*The 97th Academy Awards, held on March 2, 2025, at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre, celebrated the year’s cinematic achievements. Comedian Conan O’Brien hosted the Oscars, marking his debut in this role.
One of the big winners of Oscars night was the film “Aurora,” which took home five gold statues, including Best Actress for Mickey Madison. That was a surprising win, as Demi Moore was the projected winner after basically sweeping this awards season.
Another big win of the night was Zoe Saldaña. The actress best known for her roles in “Avatar” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” won for best supporting Actress for her role as Rita in “Emilia Perez.” As an Afro-Latina in Hollywood, Saldana often dealt with the issue of not being cast as a Latina woman. She was cast as a Black American in many of her first roles.
During a red carpet interview, she touched on being proud to win for a film where she was able to speak her native language. And she showed that pride during her acceptance speech. “I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last, said Zoe Saladana.
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She wasn’t the only one to make history that night. Paul Tazewell took home the Oscar for Costume Design for his work on “Wicked.” When asked about the significance of this award here is what he had to say:
“This is the pinnacle of my career. I’ve been designing costumes for over 35 years. Much has been on Broadway and now into film, and the whole way through, there was never a Black male designer that I saw that I could follow, that I could see as inspiration. And to realize that that’s actually me!,” said Paul Tazewell.
For those Black artists who started in the entertainment field decades ago, they had to be the pioneers in their field. And that goes for the great and one and only Quincy Jones.
Starting in the music industry as a producer, there were not many, if any, Black people in that space. He went on to not only produce music but to be a composer, an arranger, and a film scorer.
The Oscars honored the late legend with a tribute led by Queen Latifa.
As always, the Oscars are an eventful night, and: the 97th Oscars were no different. Congrats to all the winners and nominees!
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