entertainment

'East meets West': KPop Demon Hunters brings global fans to Seoul's sites

BY KANG JIN-KYU

  • "We came to Korea for a family vacation but we really liked 'KPop Demon Hunters'.
  • Australian visitor Nhung Nguyen made the hike up steep steps to a stunning Seoul park precisely because of its star turn in mega-hit "KPop Demon Hunters".
  • "We came to Korea for a family vacation but we really liked 'KPop Demon Hunters'.
Australian visitor Nhung Nguyen made the hike up steep steps to a stunning Seoul park precisely because of its star turn in mega-hit "KPop Demon Hunters".
The real-life settings of the animated film, fresh off a double Oscars win, have become a pilgrimage site for fans of Netflix's most-watched original film of all time.
Naksan Park sits on a ridge high above the South Korean metropolis that includes parts of an 18.6-kilometre (11.5-mile) fortress wall built to surround the capital hundreds of years ago.
"I thought the location was very beautiful and I found out that it's a real location so I came here," said 29-year-old Nguyen, who said she grew up listening to K-pop.
The movie tells the tale of HUNTR/X, a popular K-pop girl group whose members live double lives as weapons-wielding demon slayers. Their songs help create a magical barrier called the Honmoon that protects humanity.
It won best animated feature and an Academy Award for best original song for "Golden", the film's infectious anthem about empowerment, self-reliance and personal growth. It was the first K-pop song to win the category.
In the movie, Naksan Park is where the main character, the half-human Rumi, meets clandestinely with a star-crossed love interest.
Nguyen was thrilled to be high above the city of 9.3 million at the site of special segment of the film that is set to a thumping soundtrack. 
"It was a scene in 'KPop Demon Hunters' where they sung 'Free'," she enthused. "The wall I feel... is very iconic."
She wasn't the only one who had the idea to make the trip on Tuesday, just days after the movie's Academy Award triumph.
"We came to Korea for a family vacation but we really liked 'KPop Demon Hunters'. So with the kids we wanted to come and see this place," said Emily Han from Florida in the United States. 
The movie had helped add "interest to different places that we can go and see", said Han, who was adopted from South Korea as a child.

K-crazy

The movie was seen as the latest example of the "K-syndrome" -- the world's irresistible appetite for movies, music, books, fashion and cuisine showcasing Korean life and experiences.
Bong Joon-ho's 2019 Palme d'Or and Oscar best picture winning film "Parasite", and the hugely popular television series "Squid Game" are just some of the other examples of productions out of South Korea that have made a global splash.
This will be further in evidence on Saturday when boy band BTS perform for their first concert in almost four years -- an extravaganza likely to be watched by millions worldwide.
But "KPop Demon Hunters" isn't strictly speaking South Korean.
It was made by Sony, directed by a Korean-Canadian and an American -- Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans -- and it's originally mostly in English.
"This is for Korea and Koreans everywhere," Kang said in her emotional acceptance speech.
"It's a good kind of East meets West kind of movie," said Nguyen, an Asian-Australian of Vietnamese descent. "It was a good representation of that."
kjk/stu/jm/abs

Russia

Russian ballet banned for 'gay propaganda' gets new life in Berlin

BY CéLINE LE PRIOUX

  • "Nureyev" tells the story of the man widely regarded as the leading male ballet dancer of the 20th century, who fled the Soviet Union for France in 1961 and died there in 1993 due to complications from AIDS. Christian Spuck, the director of the Berlin State Ballet, has insisted on keeping the production as close to the original as possible, Serebrennikov said.
  • A ballet about the life of legendary Soviet-born dancer Rudolf Nureyev that was banned in Russia for containing "gay propaganda" will get a new lease of life in Berlin this week.
  • "Nureyev" tells the story of the man widely regarded as the leading male ballet dancer of the 20th century, who fled the Soviet Union for France in 1961 and died there in 1993 due to complications from AIDS. Christian Spuck, the director of the Berlin State Ballet, has insisted on keeping the production as close to the original as possible, Serebrennikov said.
A ballet about the life of legendary Soviet-born dancer Rudolf Nureyev that was banned in Russia for containing "gay propaganda" will get a new lease of life in Berlin this week.
"Nureyev", created by Russian film and stage director Kirill Serebrennikov, premiered in Moscow in 2017, but after Russia tightened its anti-LGBTQ laws, the ballet was banned in 2023 due to its open portrayal of same-sex relationships.
Serebrennikov, who left Russia in 2022 and now lives in exile in Germany, will present the ballet for the first time outside his home country at the Berlin State Ballet on March 21, with former Bolshoi dancer David Soares in the title role.
Bringing the ballet back to life is "very special to my heart and a big responsibility", said Brazilian dancer Soares, 28, who also left Moscow in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
"Nureyev" tells the story of the man widely regarded as the leading male ballet dancer of the 20th century, who fled the Soviet Union for France in 1961 and died there in 1993 due to complications from AIDS.
Christian Spuck, the director of the Berlin State Ballet, has insisted on keeping the production as close to the original as possible, Serebrennikov said.
The message for Western audiences is "the same" as that intended for Russia, Serebrennikov told AFP, "because we are living in a time of lack of freedom, lack of common sense".

High heels and drag

With his "disruptive art" and "rebel mood", Nureyev is someone "who doesn't belong to any time", Serebrennikov said.
"He is kind of above everything. That's why this figure... will be always a magnet for other artists and will be a big example how to fight against the boring grey normality," he said.
The ballet highlights Nureyev's relationships with men and his enjoyment of the gay scene in Paris, where he is shown surrounded by dancers in high heels and drag.
When it premiered at the Bolshoi in December 2017, "Nureyev" was well received by critics. 
But Serebrennikov himself was unable to attend, as he was under house arrest on allegations of stealing state funds.
The premiere had initially been scheduled for July 2017, but was cancelled after Russian officials objected to the male nudity visible onstage.
The show was supposed to feature a large, full‑stage backdrop of a completely nude photograph of Nureyev taken by the famous photographer Richard Avedon, removed for the eventual premiere later that year.
In Berlin, the image will be reinstated in all its glory.
- 'Extreme expressions' - 
Serebrennikov, 56, is one of tens of thousands of Russians who have fled to Berlin since 2022, the year the Ukraine war broke out, making the city the unofficial capital of the Russian opposition.
The director has gathered a team of fellow exiles around him for the new production, including choreographer Yuri Possokhov. 
For Soares, who left Brazil at the age of 12 to fulfil his dream of dancing in Moscow, it is "quite impossible" to fully embody Nureyev.
"He is not just a ballet star. He is a character, a very, very powerful person," said the dancer, who immersed himself in interviews with Nureyev and others close to him in preparation for the role.
Soares, who will share the role of Nureyev with several other soloists during the production run, lauds the dancer's unique style, characterised by "explosive jumps", "extreme expressions" and "artistic freedom in every sense".
"He was one of those artists who teach the audience how to see ballet in a new way," he said.
"When he came with his way of dancing, he taught the audience, sit and watch what I do."
clp-fec/jsk/sbk

