Oscars 2022: ‘CODA’ bags Best Picture, Will Smith, Jessica Chastain wins Best Actor and Best Actress

The 94th Academy Awards came to an end with CODA taking home the Oscar for Best Picture. While Will Smith was declared best actor for ‘King Richard,’ Jessica Chastain won the best actress Oscar.

Sian Heder’s ‘CODA’ created history on Sunday’s 94th Academy Awards by becoming the first movie from a major streaming service to win an Oscar for best picture. The film has garnered critical acclaim for its sensitive depiction of the disabled community and its use of deaf actors

In the acting category, Will Smith won best actor Oscar for playing Richard Williams, ambitious father and coach of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, in ‘King Richard’. The best actress Oscar went to Jessica Chastain for her role as a televangelist in ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye’.

Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi powerhouse ‘Dune,’ on the other hand, dominated the Academy Awards in the technical categories by grabbing six out of eight wins for cinematography, production design, editing, original score, sound, and visual effects. For the unversed, India’s Namit Malhotra is the Chairman and CEO of DNEG, the VFX pro behind Dune.

Moreover, apart from the best picture win, CODA got recognised for best supporting actor honour for Troy Kotsur and a best adapted screenplay honour for Sian Heder.

Meanwhile, Troy Kotsur also made history, becoming just the second deaf actor to win an Oscar. “This is dedicated to the deaf community, the C.O.D.A. community, and the disabled community,” Kotsur said. “This is our moment.”

The Academy also showed support for the people of Ukraine as Reba McEntire performed her nominated song ‘Somehow You Do,’ introduced by Ukraine native Mila Kunis on stage. “While film is an important avenue for us to express our humanity in times of conflict, the reality is millions of families in Ukraine need food, medical care, clean water, and emergency services,” read a message on a black screen.

On the performance front, Beyonce opened the 2022 Academy Awards from a tennis court in Compton in honour of the birthplace of tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams, whose upbringing is the subject of King Richard. Billie Eilish delivered a power-packed performance on ‘No Time to Die,’ the title tune for the latest James Bond film, on stage. Eilish and Finneas O’Connell also won the original-song Oscar for the song. It’s the third consecutive Academy Award for music in the long-running spy franchise, following Adele’s win for 2012’s ‘Skyfall’ and Sam Smith’s for ‘Writing’s on the Wall’ from 2015’s ‘Spectre’