The most coveted academy awards -- Oscar 2019 -- are here and women had a big share in the winners' list this year. Not just that, women also traversed boundaries never broken before. From the first Iranian-American woman and first European woman to win an academy award to the first indigenous Mexican woman to get nominated to the first Black woman to win for production design—Oscars 2019 was all about women at the crossroads coming under one roof and winning the prestigious golden trophy.
Here are all the women who made the Oscar trophy look better by winning it:
Lady Gaga won her first Oscar ever with her song Shallow from A Star Is Born in the Original Song category. Gaga performed along with Bradley Cooper at the show that earned a standing ovation. Gaga -- along with co-writers Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt and Anthony Rossomando -- won the academy award. A teary-eyed Gaga also paid tribute to Cooper and said, “Bradley: there’s not a single person on the planet that could have sung this song with me but you.” Lady Gaga is the only person in history to win a Golden Globe, a Grammy, a BAFTA, and an Oscar in a single year!
“I can’t believe a film about menstruation just won an Oscar”
“I’m not crying because I’m on my period, or anything,” said director Rayka Zehtabchi after winning in the Documentary Short Subject category. “I can’t believe a film about menstruation just won an Oscar,” added the 25-year-old Iranian-American director. Rayka's short documentary, Period. End of Sentence, is about a group of village women in northern India who start a sanitary pad business in an effort to improve feminine hygiene and de-stigmatize menstruation. Along with the film's release, the Period team co-founded the non-profit "The Pad Project" to fight the stigma of menstruation and improve feminine hygiene worldwide.
Olivia Colman of The Favourite took home the golden trophy for best actress in lead role. She was nominated alongside Yalitza Aparicio (Roma), Glenn Close (The Wife), Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) and Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?). “It’s genuinely quite stressful. This is hilarious … got an Oscar!” she said smiling as she fought back tears. “OK. I have to thank lots of people. If by the way I forget anybody, I will find you later and give you a massive snog. “My kids who are at home and watching. Look. Well if you are not, then kind of well done. But I sort of — sort of hope you are. This is not going to happen again. “And when I — I used to work as a cleaner and I loved that job. I did spend quite a lot of my time imagining this.”
- Becky Neiman-Cobb and Domee Shi
The producer-director duo of Becky Neiman-Cobb and Domee Shi won in the Best Animated Short category with their film Bao. The animated film won hearts in 2018 when it premiered ahead of the Incredibles 2. “To all the nerdy girls out there, who hide behind their sketch books, don't be afraid to show your stories to the world!” Shi said as she accepted the Oscar. The Chinese-Canadian Shi became the first woman to ever direct a short at animation giant Pixar with Bao.
ALSO READ: Period. End of Sentence wins Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject
After working for over 25 years in the film industry, winning an Oscar is a first for sound editor Nina Hartstone for Bohemian Rhapsody. “We really didn't expect it - it's usually films with heavy special effects and action movies that get nominated in the category. Then I walked into the front room where my dad and my son were - and just said 'I've just been nominated for an Oscar',” she said. Her career in sound editing started as a "tea girl" at Pinewood Studios in south Buckinghamshire. Hartstone became the first European woman to win an Oscar in sound editing.
Hannah Beachler became the first African-American to be nominated for and now win an Oscar in production design for her film Black Panther. "It means breaking down walls and opening up something for the next to come through for people, for young women of colour and boys and girls of colour to see that this is not impossible," Beachler said on January 22 when she received the nomination. "I hope I’m the last of the first. And now it’s just going to be business as usual and people from all backgrounds and all colours and all religions could do this work, and maybe I’ve made it a little easier for them."
After Beachler, Ruth E Carter became the second African-American women to win the award in a non-acting category. Carter won in the Costume Design category for her work on Black Panther. Carter’s career goes three decades back and she went to great lengths, like using a 3-D printer, to authentically create costumes influenced by indigenous people across the African continent.
- Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi along with Co-Director and Husband Jimmy Chin picked up the Oscar on Sunday night for their film Free Solo. The film followed the journey of Alex Honnold in climbing Yosemite’s famous 900-metre rock face, El Capitan, with no ropes. The film has grossed over $16 million, making it the second-biggest documentary of 2018. This was Vasarhelyi’s first nomination and win.
- Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney
First time nominees Kate Biscoe and Patrick DeHaney along with 10th time nominee, Greg Cannom, won the Make-up and Styling category for their film Vice. Biscoe and DeHaney accepted their awards live during the broadcast after the Academy last week reversed its decision to present four categories, including makeup and hairstyling, during commercial breaks with video to air later in the ABC broadcast.
The award for best actress in a supporting role went to Regina King for her role in Barry Jenkins’ James Baldwin adaptation If Beale Street Could Talk. It was the first nomination and first win for the actress, who achieved mainstream notoriety in 1996 for her comedic turn as Marcy Tidwell in Jerry Maguire. King was nominated in this category alongside ten-time nominee The Favourite stars Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone and six-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams for Vice and Marina de Tavira for Roma.
Picture credit- E! News
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