arts

In Hollywood, AI's no match for creativity, say top executives

BY ALEX PIGMAN

  • Joshua Davies, chief innovation officer of Artlist -- a Tel Aviv-based AI video platform that has most recently been positioning itself as a supplier of creative tools to filmmakers -- told AFP the technology would never eclipse the human creative. 
  • Artificial intelligence is transforming Hollywood at a pace that has sent shockwaves through creative industries, but human creativity will always prevail, a leading executive at the cutting edge of that change told AFP. The disruption was a dominant theme at this week's South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas where veteran director Steven Spielberg made clear he was drawing a line in the sand. 
  • Joshua Davies, chief innovation officer of Artlist -- a Tel Aviv-based AI video platform that has most recently been positioning itself as a supplier of creative tools to filmmakers -- told AFP the technology would never eclipse the human creative. 
Artificial intelligence is transforming Hollywood at a pace that has sent shockwaves through creative industries, but human creativity will always prevail, a leading executive at the cutting edge of that change told AFP.
The disruption was a dominant theme at this week's South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas where veteran director Steven Spielberg made clear he was drawing a line in the sand. 
"I've never used AI on any of my films yet. We have a writer's room. All the seats are occupied," Spielberg said. "I am not for AI if it replaces a creative individual." 
Joshua Davies, chief innovation officer of Artlist -- a Tel Aviv-based AI video platform that has most recently been positioning itself as a supplier of creative tools to filmmakers -- told AFP the technology would never eclipse the human creative. 
If given the choice between something made using an AI toold by a techie and a creative, "I know which one I would rather watch at the end," said Davies, who founded video editing software company FXhome before it was acquired by Artlist in 2021. 
Davies acknowledged the industry's anxiety was not unfounded, with new video models having "struck fear in the hearts of everybody" -- not just over copyright and personality infringement, but over the fundamental question of how film and television production will look in a matter of years. 
"If I was bringing out an Iron Man movie in 2027, 2028 -- would I be going to multiple visual effects houses, would I expect them to be utilizing AI? We're all kind of working out our way through that," he said. 
Davies described the platform's AI video tools as a way to "fill in the bits that you can't shoot, or didn't shoot, or you don't have the budget to shoot," rather than a wholesale substitution for going out on location. 

'Holy grail'

Yet the timing is charged. Editors, visual effects artists and other Hollywood professions have watched the rapid advance of generative AI with alarm, fearing that tools capable of producing broadcast-quality footage at a fraction of traditional costs could hollow out entire job categories. 
Major studios are actively evaluating how AI can be integrated into production pipelines, foreshadowing significant workforce changes across an industry that has already endured a bruising period following the covid pandemic and writers' and actors' strikes of 2023. 
Artlist made headlines in February when it produced a Super Bowl LX spot in under five days using its own products, at a fraction of the multi-million-dollar cost typical of Big Game advertising.  
Davies was keen to push back on the narrative that the ad represented the future of production without human involvement. 
That wasn't what it was, he said. It was creatives "using the tool to get the very best out of it." 
A self-described "techie guy," Davies said the platform's current obsession is on giving creators nuanced control over creating or editing footage -- something he described as the company's "holy grail." 
Existing models, he said, handle simple static shots reasonably well but struggle with complex camera movements and consistent performance across multiple takes. 
You can prompt an elaborate shot, but for now "you'll get something random" that you can't work with. 
On cost, Davies cautioned against unrealistic expectations, suggesting AI would reduce production expenses significantly but not eliminate them.  
Davies said his long-term hope was that AI would serve as a leveling force for independent filmmakers and content creators who currently lack the budgets to realize their ambitions. 
"There are definitely YouTubers who make some of the best action work out there on no budget," he said. 
"AI will level that playing field completely -- the story will be what matters." 
He struck a cautiously optimistic note on the creative industry's direction, dismissing the most dystopian predictions. 
"The idea that no one works at the end of it is the bit that doesn't hold any water with me," he said. 
"There's been more and more of everything, not less and less -- and the cream rises to the top anyway, because the human element is what we crave."
arp/jgc

arts

Kennedy Center board approves 2-year closure for renovation

  • A cascade of artists canceled performances at the venue in response to the move, and US media reported that ticket sales at the Kennedy Center had fallen to their lowest level since the Covid pandemic.
  • The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington will close for two years for refurbishment, its board unanimously approved Monday, after President Donald Trump's takeover of the storied venue generated anger and performance cancellations.
  • A cascade of artists canceled performances at the venue in response to the move, and US media reported that ticket sales at the Kennedy Center had fallen to their lowest level since the Covid pandemic.
The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington will close for two years for refurbishment, its board unanimously approved Monday, after President Donald Trump's takeover of the storied venue generated anger and performance cancellations.
The board, consisting of allies hand-picked by Trump, also approved the appointment of Matt Floca as president of the Kennedy Center, to replace former head Richard Grenell.
Trump announced last month the closure of the Kennedy Center for renovations starting July 4, "whereupon we will simultaneously begin Construction of the new and spectacular Entertainment Complex," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump has stamped his mark on the Kennedy Center since the start of his second term, part of an assault on US cultural institutions that his administration has accused of being too left-wing.
The 79-year-old installed himself as chairman of the board for the center, originally named after president John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.
Then in December the board voted to rename it the "Trump-Kennedy" center.
A cascade of artists canceled performances at the venue in response to the move, and US media reported that ticket sales at the Kennedy Center had fallen to their lowest level since the Covid pandemic.
Trump has denied that he plans to bulldoze the center, and posted two renderings on social media last week of what it would look like when refurbished.
jgc/js

television

'Buffy' reboot cancelled: Sarah Michelle Gellar

  • The new Buffy was announced last year and was set to see Gellar reprise her role as Buffy Summers, who in the original series had been a teenager battling demons and vampires as she navigated high school.
  • A planned reboot "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," that was set to be directed by Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao, has been canceled, star and producer Sarah Michelle Gellar said.
  • The new Buffy was announced last year and was set to see Gellar reprise her role as Buffy Summers, who in the original series had been a teenager battling demons and vampires as she navigated high school.
A planned reboot "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," that was set to be directed by Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao, has been canceled, star and producer Sarah Michelle Gellar said.
"Unfortunately, Hulu has decided not to move forward with ‘Buffy: New Sunnydale'," Gellar said in a weekend Instagram post.
"I am really sad to have to share this, but I wanted you all to hear it from me," added the 48-year-old, who starred in the original series that ran for seven seasons. 
The new Buffy was announced last year and was set to see Gellar reprise her role as Buffy Summers, who in the original series had been a teenager battling demons and vampires as she navigated high school.
"I want to thank Chloe Zhao, because I never thought I would find myself back in Buffy’s stylish yet affordable boots," Gellar said.
"Thanks to Chloe, I was reminded how much I love her and how much she means not only to me but to all of you. And this doesn’t change any of that.
"And I promise if the apocalypse actually comes, you can still beep me," she quipped.
Zhao, whose period piece "Hamnet" missed out on the best picture Oscar on Sunday, told Variety on the red carpet that she hadn't been surprised by the project's cancellation. 
"Things happen for a reason," Zhao said. 
"I had an incredible time with Sarah, with the whole cast and crew doing this and we, first and foremost, see ourselves as the guardians of the original show. 
"Our priority has always been to be truthful to the show, and be truthful to our fans."
pr/hg/msp

