March 15, 2026 was a monumental night for the entertainment industry. The Academy Awards, commonly known as The Oscars, not only broke barriers within the award categories, but also the industry as a whole.
The night began with plenty of jokes from Conan O’Brien, but the lighthearted atmosphere soon turned to a serious consideration of what the awards meant. First, the horror genre made a huge stride in gaining critical acclaim when Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her role as the terrifying Aunt Gladys in “Weapons.”
The awards then pivoted to Best Animated Feature, which “K-Pop Demon Hunters” unsurprisingly won, but regardless was a big breakthrough for the K-Pop industry into the Academy Awards. “K-Pop Demon Hunters” also won best song with “Golden” by “K-Pop Demon Hunters’ fictional pop group HUNTR/X. During the live performance of this song, the audience waved light sticks and danced along enthusiastically.
During the announcement of who won the rest of the animated category there was then a protest of AI by actor Will Arnett. He yelled to the crowd, “Tonight, we are celebrating people, not AI.” This disavowal of AI was later implicitly endorsed by the Academy through their selection of the Production Design awards. Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein” took home three awards for Best Production Design including Best All-Around Production design, Best Hair and Makeup, and Best Costume Design. This win showed that practical effects are still necessary and valued, which is a great message for the Academy to be sharing in this daunting era of AI.
But the most notable moment of the night was when the award for Best Cinematography went to a woman for the first time. Cinematographer for “Sinners” Autumn Durald Arkapaw expressed her hope that all the women in the film industry will get the recognition they deserve. As she gave her acceptance speech she said, “I really want all the women in the room to stand up, because I feel like I [wouldn’t have gotten] here without you guys.” Throughout her speech, Arkapaw highlighted the importance of women having each other’s backs in the film industry.
The love for “Sinners” continued: Ryan Coogler, director and writer of “Sinners” got the award for Best Original Screenplay, making him the second Black man to win the award; Jordan Peele, the writer of “Get Out,” so far has been the only other. Many in the audience — especially members of the “Sinners” cast — were thrilled to see Coogler win this award for a story so important to him.
And for the final award of the night, we watched with shock as Michael B. Jordan won his first Oscar for his roles as twins Smoke and Stack in “Sinners.” This was a historical win, as he is only the sixth Black man to win this award. With Timothée Chalamet also having been nominated for the award, no one was certain beforehand who would get it. Still, the crowd seemed excited to see the win for Michael B. Jordan, as practically everyone was on their feet cheering in celebration.
This was an Oscars ceremony of truly historical moments that were not only exciting to see, but also inspiring. Hopefully the important values that guided the decisions for the awards are not just for this night, but will be implemented into the making of future movies.
