NYWIFT Blog

By Tammy Reese

The 94th Academy Awards took place on March 27th, 2022. Held at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles and aired on ABC. The theme of the night was Movie Lovers Unite.

Beyoncé earned her first Oscar Nomination for King Richard‘s Original Song ‘Be Alive’ which she amazingly performed to open the Oscars. As Women’s History Month comes to a close, the Oscars celebrated women with a bang. Three women hosting the Oscars was historic. The hosts included Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and NYWIFT Muse Honoree Wanda Sykes.

 

Will Packer produced this year’s ceremony and it had a hip new flavor. DJ D-Nice provided the soundtrack of the night, DJ Khaled did a special appearance to give props to the stunning and funny hosts. 

Actress Ariana DeBose made history as the first Afro-Latina and first openly queer woman of color to win an Academy Award for acting. Ariana won in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance reviving the iconic role of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s version of West Side Story. During her emotional speech, she paid tribute to NYWIFT Muse honoree Rita Moreno for paving the way.

 

CODA actor Troy Kotsur became the first actor who is deaf since Marlee Matlin in 1987 to win an Oscar. He received the honor for Best Supporting Actor. Troy dedicated the award to the deaf, disabled, and CODA (which stands for Child of Deaf Adults) community. CODA also received the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Sian Heder accepted the award. 

Other outstanding performances were by Oscar nominees Billie Eilish & Finneas ‘No Time To Die’ from No Time To Die, Reba McEntire who performed the Oscar-nominated song ‘Somehow You Do’ from Four Good Days, and a cameo performance by Megan Thee Stallion during Encanto‘s  hit “We Don’t Talk about Bruno.”

More women had huge Oscar moments during the night such as Jenny Beavan who took the Academy Award for her Costume Design work on the film Cruella. The Best Director Award went to Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog. Jane is the first woman to be nominated for this award twice, and Jessica Chastain had the high honor to obtain the award for Best Actress.

The night ended with CODA receiving the biggest award of the evening, Best Picture!

 

Covering the Oscars virtually this year was extremely different than my experience last year. Last year, the media were in a zoom setting where we could see all of the others journalists on the screen, and the press were called upon via the zoom portal to chat with the award winners.

I was one of the press members who was called upon to ask a question during last year’s Oscars. The first question went to me after Writer & Director Anthony Giacchino and Producer Alice Doyard won their Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film. I wished the Academy Award Winners Congratulations and asked them how was it at the Oscars during the pandemic and asked how were they feeling because it looked totally safe. See here. 

This year, I was not called upon, and even though we were logged onto the Oscar Virtual Press Room through a special Academy website, we couldn’t see the other virtual press members. We were viewing the backstage area virtually and viewed the in-person press asking questions to the award winners. 

Even though I wasn’t called upon this year to ask a question, I am humbled and honored to be recognized, and chosen to cover this legendary event. 

This was my second time having virtual press credentials for the Academy Awards. This was the most diverse Oscar ceremony I have ever watched! Way to go Academy! Job well done!

 

Congratulations to all of the nominees and the winners. Thank you to the Academy for allowing me to cover the Oscars virtually for New York Women in Film &Television.

Learn more about the 94th Academy Awards by visiting https://www.oscars.org/