film

'Hollywood story': Russia's Mr Nobody makes history with Oscar win

BY ANNA SMOLCHENKO

  • After the start of Moscow's war against Ukraine, Talankin was instructed by school authorities to film patriotic lessons and morning drills at his secondary school in the Russian industrial town of Karabash.
  • Tributes to "Mr. Nobody Against Putin" poured in on Monday after Pavel Talankin, a videographer from a small-town Russian school, won an Oscar for his anti-Kremlin film and cemented his place in Hollywood history.
  • After the start of Moscow's war against Ukraine, Talankin was instructed by school authorities to film patriotic lessons and morning drills at his secondary school in the Russian industrial town of Karabash.
Tributes to "Mr. Nobody Against Putin" poured in on Monday after Pavel Talankin, a videographer from a small-town Russian school, won an Oscar for his anti-Kremlin film and cemented his place in Hollywood history.
Netflix documentary "The Perfect Neighbour" had been widely tipped to win the top prize for best documentary feature.
But 35-year-old Talankin's film -- based on hours of footage he had smuggled out of Russia -- beat the odds and took home the statuette on Sunday.
Some said it was a story worthy of a Hollywood script.
After the start of Moscow's war against Ukraine, Talankin was instructed by school authorities to film patriotic lessons and morning drills at his secondary school in the Russian industrial town of Karabash.
Seeking to resist the intensity of pro-war propaganda at his school, Talankin eventually teamed up with US filmmaker David Borenstein and fled Russia in 2024, leaving behind his mother, brothers and sisters.
Vitaly Mansky, one of Russia's top documentary makers, called Mr Nobody a "strong" film, though its win still came as a surprise.
"I think that the figure of Pavel Talankin played a very big role in the Academy members' decision to vote for this film," Ukrainian-born Mansky told AFP. "It truly is a Hollywood story."
Mansky, a member of the Academy, said Talankin's sincerity won people over.
"They were moved to vote for the film," he added.
- 'Stop wars now' - 
Speaking to AFP in the lead-up to the Oscars, Talankin said he and Borenstein were up against strong competitors.
"Netflix, they are giants," Talankin, who lives in Europe, said this month.
But he also joked he was ready for the fight.
"I've already dusted off the shelf for it," he told AFP in January, referring to the golden statuette that he ended up taking.
Film critic Anton Dolin said he was not surprised by the film's success.
"The film stands out, just like its protagonist," he said.
In his acceptance speech Talankin said Russia's war against Ukraine as well as other wars must stop.
"For four years we have looked at the sky for shooting stars to make a very important wish," he said in Russian.
"But there are countries where instead of shooting stars, they have shooting bombs and shooting drones."
"In the name of our future, in the name of all our children, stop all these wars. Now," he added.

'Did not watch this film'

In his speech, Borenstein appeared to draw parallels between the policies of Vladimir Putin in Russia and Donald Trump in the United States.
"Mr Nobody against Putin is about how you lose your country," he said.
"What we saw when working with this footage is that you lose it through countless small little acts of complicity."
The Kremlin has sidestepped questions about the documentary.
"I did not watch this film," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.
Russian state-controlled media either ignored the film's win or chose their words carefully.
One news outlet said: "A film about President Vladimir Putin received an award at the Oscars."
The documentary has proved polarising even among anti‑Kremlin Russians, and some argued that children were filmed without parental consent.
Alexander Baunov, an international policy expert, said he liked the film, adding he wished he had been part of such a project when he himself was a schoolboy in the Soviet Union.
For many children featured in Talankin's film their participation in the project, he said, "will remain among the most important events of their lives, if not the most important".
bur-as/ah/yad

conflict

Oscar-winner Sean Penn skips ceremony to visit Kyiv

  • Penn -- a vocal advocate for Ukraine who has visited the country several times -- on Sunday won his third acting Oscar but was not at the ceremony.
  • Sean Penn, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor for "One Battle After Another" on Sunday, was in Ukraine on Monday where he met President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for the war-torn country.
  • Penn -- a vocal advocate for Ukraine who has visited the country several times -- on Sunday won his third acting Oscar but was not at the ceremony.
Sean Penn, who won an Oscar for best supporting actor for "One Battle After Another" on Sunday, was in Ukraine on Monday where he met President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for the war-torn country.
An AFP reporter saw the "Mystic River" star getting out of a black car in central Kyiv earlier Monday, wearing sunglasses and carrying a box of cigarettes.
Penn -- a vocal advocate for Ukraine who has visited the country several times -- on Sunday won his third acting Oscar but was not at the ceremony.
"We can say that he's in Ukraine, but it's his personal visit; that's how he sees it, that he needs to be in Ukraine," a senior Ukrainian official told AFP, adding: "He just wants to support Ukraine."
Penn -- who co-directed a 2023 documentary about Zelensky -- met the Ukrainian president on Monday.
"Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is," Zelensky said on social media, posting a picture of the pair sat down in the president's office.
"You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today," Zelensky said.
In an interview with AFP in February, Zelensky listed "One Battle After Another", starring Penn, among his most recently watched movies and said he "liked it".
A second source told AFP that the actor was also "planning to go to the front" in eastern Ukraine.
The film Penn co-directed, an admiring portrait of Zelensky about his rise from comedian to war leader when Russia invaded in 2022, premiered at the Berlin film festival in 2023. 
In 2025, Penn and rock star Bono made an impassioned plea at the Cannes film festival for the West to stand by Ukraine, posing for pictures on the red carpet with Ukrainian soldiers.
ant-mmp/cad/sbk

film

"So proud": Irish hometown hails Oscar winner Jessie Buckley

BY PETER MURPHY

  • With a tight-knit group of family and friends, he had watched the Oscars broadcast live on TV in the hotel pub: Buckley's Bar.
  • Family, friends, and locals in the small Irish town of Killarney were bursting with pride Monday after homegirl Jessie Buckley became the first Irishwoman to win a best actress Oscar.
  • With a tight-knit group of family and friends, he had watched the Oscars broadcast live on TV in the hotel pub: Buckley's Bar.
Family, friends, and locals in the small Irish town of Killarney were bursting with pride Monday after homegirl Jessie Buckley became the first Irishwoman to win a best actress Oscar.
Buckley's family – her uncle and godfather Sean and his wife Carol – run the family Arbutus Hotel in the heart of the County Kerry town 300 kilometres (190 miles), southwest of Dublin.
With a tight-knit group of family and friends, he had watched the Oscars broadcast live on TV in the hotel pub: Buckley's Bar.
"The anticipation, the silence, then the uproar and celebration, it was just absolutely fantastic," the 62-year-old told AFP beside a giant photograph of Jessie in the hotel lobby.
The hotel was established in 1926 by the actor's great-grandfather Tim Buckley, a returned emigrant from New York.
Inside the bar, the actor's first cousin Brendan Fuller, a radio presenter and DJ, told AFP he almost "hit the ceiling in here" when the envelope was opened and Buckley won for her searing performance as Shakespeare's wife in the film "Hamnet".
"It was a surreal moment. I was trying to keep my eye on the TV to make sure it was Jessie that was getting up out of her seat, that I definitely heard it right," he laughed.
"Having that Buckley name etched onto an Oscar statue is  the stuff of dreams. What a way to celebrate the hotel centenary, we're just so proud of her," said Fuller.
Looking forward to the actor's return to Killarney, he said "hopefully she can take a big deep breath and get a bubble of home around her".

