

Joe Pesci – The Irishman

Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes

Al Pacino – The Irishman

Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Image via Netflix

Best Supporting Actress

Laura Dern – Marriage Story – WINNER

Scarlett Johansson – Jojo Rabbit

Margot Robbie – Bombshell

Florence Pugh – Little Women

Kathy Bates – Richard Jewell

Best Original Screenplay

Courtesy of NEON CJ Entertainment
Keon-kyo (Yeo-jeong Jo) in Parasite. Courtesy of NEON CJ Entertainment

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino

Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach

Parasite – Bong Joon-ho – WINNER

Knives Out – Rian Johnson

1917 – Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns

Best Adapted Screenplay

Photo by Kimberley French. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved
First still from the set of WW2 satire, JOJO RABIT. (From L-R): Jojo (Roman Griffin Davis) has dinner with his imaginary friend Adolf (Writer/Director Taika Waititi), and his mother, Rosie (Scarlet Johansson). Photo by Kimberley French. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

The Irishman – Steven Zaillian

Joker – Todd Phillips & Scott Silver

Jojo Rabbit – Taika Waititi – WINNER

Little Women – Greta Gerwig

The Two Popes – Anthony McCarten

Image via NEON CJ Entertainment

Best International Film

Corpus Christi – Poland

Honeyland – North Macedonia

Les Miserables – France

Pain and Glory – Spain

Parasite – South Korea – WINNER

Best Documentary Feature 

American Factory – WINNER

The Cave

The Edge of Democracy 

For Sama

Honeyland

Best Documentary – Short Subject 

In the Absence

Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You’re a Girl) – WINNER

Life Overtakes Me

St. Louis Superman

Walk Run Cha-Cha

Image via Disney/Pixar

Best Animated Feature Film

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

I Lost My Body

Klaus

Missing Link

Toy Story 4 – WINNER

Best Film Editing

Ford v Ferrari – WINNER

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Parasite

Best Cinematography 

The Irishman

Joker

The Lighthouse

1917 – WINNER

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Image via Columbia Pictures

Best Production Design 

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

1917

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – WINNER

Parasite

Best Costume Design 

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker 

Little Women – WINNER

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

Bombshell – WINNER

Joker

Judy

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

1917

Image via Universal Pictures

Best Visual Effects 

Avengers: Endgame

The Irishman

The Lion King

1917 – WINNER

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Original Score 

Joker – WINNER

Little Women

Marriage Story

1917

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Original Song 

“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” – Toy Story 4

“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” – Rocketman – WINNER

“I’m Standing with You” – Breakthrough

“Into the Unknown” – Frozen II

“Stand Up” – Harriet

Best Sound Editing 

Ford v Ferrari – WINNER

Joker

1917

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Sound Mixing

Ad Astra

Ford v Ferrari

Joker

1917 – WINNER

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Live-Action Short Film

Brotherhood

Nefta Football Club

The Neighbors’ Window – WINNER

Saria 

A Sister

Best Animated Short Film

Dcera (Daughter)

Hair Love – WINNER

Kitbull

Memorable

Sister

Featured image: The Kim Family (Woo-sik Choi, Kang-ho Song, Hye-jin Jang, So-dam Park) in Parasite. Courtesy of NEON CJ Entertainment

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bryan Abrams

Bryan Abrams is the Editor-in-chief of The Credits. He's run the site since its launch in 2012. He lives in New York.

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