For lovers of cinema made in Africa, there was only category where the continent might have emerged triumphant at the Oscars of 2025. That category was the Best Live Action Short category, where Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw had a nomination for the South African short film The Last Ranger. It was not to be for the continent, as I Am Not A Robot, a short produced by the New Yorker magazine, won the category.
The continent was also deprived of a consolatory win in the Best Documentary category, where Johan Grimonprez’s examination of the politics of 1960s Congo, Soundtrack to A Coup d’Etat lost to No Other Land, a film on the Palestine/Israel conflict.
In other words, the just concluded Oscars season wasn’t particularly favourable to the continent. But, as always, there are those who were favoured by the season, chief among them Sean Baker.
The indie director’s latest film, Anora, premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, won that festival’s big award, and rode its luck all the way to the 2025 Oscars where it won 5 awards on the night, including Best Picture and Best Director. Films like Conclave, Wicked, and The Brutalist also took home awards.
The full list the 2025 Oscars winners is produced below.
Live Action Short Film
I’M NOT A ROBOT – WINNER
Victoria Warmerdam and Trent
A LIEN
Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz
ANUJA
Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai
THE LAST RANGER
Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw
THE MAN WHO COULD NOT REMAIN SILENT
Nebojša Slijepčević and Danijel Pek
Documentary Feature Film
NO OTHER LAND – WINNER
Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham
BLACK BOX DIARIES
Shiori Ito, Eric Nyari and Hanna Aqvilin
PORCELAIN WAR
Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev, Aniela Sidorska and Paula DuPre’ Pesmen
SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ETAT
Johan Grimonprez, Daan Milius and Rémi Grellety
SUGARCANE
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie and Kellen Quinn
Best Picture
ANORA – WINNER
Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers
THE BRUTALIST
Nick Gordon, Brian Young, Andrew Morrison, D.J. Gugenheim and Brady Corbet, Producers
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, Producers
CONCLAVE
Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, Producers
DUNE: PART TWO
Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, Producers
EMILIA PÉREZ
Pascal Caucheteux and Jacques Audiard, Producers
I’M STILL HERE
Maria Carlota Bruno and Rodrigo Teixeira, Producers
NICKEL BOYS
Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Joslyn Barnes, Producers
THE SUBSTANCE
Coralie Fargeat and Tim Bevan & Eric Fellner, Producers
WICKED
Marc Platt, Producer
Actor in a Leading Role
Adrien Brody (THE BRUTALIST) – WINNER
Timothée Chalamet (A COMPLETE UNKNOWN)
Colman Domingo (SING SING)
Ralph Fiennes (CONCLAVE)
Sebastian Stan (THE APPRENTICE)
Actor in a Supporting Role
Kieran Culkin (A REAL PAIN) – WINNER
Yura Borisov (ANORA)
Edward Norton (A COMPLETE UNKNOWN)
Guy Pearce (THE BRUTALIST)
Jeremy Strong (THE APPRENTICE)
Actress in a Leading Role
Mikey Madison (ANORA) – WINNER
Cynthia Erivo (WICKED)
Karla Sofía Gascón (EMILIA PÉREZ)
Demi Moore (THE SUBSTANCE)
Fernanda Torres (I’M STILL HERE)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Zoe Saldaña (EMILIA PÉREZ) – WINNER
Monica Barbaro (A COMPLETE UNKNOWN)
Ariana Grande (WICKED)
Felicity Jones (THE BRUTALIST)
Isabella Rossellini (CONCLAVE)
Animated Feature Film
FLOW – WINNER
Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens and Gregory Zalcman
INSIDE OUT 2
Kelsey Mann and Mark Nielsen
MEMOIR OF A SNAIL
Adam Elliot and Liz Kearney
WALLACE & GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL
Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham and Richard Beek
THE WILD ROBOT
Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann
Animated Short Film
IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS – WINNER
Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi
BEAUTIFUL MEN
Nicolas Keppens and Brecht Van Elslande
MAGIC CANDIES
Daisuke Nishio and Takashi Washio
WANDER TO WONDER
Nina Gantz and Stienette Bosklopper
YUCK!