'Glint in her eye'

Outside the Killarney Musical Society, where Buckley first earned her acting chops, has erected a billboard to wish her luck.
"Jessie has not changed one single bit since she left us, she left Killarney musical society, to go to London," Marie Moloney, a society member, told AFP. 
Buckley now lives in the English countryside in Norfolk with her husband, a mental health worker, who she married in 2023, and her young daughter.
But she performed on stage with the society in the children's chorus back in 2000, according to Moloney, and later returned to star in its production of the musical "Carousel".
"I feel we did some little bit to kickstart her career and help her to get to where she is," beamed Moloney, who is also deputy mayor of Kerry County Council.
"She is still the same Jessie that we knew and love, down to earth and friendly, and still up to a bit of roguery. I can see it when she throws back that head in an interview and gives a big laugh," she said.
A teacher at Loreto National School, Jessie's primary school, also recalled how as a girl she "showed great character" when taking part in school plays.
"Her eyes connected with the audience, she always had a glint in her eye," said Mary Woodcock-O'Sullivan. 
Shop windows on Killarney High Street were Monday festooned with giant flags and posters wishing Buckley luck.
An image of the 36-year-old Oscar-winner – dressed in green – adorns St Patrick's Day posters for Tuesday's annual festival which traditionally kicks off the tourist season in the picturesque town.
Ireland's President Catherine Connolly also sent Buckley a message of congratulations Monday, hailing a "historic moment" for the country.
"She just did such an amazing role in that movie," said Elain Flanagan, a hotel manager, as she headed to work.
"She's really putting the town on the map, there's been loads of tourists taking selfies outside the Buckley Bar," Flanagan smiled.
pmu/jkb/yad

film

Jessie Buckley: From reality TV hopeful to Oscar winner

BY PETER MURPHY

  • Irish President Catherine Connolly sent Buckley her "warmest congratulations" on Monday on the "historic moment of becoming the first Irish woman to win the Oscar for best actress.
  • Irish actress Jessie Buckley capped her spectacular rise to Hollywood stardom on Sunday, winning a best actress Oscar for her searing portrait of motherhood and love undone by loss in "Hamnet" The 36-year-old actress from a small town in Ireland's remote southwest received the award for her work as William Shakespeare's wife Agnes, devastated by the death of their son, the eponymous child in director Chloe Zhao's acclaimed film.
  • Irish President Catherine Connolly sent Buckley her "warmest congratulations" on Monday on the "historic moment of becoming the first Irish woman to win the Oscar for best actress.
Irish actress Jessie Buckley capped her spectacular rise to Hollywood stardom on Sunday, winning a best actress Oscar for her searing portrait of motherhood and love undone by loss in "Hamnet"
The 36-year-old actress from a small town in Ireland's remote southwest received the award for her work as William Shakespeare's wife Agnes, devastated by the death of their son, the eponymous child in director Chloe Zhao's acclaimed film.
Her expressive intensity as the grieving heart of the story -- an adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 bestselling novel of the same name -- captivated audiences, moving many moviegoers to tears.
"This is really something," an emotional Buckley said, hailing her fellow nominees and saying she wanted to work with all of them.
The bewitching Agnes has "a strong, wide open heart and a mother with an epic landscape inside her", Buckley told The Irish Times, underscoring the emotional depth of the role.
In February, on becoming the first Irish woman to win a BAFTA best actress award for her performance, she dedicated it to "the women past, present and future that have taught me and continue to teach me how to do it differently".
"You brought the mother out of the shadows, and you stood her in absolution beside the giant that is Shakespeare", she said to O'Farrell in the audience.
Buckley was the closest thing to a shoo-in this awards season, sweeping the precursor prizes including the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards.
On Sunday, she bested Rose Byrne ("If I Had Legs I'd Kick You"), Renate Reinsve ("Sentimental Value"), Emma Stone ("Bugonia") and Kate Hudson ("Song Sung Blue"). 
Irish President Catherine Connolly sent Buckley her "warmest congratulations" on Monday on the "historic moment of becoming the first Irish woman to win the Oscar for best actress.
She also praised the achievements of all the other Irish nominees and Richard Baneham who won his second Oscar for visual effects.
Buckley didn't have a child when she took on the role of Agnes.
But she became pregnant "a week" after finishing "Hamnet", she told The New York Times, and gave birth to a baby girl in autumn 2025.

'Nurtured and respected'

Born on December 28, 1989 to a poet, Tim Buckley, and Marina, a former opera singer and vocal coach, the actress was encouraged to join school theatre productions from a young age.
Growing up in Killarney, County Kerry with four siblings, she credits her upbringing for shaping her artistic instincts.
At home, "music, writing and expressing yourself was really nurtured and respected," she told The Irish Times.
Buckley first made waves as a reality TV hopeful in 2008's "I'd Do Anything", a BBC talent show scouting for a production of "Oliver" in London's West End.
Although she lost in the final, judges urged her to pursue formal dramatic training. 
She graduated from London's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2013 and immersed herself in the works of The Bard.
That same year, she secured roles in adaptations of "Henry V" and "The Winter's Tale" in London.
Television roles followed including in a BBC dramatisation of "War and Peace" (2016), and the HBO hit miniseries "Chernobyl" (2019).
Buckley made her film debut in "Beast" (2017), a psychological thriller set on Jersey in the Channel Islands, and earned a BAFTA nomination for her lead role in the 2018 film "Wild Rose" about an aspiring country singer and ex-convict from Glasgow.
She has often returned to her Shakespearean theatrical roots, playing Juliet at the National Theatre in 2021 with another rising star, Josh O'Connor.
She earned her first Oscar nomination in 2022 for best supporting actress for her portrayal of a tormented mother in Maggie Gyllenhaal's tense psychological drama "The Lost Daughter".
An accomplished singer, she won an Olivier Award in 2022 for best actress in a musical for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in the West End revival of "Cabaret".
That same year, she released a folk album with Bernard Butler, former guitarist of the band Suede.
Buckley lives in the English countryside in Norfolk with her husband, a mental health worker, who she married in 2023.
Her current project, in theatres now, is Gyllenhaal's "The Bride!" -- a genre-hopping take on the bride of Frankenstein's monster in which she co-stars opposite fellow Oscar winner Christian Bale.
cla-pmu/jkb/sst/ach 

film

Five top moments from the Oscars

BY SUSAN STUMME AND MAGGY DONALDSON IN NEW YORK

  • Top winner Paul Thomas Anderson said he made "One Battle After Another" -- the top winner with six prizes -- for his kids as an apology "for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we're handing off to them."
  • This year's Oscars saw "One Battle After Another" cap its outstanding awards season by taking home the night's top prize for best picture, as "Sinners" also won big.
  • Top winner Paul Thomas Anderson said he made "One Battle After Another" -- the top winner with six prizes -- for his kids as an apology "for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we're handing off to them."
This year's Oscars saw "One Battle After Another" cap its outstanding awards season by taking home the night's top prize for best picture, as "Sinners" also won big.
It was a particularly competitive night rife with impressive performances, quippy one-liners, high fashion on the red carpet and tearful acceptance speeches.
Here's a rundown of the night's highlights:

Musical moments... and a rare tie

The night's first musical number recreated an extraordinary scene from vampire horror flick "Sinners," a montage that traces the history of Black music from West Africa to the Delta Blues to hip-hop.
Actor Miles Caton led other castmates in the rendition of "I Lied to You," joined by other A-list performers such as ballerina Misty Copeland -- who danced despite recently undergoing a hip replacement.
Later on, the three singers from the fictional girl group HUNTR/X from "KPop Demon Hunters" belted out a rendition of "Golden."
The smash hit then got its flowers, taking home the prize for best original song and becoming the first K-pop song to win the category.
The Oscars audience also witnessed a rare tie: two films won the prize for best live-action short, "Two People Exchanging Saliva" and "The Singers."
"You just ruined 22 million Oscar pools," said O'Brien, after waiting for the double acceptance speeches to end.

Politics take the stage

As he presented the award for best international film, past winner Javier Bardem made a statement: "No to war and Free Palestine."
Norwegian family dramedy "Sentimental Value" won the prize. 
In his speech, filmmaker Joachim Trier paraphrased African American author James Baldwin, who he said "makes us remember that all adults are responsible for all children."
"Let's not vote for politicians who don't take this seriously into account."
Top winner Paul Thomas Anderson said he made "One Battle After Another" -- the top winner with six prizes -- for his kids as an apology "for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we're handing off to them."
"But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency," he said.
And Pavel Talankin, the co-director and protagonist of "Mr Nobody Against Putin," said the world should "stop all of these wars now."

Farewell to the greats

A lengthy In Memoriam segment was given ample airtime after a year that took a number of film legends with it.
Billy Crystal -- himself a veteran Oscars host -- delivered a heartfelt tribute to his late friend and regular collaborator Rob Reiner, who was murdered along with his wife at their Los Angeles home late last year.
A crew of people Reiner famously worked with, including Meg Ryan, then appeared onstage.
A who's who of some of Hollywood's heaviest hitters who died in the last year were also honored, including Diane Keaton, Catherine O'Hara and Robert Redford.
The 83-year-old icon Barbra Streisand sang for her friend Redford, delivering a few bars from "The Way We Were" for her co-star in the film of the same name.
"Bob had real backbone, on and off the screen," said Streisand. "I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail." 

Promo opportunity

The Oscars were broadcast by the network ABC, which is owned by Disney, and organizers took the opportunity to advertise the studio's upcoming films.
While presenting awards, Sigourney Weaver and Pedro Pascal -- stars of this year's "Star Wars" film "The Mandalorian & Grogu" -- performed a bit that featured Grogu (also known as Baby Yoda) in the audience.
And Vogue doyenne Anna Wintour alongside Oscar winner Anne Hathaway delivered a humorous sketch that doubled as promo for the forthcoming "The Devil Wears Prada 2," to be released this spring.
Marvel cinematic universe stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. also reunited onstage ahead of the release of "Avengers: Doomsday" later this year.

Conan's jokes

Host Conan O'Brien nodded to politics and pulled a few punches, some with global appeal and a few one-liners for the insiders.
"It's great to be back hosting the Oscars. Last year, when I hosted, Los Angeles was on fire. But this year, everything's going great," he joked, pausing for effect.
O'Brien also had a pointed industry remark for Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos: "It's his first time in a theater."
He also alluded to the Jeffrey Epstein drama. 
"It's the first time since 2012 that there are no British actors nominated for best actor or best actress," O'Brien said. "A British spokesperson said, 'Yeah, well, at least we arrest our pedophiles.'"
"Marty Supreme" star Timothee Chalamet, who left empty-handed, also got a notable roast, as O'Brien took shots at the actor who recently disparaged ballet and opera.
bur-mdo/sst

film

With Oscar race locked, actresses celebrate backstage anyway

BY ANDREW MARSZAL

  • Reinsve predictably lost best actress, but the whole gang took to the stage as "Sentimental Value" won best international film.
  • At an Oscars full of nerve-shreddingly tight races, best actress was one of Sunday night's few entirely predictable categories.
  • Reinsve predictably lost best actress, but the whole gang took to the stage as "Sentimental Value" won best international film.
At an Oscars full of nerve-shreddingly tight races, best actress was one of Sunday night's few entirely predictable categories.
Pundits were -- correctly -- unanimous that Jessie Buckley would win for her tear-jerking turn as William Shakespeare's wife in "Hamnet."
But that did not stop her rival nominees enjoying the night -- if anything, they were the life and soul of the party.
Emma Stone, a two-time best actress winner already, spent much of the ceremony happily chatting backstage with friends and admirers in the theater's most exclusive lobby.
"The bar is the place!" Stone, nominated for her role in conspiracy theory thriller "Bugonia," told AFP.
Indeed, while the Oscars are being handed out in the adjoining theater, the Dolby Theater's ground-floor bar is renowned as a free-flowing gossip, networking and champagne spot for the industry's movers and shakers.
Stone jokingly admitted she wasn't sure exactly how many Academy Awards she'd attended, but by now knew where to wait for her category to come up.
For Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve, it was a second trip to Hollywood's top awards show, but a first as an acting nominee.
She came to the Oscars four years ago for best foreign film contender "The Worst Person in the World," but was personally recognized this time for "Sentimental Value."
"It's so much more chill this time -- this time I actually know people!" she told AFP.
Moments later, she effusively greeted Pedro Pascal like an old friend. He promptly stepped on her toe as they embraced and profusely apologized, to mutual laughter.
After her fellow supporting actor and actress nominees had missed out in their early categories, the film's Norwegian team gathered at the bar again with their plus ones.
"Last time I couldn't bring a guest. This time, I got to bring my sister," the Norwegian star added.
Reinsve predictably lost best actress, but the whole gang took to the stage as "Sentimental Value" won best international film.
"It's about a very dysfunctional family, and it's the opposite of what I felt of this beautiful group behind me," said director Joachim Trier, from the stage.

