Everything You Need to Know about the 2023 Oscars

Held annually by the Academy of the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and hosted live on ABC, the Academy Awards — better known as the Oscars — is one of the most highly televised award shows in the film industry. The elaborate ceremony recognizes both on-screen and behind-the-scenes professionals and works across its 23 official categories, providing one of the biggest accolades a film industry professional can receive. Showcasing big titles like Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) and All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), the 95th Oscars celebrated the exemplary films of 2022 on March 12, 2023. This year, the Academy also notably gave all 23 awards live. Here is a short list of everything (pun intended) you need to know about the 2023 Oscars.

A Multi-Verse of Wins

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) brought the storm as the night’s most nominated film. The absurdist comedy, which had been a lead front runner in this season’s award circuit with its compelling narrative of relationships, independence, and philosophy, scored a whopping total of seven wins out of 11 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Actress. As the film had already turned heads for its primarily Asian cast and bizarre storytelling style, the many accolades of Everything Everywhere All at Once demonstrate a pivotal turning point for the Academy and the diversification of their category standards.

Directing partner duo Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, also known as the “Daniels,” underscore that the film’s monumental success doesn’t come from just them, but through the collective hard work of everyone involved. Acknowledging that their caliber is strengthened and more meaningful alongside their colleagues comes full circle to their movie’s message. “There is greatness in every single person, it doesn’t matter who they are. You have a genius that is waiting to erupt, you just need to find the right people to unlock that.”

Best Supporting Actor

In an emotional speech, Ke Huy Quan relayed the significance of his win in the Best Supporting Actor category. With a quivering voice, the actor reflected on the contrast of hardships in his life versus that very moment. “Stories like this only happen in the movies. I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This… this is the American dream.” Quan is the second actor of Asian descent to ever secure a win in this category, the last occuring in 1984 by the late Haing Ngor for The Killing Fields (1984). 

Quan has spoken on multiple occasions about having to step away from the camera due to difficulties in landing an acting job in Hollywood as an Asian actor. It was the more recent rise of Asian characters in media that spurred Quan to take a stab at acting again. His acting as loving husband Waymond Wang has been acclaimed by an impressively long list of awards, demonstrating his capabilities with complex characters. Quan ended his speech on a hopeful note: “Dreams are something you have to believe in. I almost gave up on mine. To all of you out there, please keep your dreams alive.”

Best Actress

Most notably, Michelle Yeoh, the comedy-drama’s lead actress, made history as the first Asian woman to ever take home the Best Actress prize in the show’s 95-year run. Fighting back tears, the 60-year-old actress dedicated the ground-breaking award to a multitude of people the win would resonate with. “To all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities. This is proof that dreams do come true. And ladies, don’t let anybody tell you you are ever past your prime.” 

Through her powerful speech backstage, Yeoh acknowledged that the victory is not only a step forward in her career, but another step forward for Asian representation. She expressed the importance of the award in symbolizing future opportunities for those who feel unseen and deserve an equal chance to prove their worth. Yeoh’s win came as no surprise after the actress had already historically swept the Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globes a few weeks prior.

Avatar: The Way of Water

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), picks up years after the original Avatar (2009) storyline. Ex-military Na’vi Jake Sully and native Na’vi Neytiri have now formed a larger family with two sons and two daughters. When the Sully family finds themselves to be a threat to their native clan due to the ever-persistent RDA, residing in a new clan seems to be the only solution for protection. Aiming to adapt to a completely different environment leads to the beauty of Avatar: The Way of Water — an underwater escapade. 

Avatar: The Way of Water has broken box office records since its premiere. Rising to the number three spot on the list of highest grossing box office films of all time, Avatar: The Way of Water falls just two spots behind its predecessor at number one. The worldbuilding of the film revived the 2009 phenomenon “Avatar Syndrome,” where viewers back in 2009 felt “intense longing” to be part of the luscious, natural world. Solidifying the gorgeous world of Pandora as an international success, actress Zoë Saldaña commented: “there was the experience of the first movie, but on steroids.” 

But James Cameron’s ambitious underwater vision didn’t come easily. The film’s behind-the-scenes process was just as intensive to create its immersive display. For the innovative production, underwater performance capture technology was used for the first time in history. Producer Jon Landau commented on this data collection technique, stating that “performance capture gives actors the opportunity to play characters that they could not otherwise play.”

With four Oscar nominations, Avatar: The Way of Water has been officially recognized as a captivating film, winning the category of Best Visual Effects, just like Avatar did 13 years ago. The award was accepted by Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Sainedon, and Daniel Barrett. Boasting a stunning visual record, the Avatar franchise is sure to create waves with the upcoming third film in the series.

All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), which received nine Oscar nominations and won four categories, is a German film based on the original anti-war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. The film tells the story of a young German soldier, Paul Bäumer, who enlists in the Imperial German Army in WWI with dreams of becoming a war hero. Quickly coming to realize that war isn’t a fantasy to fulfill, Paul fights his battles on and off-field as the soldier’s life proves not to be as sweet as he thought it would. 

By giving Germany another Academy Award win for Best International Feature Film since 2006, All Quiet on the Western Front made history as the third German win in the category. Moreover, it became the eighth non-English feature film in Academy record to be nominated for both Best International Feature Film and Best Picture in the same year. Director Edward Berger accepted the award for Best International Feature Film, saying “this means so much to us… I owe everything to you and the rest of my crew,” and  giving thanks to the “many new friends he met on this movie.”

For Best Cinematography, James Friend gave a light-hearted yet emotional thanks, stating “thank you for everything. My entire crew who made this happen for me, and made me look better than I am.” As the duo walked on stage hand in hand, production designer Christian M. Goldbeck and set decorator Ernestine Hipper accepted the award for Best Production Design. Hipper breathlessly confessed: “When I first started this, I was first told, ‘Ernestine, don’t ever forget you’re only as good as your team.’ So this is to all the hard-working people.” 

Best Original Score was granted to Volker Bertelmann, who eloquently stated, “when I was working on the film, I was thinking a couple of times of my mom because she was telling me, every now and then, when you want to change humanity and empathy in the world, you have to start with yourself and your own surroundings because you learn by that and you can show actually how we can all live together.” With these four category winners recognized for their artistic excellence, All Quiet on the Western Front has made German movie history.

RRR

Winning the category of Best Original Song, “Naatu Naatu” from RRR (2022) was performed live with Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava. Accompanied by energetic choreography and back-up dancers lining the stage, Sipligunj and Bhairava sang in Telugu, one of many languages of Southern India. With a bright set and lyrics like “the song which can make your fingers snap in rhythm,” the stage performance was one to remember.

To see more Oscar moments, check out ABC’s YouTube channel. 

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