At the 97th Academy Awards, Anora emerged as the big winner, taking home Best Picture along with multiple top awards. Mikey Madison claimed Best Actress for her lead role in the comedy/romance about a sex worker, and Adrien Brody also made a memorable impact, winning Best Actor for his performance in The Brutalist.
Across awards and acceptance speeches, from the stage to the press room, many of the night’s winners took their moment to make political statements, addressing sex work, the war in Gaza and the fragility of democracy. This is every political statement made during film’s biggest night.
Mikey Madison
The 25-year-old star of Anora took home the Oscar for Best Actress, and in her acceptance speech, paid homage to the sex worker community.
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“Thank you, Brighton Beach for lending us your beautiful backdrop and beautiful community, also thank you to Kennedy Schneider, thank you to our incredible consultants and I also just want to recognize and honor the sex worker community. I will continue to support and be an ally; all of the incredible people, the women I’ve had the privilege of meeting from that community has been one of the highlights of this incredible, of this entire incredible experience.”
Sean Baker
The director Sean Baker made history at this year’s Academy Awards, becoming the first person ever to win four Oscars for a single film for Anora. He used his acceptance speeches as an opportunity to advocate for the support of theatrical moviegoing and independent film.
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“We made this movie for $6 million shooting on location in New York City with about 40 crew members. They’re all back in New York. This is for you guys,” Baker said. “If you’re trying to make independent films, please keep doing it. We need more. This is proof.”
“We are all here tonight because we love movies. Where did we fall in love with movies? At the movie theater,” he said. “In a time in which our world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever: It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home.”
Baker also called for the decriminalization of sex work, speaking to journalists in the winners room following Anora’s sweep. He said that it is our, “oldest profession,” but has an “incredibly unfair stigma,” attached to it. He said he thinks that it should be decriminalized, adding that he hopes his work will in some way contribute toward achieving that.
Adrien Brody
Brody won the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in The Brutalist, marking the second time he has won the award after he won in 2003 for his role in The Piano.
Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
In his acceptance speech he said, “I’m here once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war, and systematic oppression and of antisemitism and racism and of othering.”
“I believe that I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world, and I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked.”
Zoe Saldana
Saldana won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in Emilia Pérez and made a tearful acceptance speech.
The 46-year-old, after thanking her family, told the audience “My grandmother came to this country in 1961. I am a proud child of immigrant parents. With dreams and dignity and hard working hands,” she said. “And I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award. And I know I will not be the last.”
“The fact that I am getting an award for a role where I got to sing and speak in Spanish, my grandmother, if she were here, she would be so delighted,” she said.
Walter Salles
Walter Salles, director of the film I’m Still Here, won the Oscar for Best International Feature. The film, which is set against the backdrop of military dictatorship in Brazil and recounts a true story of a mother of five whose husband disappears, made history as the first Brazilian film to win for best international feature.
Backstage, Salles told reporters that, “”I think it’s not a film that has been recognized. It’s a culture that’s being recognized. It’s the way we do cinema in Brazil that is being recognized,”
He continued, “Democracy is becoming so fragile everywhere in the world you know. I never thought it would be so fragile even in this country, and therefore what happened in Brazil in the past feels very close to our present.
Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham
Adra and Abraham, the co-directors of No Other Land, a film made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective which focuses on the displacement of Palestinian people in the West Bank, took home the Oscar for Best Documentary.
Adra said that, “No Other Land reflects the harsh reality that we’ve been enduring for decades and still resist as we call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people,” Adra said.
His co-director Abraham added, “”We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger. We see each other, the atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end. The Israeli hostages, brutally taken in the crime of October 7, which must be freed….”
Abrham continued that, “Can’t you see that we’re intertwined, that my people can be truly safe if Basel’s people are truly free and safe. There is another way, it’s not too late, for life for the living. There’s no other way. Thank you.”
Conan O’Brien
Oscar’s host Conan O’Brien steered clear of talking about politics during his opening monologue, but made a veiled reference to the ongoing war in Ukraine and the relationship between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin. Making a quip about Anora, he said “Two wins already. I guess Americans are excited to see somebody finally stand up to a powerful Russian.”
Daryl Hannah
Hannah, the Kill Bill star and environmental activist called out “Slava Ukraina,” which means, “Glory to Ukraine,” as she took the stage to present the award for best editing. Her remark comes amidst growing tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine.
Update 03.03.25 02:40 AM ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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