'Exciting'

This year, the Oscars bar's raucous chatter was muted temporarily by the moving tribute to Rob Reiner and the start of the "In Memoriam" section honoring Hollywood legends who died this year.
There was spontaneous applause when Catherine O'Hara, star most recently of Hollywood satire "The Studio," was shown on screens.
Inside the theater, wins for "Sinners" consistently drew the loudest cheers from the in-person audience, with even those in the nosebleed seats rising to a standing ovation when Michael B. Jordan won best actor.
"I'm only here because of the people that came before me," said Jordan, before name-checking a number of the small group of previous Black Oscar acting winners including Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, to wild applause.
As for Buckley, she too periodically appeared at the bar before and during the ceremony, not stopping to chat much, but seemingly showing no nerves as she was wished the best of luck by many of those she passed.
"Thank you," she grinned with a confident smile, before collecting her seemingly inevitable prize.
"Thank you to the incredible women that I stand beside -- I am inspired by your art and your heart and I want to work with every single one of you," she shouted out to her fellow nominees from the stage, as the night drew toward its close.
Amz/hg/sst

film

'One Battle After Another' dominates Oscars

BY HUW GRIFFITH

  • Both "One Battle" and "Sinners" were produced by Warner Bros.
  • "One Battle After Another" triumphed at the Oscars on Sunday, winning six awards, including the coveted best picture statuette, besting "Sinners" in a thrilling finale to one of the most competitive awards seasons in recent years.
  • Both "One Battle" and "Sinners" were produced by Warner Bros.
"One Battle After Another" triumphed at the Oscars on Sunday, winning six awards, including the coveted best picture statuette, besting "Sinners" in a thrilling finale to one of the most competitive awards seasons in recent years.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson personally won three Oscars, the first of his career, for his political thriller that tackles the hot-button issues of immigration raids and white supremacy.
"You make a guy work really hard for one of these," he said to laughter as he accepted the award for best director.
"I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we're handing off to them," he said after collecting the best adapted screenplay prize.
"But also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency
"One Battle" tells the story of a pot-addled ex-revolutionary, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who struggles to remember passphrases in a battle of wits against the terrifying Colonel Lockjaw, played by best supporting actor winner Sean Penn.
The film also won best editing and the inaugural award for casting.
Anderson is one of the greatest auteurs of contemporary US cinema, but until Sunday had never won an Oscar, despite 11 previous nominations for acclaimed films including "There Will Be Blood" and "Boogie Nights." 

'Sinners' wins four

Ryan Coogler's "Sinners," a bluesy vampire fable that offers a meditation on America's difficult racial history, had come into the evening with a record-tying 16 nominations.
It left with four awards, including best original screenplay for Coogler and best actor for Michael B. Jordan, who plays gangster twin brothers Smoke and Stack seeking their fortune in the segregated South.
Jordan told reporters backstage that he had created detailed journals to flesh out the backstories of both roles in order to clearly express "those nuances between the two."
Other prizes were best score for Ludwig Goransson and best cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first time a woman won in that category.
Coogler called his writing award "an incredible honor" and told journalists he credited a creative writing professor for his success. 
Both "One Battle" and "Sinners" were produced by Warner Bros. Studio, which was the subject of an intense bidding war between Paramount and Netflix.
The studio claimed 12 of the 24 awards on offer on Sunday.
In perhaps the least surprising award of the evening, Jessie Buckley won best actress for her portrayal of William Shakespeare's heartbroken wife Agnes navigating the loss of their son in "Hamnet."
Buckley told journalists backstage that it felt "crazy" to win the award on what is Mother's Day back in her native Ireland.
"I feel like what a gift to get to explore motherhood through this incredible mother that Agnes is," she said.
Amy Madigan took home the Oscar for best supporting actress for her turn as a demented witch in horror film "Weapons."
The veteran performer, who scooped the Actors Award two weeks ago, said: "I was in the shower last night, and I thought, 'Well, this must be a special day, because I'm shaving my legs'."
Norwegian family drama "Sentimental Value" was named best international feature.
"KPop Demon Hunters" won for best animated feature and best original song for "Golden."

Poignant tributes

Veteran host Conan O'Brien kept proceedings light and funny, with his signature blend of zany satire.
That included a swipe at allies of President Donald Trump, who had so objected to Puerto Rican artist Bad Bunny being the star of the Super Bowl halftime show that they had put on their own.
"I should warn you tonight could get political, okay?" he told Tinseltown's biggest names.
"And if that makes you uncomfortable, there's an alternate Oscars being hosted by Kid Rock."
A lengthy In Memoriam segment paid emotional tribute to director Rob Reiner, who was stabbed to death in his home in December, and to Robert Redford, which included a rare stage performance from Barbra Streisand.
Billy Crystal, whom Reiner cast opposite Meg Ryan in "When Harry Met Sally," said Reiner's effect on Hollywood was immeasurable.
"Rob's movies will last for lifetimes because they were about what makes us laugh and cry and what we aspire to be: far better in his eyes, far kinder, far funnier and far more human," he said.
Streisand, 83, who played opposite Redford in the 1973 classic "The Way We Were," said she had loved a man who affectionately called her "Babs."
"He was a brilliant, subtle actor," she said. "Bob had real backbone, on and off the screen.
"I called him an intellectual cowboy who blazed his own trail. I miss him now more than ever."  
hg/sst

film

Stars bring glamour to Oscars red carpet

BY SUSAN STUMME

  • - Hockey stars, real and fictional - Shane Hollander has made it to the Academy Awards.
  • Hollywood's best and brightest stars on Sunday hit the red carpet for the 98th Academy Awards, the movie industry's biggest night.
  • - Hockey stars, real and fictional - Shane Hollander has made it to the Academy Awards.
Hollywood's best and brightest stars on Sunday hit the red carpet for the 98th Academy Awards, the movie industry's biggest night.
Here are some of the top looks:

Spring hues

Pops of spring color were a welcome sight on the red carpet.
Jessie Buckley, who won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of William Shakespeare's grief-stricken wife in "Hamnet," looked regal in a red Chanel off-the-shoulder bodice and flowing pink ball skirt.
Chase Infiniti, who plays Leonardo DiCaprio's daughter in "One Battle After Another" is not a Oscar nominee -- but she has definitely arrived on the red carpet.
Infiniti oozed glamour in a lilac sleeveless Louis Vuitton dress with a fitted bodice and a cascade of ruffles tumbling from her hip to the floor, creating a long train.
And veteran director Spike Lee brought a splash of color to his ensemble of muted neutrals with a bright purple hat and bow tie. In the past, he has worn the hue to honor Prince.

