Almost fifteen months after Parasite made Oscar history in front of a large crowd, the Best Picture baton has finally been passed on to another film, albeit in completely different circumstances.

With the COVID-19 pandemic being a menace throughout the past year and a quarter, the Academy opted to set up a low-key ceremony in one of the grand halls of Los Angeles’ stylish Union Station.

As predicted by many, the indie drama Nomadland with three key wins, including the coveted Best Picture accolade.

The film, which centres on a widowed nomad striving to live a better life in the American Midwest, joins a prestigious club of features to claim the big one including Gone With the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1943), Ben-Hur (1959), The Godfather (1972), One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), Schindler’s List (1993), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) and of course, Parasite (2019).

Additionally, Chinese filmmaker Chloé Zhao made history by becoming the first non-white woman to win Best Director. She is only the second female director to win the gong, following Kathryn Bigelow’s triumph for The Hurt Locker in 2010.

The film’s final success came for leading star Frances McDormand, as she followed up her recent BAFTA win to clinch a third Best Actress Oscar for her performance as widowed nomad Fern.

Her victory came at the expense of more fancied contenders like Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) and Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman).

McDormand becomes only the second actress in Academy history to score three Best Actress triumphs, having previously won for her performances in Fargo (1996) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).

In a bizarre strategy by the Academy, the Best Actor award was the last accolade to be presented on the night.

Unfortunately, it led to a damp squib as veteran absentee Sir Anthony Hopkins overcame the late Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) to win the gong for his powerful performance as dementia-sufferer Anthony in the drama The Father.

This morning, Hopkins paid tribute to Boseman in a brief yet sombre post in which he thanked the Academy for the honour.

Having previously won Best Actor for his menacing role as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), his second victory makes him the oldest man to win the category.

The Father itself also took home the Best Adapted Screenplay prize ahead of Oscar favourite Nomadland.

There were fewer surprises in the other acting line-ups, as British star Daniel Kaluuya comfortably picked up Best Supporting Actor for his dominant role as real-life Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton in the factual drama Judas and the Black Messiah.

The film also produced an upset in Best Original Song, as singer H.E.R. bagged the award for her song “Fight for You“.

As predicted, Korean veteran Yuh-jung Youn became only the second Asian performer to win an Oscar for her supporting role as mischievous grandmother Soon-ja in the family drama Minari.

Her victory means that fellow nominee Glenn Close is now winless from eight nominations!

Elsewhere, pregnant British actress-turned-filmmaker Emerald Fennell landed Best Original Screenplay for her work on the provocative thriller Promising Young Woman, while the Danish drama Another Round picked up Best Foreign Language Film.

Meanwhile, there were two wins apiece for four films as the Pixar animation Soul secured Best Animated Film and Best Original Score for music collaborators Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

The period drama Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom scored double victories for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup & Hairstyling, while the factual drama Mank took home Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.

The drama Sound of Metal picked up two technical wins for Best Editing and Best Sound, while the other triumphant films were Tenet (Best Visual Effects), My Octopus Teacher (Best Documentary), Colette (Best Documentary – Short Subject), Two Distant Strangers (Best Short Film – Live Action) and If Anything Happens I Love You (Best Short Film – Animated).

Despite being a heavy frontrunner, throughout Oscar season, the factual drama The Trial of the Chicago 7 went home empty-handed from multiple nominations alongside the likes of News of the World and One Night in Miami….

The full list of Oscar winners are…

BEST PICTURE
NOMADLAND

BEST DIRECTOR
Chloé Zhao, NOMADLAND

BEST ACTRESS
Frances McDormand, NOMADLAND

BEST ACTOR
Anthony Hopkins, THE FATHER

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Yuh-jung Youn, MINARI

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Daniel Kaluuya, JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
THE FATHER (Christopher Hampton & Florian Zeller)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (Emerald Fennell)

BEST EDITING
SOUND OF METAL

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
MANK

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
MANK

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM

BEST SOUND
SOUND OF METAL

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
TENET

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
SOUL (Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (“Fight For You”)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
SOUL

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
ANOTHER ROUND (Denmark)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
MY OCTOPUS TEACHER

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
COLETTE

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
TWO DISTANT STRANGERS

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU