Conan O’Brien hosted the Oscars for the first time on March 2, 2025, and by the end of the night one film had cleaned up. Anora won five awards, Best Picture among them, at the 97th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Sean Baker took four of those himself, for producing, directing, writing and editing Anora. Only one other person has won four in a night: Walt Disney, at the 1954 ceremony. Baker is the first to do it for a single film.
The Brutalist won three. Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez and Wicked took two each. Conclave, Flow, I’m Not a Robot, I’m Still Here, In the Shadow of the Cypress, No Other Land, The Only Girl in the Orchestra, A Real Pain and The Substance won one apiece. The Academy gave out 23 awards for films released in 2024. ABC broadcast the show and 19.69 million people watched in the United States.
Firsts and records
Several milestones came out of the night. Flow became the first independently animated film to win Best Animated Feature, and the first Latvian film to win an Oscar. No Other Land became the first Palestinian film to win one. Zoe Saldaña, Best Supporting Actress, is the first Dominican American Oscar winner. Paul Tazewell became the first Black man to win Best Costume Design.
Best Actor winner Adrien Brody spoke for 5 minutes and 37 seconds, the longest acceptance speech in Oscar history.
The nominations had already set some marks. Emilia Pérez led with 13, the most ever for a non-English-language film. Wicked and The Brutalist followed with ten each. Karla Sofía Gascón became the first openly transgender performer nominated for an acting Oscar.
Fires, Hulu and other changes
The Southern California wildfires shaped the whole season. Nomination voting ran five days longer than planned, and the announcement slipped nearly a week to January 23. The nominees luncheon was cancelled. The show opened with a tribute to Los Angeles, then Ariana Grande sang “Over the Rainbow.” A QR code on screen pointed viewers to fire relief resources, and O’Brien brought twelve firefighters and other first responders on stage to thank them.
It was also the first Oscars streamed live on Hulu, and the stream crashed several times. It cut off just before the Best Actress nominees were announced. Hulu apologized the next day.
The producers, Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan, made a few other changes. None of the five Best Original Song nominees were performed live; each got a segment of personal reflections and behind-the-scenes insight from its creators. Five actors, one from each nominated film, presented the awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design.
The related ceremonies ran on their own calendar. The 15th Governors Awards were held on November 17, 2024, and the Scientific and Technical Awards, hosted by Diego Luna, were pushed to April 29, 2025 at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