Black and white

Black and white is a perennial favorite of the stars, and best actress nominee Rose Byrne embraced it, while also adopting the spring trend in a strapless black Dior gown covered in white blooms.
Byrne, nominated for her performance in "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You," told ABC the film was an "examination of parenthood."
Emma Stone, in Byrne's category for "Bugonia," rocked a shimmering white Louis Vuitton floor-length gown with cap sleeves.
And Teyana Taylor, who has ruled the red carpet all awards season, wore a black and white feathered sleeveless Chanel gown with a sheer panel over her toned stomach.
Best actor winner Michael B. Jordan ("Sinners") wore a custom Louis Vuitton black suit with a Chinese-inspired stand collar and onyx buttons.

Hockey stars, real and fictional

Shane Hollander has made it to the Academy Awards.
"Heated Rivalry" stars Hudson Williams has been everywhere since the gay hockey love story series went viral -- carrying the Olympic torch in Italy, appearing on "Saturday Night Live" alongside co-star Connor Storrie and now, the Oscars.
Williams rocked an all-black Balenciaga ensemble -- double-breasted suit, shirt and tie -- with a glittering brooch to finish the look.
But the Hollywood hockey star was not the only one at the Dolby Theatre.
Hilary Knight and Hannah Bilka, two of the stars of Team USA's gold medal winning women's ice hockey squad, were ready for their closeup on the Oscars red carpet.
bur-sst/mdo

film

'One Battle After Another' wins best picture Oscar

BY SUSAN STUMME

  • Despite Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" leading the nomination tally with a record-setting 16, "One Battle" racked up the precursor awards, from the Critics Choice Awards to the Golden Globes to the BAFTAs. Loosely based on Thomas Pynchon's novel "Vineland," the movie follows the story of the fictional French 75, a radical leftist revolutionary group staging a series of bombings in support of liberal causes.
  • Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" -- a wild tale of leftist revolutionaries, white supremacists and immigrant detention centers -- felt to many filmgoers like it offered a window on modern America.
  • Despite Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" leading the nomination tally with a record-setting 16, "One Battle" racked up the precursor awards, from the Critics Choice Awards to the Golden Globes to the BAFTAs. Loosely based on Thomas Pynchon's novel "Vineland," the movie follows the story of the fictional French 75, a radical leftist revolutionary group staging a series of bombings in support of liberal causes.
Paul Thomas Anderson's "One Battle After Another" -- a wild tale of leftist revolutionaries, white supremacists and immigrant detention centers -- felt to many filmgoers like it offered a window on modern America.
But the zany political satire -- chock full of heart-pounding car chases, gunfights and harrowing escapes -- also features romance, offbeat humor, and a touching story of a father's unconditional love for his daughter. 
That potent mix earned the movie a best picture Oscar on Sunday -- and overall top honors with a total of six golden statuettes.
"The thing that gets me really excited about making films is collaborating with people," Anderson told reporters backstage.
The director rallied a cast of megawatt A-listers including past Oscar winners Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn (who won again on Sunday) and Benicio Del Toro. He also got a searing breakthrough turn from Oscar nominee Teyana Taylor.
The film's Oscar success seemed preordained. 
Despite Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" leading the nomination tally with a record-setting 16, "One Battle" racked up the precursor awards, from the Critics Choice Awards to the Golden Globes to the BAFTAs.
Loosely based on Thomas Pynchon's novel "Vineland," the movie follows the story of the fictional French 75, a radical leftist revolutionary group staging a series of bombings in support of liberal causes.
Their work starts to go off the rails when they rescue a group of immigrants from a facility on the US-Mexico border, and group firebrand Perfidia Beverly Hills (Taylor) makes an enemy of the fantastically named Colonel Steve Lockjaw (Penn).
Perfidia vanishes, and her explosives expert lover Pat (DiCaprio) goes into hiding with their daughter Willa (newcomer Chase Infiniti). 
Lockjaw meanwhile slowly picks off each member of the French 75, and gets involved with a group of white supremacists called the Christmas Adventurers.
Cut to 16 years later, and Pat, known now as Bob Ferguson, is off the grid and in a constant state of paranoia. Lockjaw however locates him -- and isn't afraid to stage bogus immigration crackdowns to catch him.
Willa, now a teen, vanishes, but Bob, his brain addled by years of alcohol and drug use, struggles to reconnect with his revolutionary pals to find her. DiCaprio goes on a journey -- in his bathrobe and an unfortunate man bun -- to salvage his family.
"I love the idea that you expect this character's going to use massive espionage skills, but he cannot remember the password," DiCaprio told reporters in September when the film opened.

'It's not going away'

Car chases in the desert haze, a teen hidden by an order of nuns called the Sisters of the Brave Beaver, Del Toro chewing the scenery as karate dojo owner (and part-time savior of immigrants) Sensei Sergio: the film is relentless, leaving the viewer on edge.
The movie dissects "how we have stopped listening to one another, and how these characters thinking or acting in these extremes can bring a lot of hurt," DiCaprio told The New York Times.
It is the first movie in two decades directed by Anderson that is set in the present day, after "There Will Be Blood," "The Master," "Inherent Vice," "Phantom Thread" and "Licorice Pizza."
But Anderson insists his statement is not particular for this moment in time.
"The biggest mistake I could make in a story like this is to put politics up in the front," the filmmaker told the Los Angeles Times last year.
"You have to care about the characters and take those big swings in terms of the emotional arcs of people... That's not a thing that ever goes out of fashion. But neither does fascism."
"I'm not trying to diminish what's happening right now," he told the paper. "But I'm also trying to say that what’s worse is that it's not going away."
sst/msp