Loïc Espuche and Juliette Marquet
Cinematography
THE BRUTALIST – WINNER
Lol Crawley
DUNE: PART TWO
Greig Fraser
EMILIA PÉREZ
Paul Guilhaume
MARIA
Ed Lachman
NOSFERATU
Jarin Blaschke
Costume Design
WICKED – WINNER
Paul Tazewell
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
Arianne Phillips
CONCLAVE
Lisy Christl
GLADIATOR II
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
NOSFERATU
Linda Muir
Directing
ANORA – WINNER
Sean Baker
THE BRUTALIST
Brady Corbet
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
James Mangold
EMILIA PÉREZ
Jacques Audiard
THE SUBSTANCE
Coralie Fargeat
Documentary Short Film
THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA – WINNER
Molly O’Brien and Lisa Remington
DEATH BY NUMBERS
Kim A. Snyder and Janique L. Robillard
I AM READY, WARDEN
Smriti Mundhra and Maya Gnyp
INCIDENT
Bill Morrison and Jamie Kalven
INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART
Ema Ryan Yamazaki and Eric Nyari
Film Editing
ANORA – WINNER
Sean Baker
THE BRUTALIST
David Jancso
CONCLAVE
Nick Emerson
EMILIA PÉREZ
Juliette Welfling
WICKED
Myron Kerstein
International Feature Film
I’M STILL HERE – WINNER
Brazil
THE GIRL WITH THE NEEDLE
Denmark
EMILIA PÉREZ
France
THE SEED OF THE SACRED FIG
Germany
FLOW
Latvia
Makeup and Hairstyling
THE SUBSTANCE – WINNER
Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli
A DIFFERENT MAN
Mike Marino, David Presto and Crystal Jurado
EMILIA PÉREZ
Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
NOSFERATU
David White, Traci Loader and Suzanne Stokes-Munton
WICKED
Frances Hannon, Laura Blount and Sarah Nuth
Music (Original Score)
THE BRUTALIST – WINNER
Daniel Blumberg
CONCLAVE
Volker Bertelmann
EMILIA PÉREZ
Clément Ducol and Camille
WICKED
John Powell and Stephen Schwartz
THE WILD ROBOT
Kris Bowers
Music (Original Song)
“El Mal” from EMILIA PÉREZ – WINNER
Music by Clément Ducol and Camille; Lyric by Clément Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard
“The Journey” from THE SIX TRIPLE EIGHT
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“Like A Bird” from SING SING
Music and Lyric by Abraham Alexander and Adrian Quesada
“Mi Camino” from EMILIA PÉREZ
Music and Lyric by Camille and Clément Ducol
“Never Too Late” from ELTON JOHN: NEVER TOO LATE
Music and Lyric by Elton John, Brandi Carlile, Andrew Watt and Bernie Taupin
Production Design
WICKED – WINNER
Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
THE BRUTALIST
Production Design: Judy Becker; Set Decoration: Patricia Cuccia
CONCLAVE
Production Design: Suzie Davies; Set Decoration: Cynthia Sleiter
DUNE: PART TWO
Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau
NOSFERATU
Production Design: Craig Lathrop; Set Decoration: Beatrice Brentnerová
Sound
DUNE: PART TWO – WINNER
Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco
EMILIA PÉREZ
Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta
WICKED
Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis
THE WILD ROBOT
Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts
Visual Effects
DUNE: PART TWO – WINNER
Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer
ALIEN: ROMULUS
Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan
BETTER MAN
Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs
KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke
WICKED
Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
CONCLAVE – WINNER
Screenplay by Peter Straughan
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN
Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks
EMILIA PÉREZ
Screenplay by Jacques Audiard; In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi
NICKEL BOYS
Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
SING SING
Screenplay by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield
Writing (Original Screenplay)
ANORA – WINNER
Written by Sean Baker
THE BRUTALIST
Written by Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
A REAL PAIN
Written by Jesse Eisenberg
SEPTEMBER 5
Written by Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; Co-Written by Alex David
THE SUBSTANCE
Written by Coralie Fargeat