film

Oscars night: latest developments

  • Norway's from , which came into the night with nine nominations, took home that prize.
  • Welcome to Oscars night! 
  • Norway's from , which came into the night with nine nominations, took home that prize.
Welcome to Oscars night! 
AFP is bringing you all the latest developments from the star-studded 98th Academy Awards in Hollywood.
ComedianConan O'Brienhosted the evening that saw big winner"One Battle After Another"take home six awards followed by"Sinners"with four.
Here's the latest from the marathon night's final stretch:
won the night's top prize for best picture, capping off a dominant awards season run for the high-octane humorous thriller about a former revolutionary's search for his daughter.
Teyana Taylorput the director in a headlock as fellow starChase Infinitiwas bubbling over with joy.
"Let's have a martini -- this is pretty amazing," said Anderson, fresh off a win for best director.
"You make a guy work hard for one of these," said the widely acclaimed filmmaker, who won the first Oscars of his career for director, best adapted screenplay and picture as one of the film's producers.
"I wrote this movie for my kids to say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we're handing off to them," Anderson said in accepting that prize, "but also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency."
won the award for best actress for her starring role in
as William Shakespeare's grieving wife.
She called playing the character "the greatest collision of my life," as the film centered on motherhood and coincided with her own journey towards becoming a parent.
"It's Mother's Day in the UK today, so I would like to dedicate this to the beautiful chaos of a mother's heart," said a tearful Buckley. "We all come from a lineage of women who continue to create against all odds."
realized he'd walked onstage chewing gum, and -- before pretending to toss it into the audience -- swallowed it, recalling his winning moment from last year.
He then pulled handwritten notes out and feigned preparing for a lengthy monologue -- another reference to last year -- until show producers turned on the play-off music.
Brody then promptly presented the prize for best actor toMichael B. Jordanfor his role playing twin gangsters in"Sinners."
"God is good," said the actor to wild applause.
He thanked the team behind the film for "betting on a culture and betting on original ideas," adding that "I stand here because of the people that came before me," listing off Black Oscar winners includingSidney Poitier.
Jordan bested the likes of a surely disappointedTimothee Chalamet --who served as one of the night's punching bags over his recent belittling comments about ballet and opera.
used his time onstage as a presenter for best international film to make a statement:
said the Spanish actor, who wore pins with the same messages.
Norway's
from
, which came into the night with nine nominations, took home that prize.
He accepted the award in paraphrasing the famed Black American authorJames Baldwin, who Trier said "makes us remember that all adults are responsible for all children."
"Let's not vote for politicians who don't take this seriously into account."
The second musical performance of the night -- which followed a showstopping montage number from the smash "Sinners" -- was the beloved
from the "KPop Demon Hunters" fictional girl group.
The smash hit then got its flowers, taking home the prize for best original song and becoming the first KPop song to win the category.
"This song is not about success -- it's about resilience," said tearful singer-songwriterEjaeonstage.
"One Battle After Another"won the Oscar for best editing, while rival"Sinners"scored for cinematography.
became the first woman to win in the latter category, and paid homage to her predecessors.
"I'm so honored to be here and I really want all the women in the room to stand up because I feel like I don't get here without you guys," she said.
The best original screenplay prize went toRyan Cooglerfor"Sinners,"the acclaimed supernatural vampire drama set in the segregated Deep South, which he dubbed "an incredible honor" as he thanked his family and cast members.
mdo/sst

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South Koreans bask in Oscars triumph for 'KPop Demon Hunters'

  • South Koreans hailed their latest cultural product to infect the world with "K-syndrome" -- the irresistible surrender to the country's movies, music, books, fashion and cuisine.
  • South Korean fans and media basked in the success of "KPop Demon Hunters" on Monday after the film clinched two Oscars and added to the country's growing pantheon of cultural hits.
  • South Koreans hailed their latest cultural product to infect the world with "K-syndrome" -- the irresistible surrender to the country's movies, music, books, fashion and cuisine.
South Korean fans and media basked in the success of "KPop Demon Hunters" on Monday after the film clinched two Oscars and added to the country's growing pantheon of cultural hits.
The fantasy flick, a clash of good versus evil drawing heavily on Korean mythology and driven by a pulsing K-pop soundtrack, won the Academy Awards for best animated feature and best original song at Sunday's ceremony in Hollywood.
It had already built a massive global following, becoming the most-watched original film of all time on streaming giant Netflix and hoovering up accolades including a Grammy for lead track "Golden", the first such win for a K-pop song.
South Koreans hailed their latest cultural product to infect the world with "K-syndrome" -- the irresistible surrender to the country's movies, music, books, fashion and cuisine.
"So the so-called K-syndrome is now going into animated film as well," wrote one viewer using the YouTube handle Kim Chang-soo, echoing widespread pride online.
Much of the domestic reaction centred on Korean-Canadian co-director Maggie Kang's emotional acceptance speech, with the Seoul-born filmmaker dedicating the prizes to her motherland.
"The culture ministry should at least award her a medal for that speech!" one internet user commented on a news portal.
A headline in the Hankook Ilbo newspaper quoted Kang's address directly, blaring: "This is for Korea and Koreans everywhere".
News channel YTN lavished praise on Kang's "heartfelt message to Korea", referring to the movie by its affectionate shorthand "Kedehun", a combination of the title's first three syllables.
The film's dual Oscars triumph caps a remarkable run since its June release on Netflix.
On the back of its blockbuster-style debut, the platform also released a limited "sing-along" edition in North American cinemas for one weekend, which topped the box-office chart.
Netflix has already announced a sequel, though no release date has been set.
The film's Grammy win for "Golden" was widely viewed as a breakthrough moment for K-pop, marking the genre's first victory at an awards show that had eluded the industry despite its global popularity.
kjk/mjw

film

Ryan Coogler: from indie to blockbuster to Oscar

BY SUSAN STUMME

  • "I see Ryan the most in this movie," Jordan told The Hollywood Reporter.
  • Ryan Coogler launched his career with an indie look at police brutality in America.
  • "I see Ryan the most in this movie," Jordan told The Hollywood Reporter.
Ryan Coogler launched his career with an indie look at police brutality in America. He moved on to transform the Marvel universe culture with his blockbuster "Black Panther" films.
And now, just shy of his 40th birthday, Coogler is an Oscar winner, for best original screenplay for horror period piece "Sinners," an unlikely mash-up of racial segregation, Southern blues and vampire-fueled gore.
The Warner Bros film -- starring Coogler's steady collaborator, Michael B. Jordan, as twins in 1930s Mississippi -- became a box office smash, raking in nearly $370 million worldwide.
"I'm very nervous and they're gonna play me off. I grew up in Oakland, California, and we can talk a lot," Coogler said Sunday.
"This is an incredible honor."
Despite initial skepticism by industry insiders about the film, "Sinners" shattered the record for most Academy Awards nominations for a single film with 16.
It ended up with four awards -- best actor for Jordan, Coogler's prize, best score for Ludwig Goransson and best cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw, the first woman to ever win in that category.

From Oakland to Cannes

Coogler's rapid ascent onto Hollywood's A list was hardly likely back when he was intending to major in chemistry at college.
He was born on May 23, 1986 in Oakland, California, across the bay from San Francisco. 
He remained in the area for his entire childhood, running track and playing football -- a sport that would lead to a scholarship for college.
Praise from the teacher of a creative writing course during his freshman year sparked an interest in screenwriting, and Coogler took film classes while earning a degree in finance.
A gift of screenwriting software from girlfriend Zinzi -- now his wife, production partner and mother of their three children -- further kindled his ambition.
"When football began to feel like a chapter he might be closing, I could see he was looking for a place to pour that same energy into, and filmmaking was it," she told The Hollywood Reporter. 
Two years after earning a graduate degree from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, Coogler wrote and directed "Fruitvale Station," his first feature.
The 2013 film recounted the real-life story of Oscar Grant, a young Black man who was shot dead by a transit police officer in Oakland during a 2009 arrest, sparking protests and riots.
The movie marked his first collaboration with Jordan -- who has gone on to star in all of Coogler's work. It earned multiple awards, including at the Sundance and Cannes film festivals.
It was only the beginning.

Blockbusters

Coogler followed up with "Creed" (2015) a spin-off of the "Rocky" franchise, with Jordan as the young boxer, and Sylvester Stallone reprising his iconic role -- as his trainer.
Three years later, he released "Black Panther," putting a rich portrait of the fictional high-tech African country Wakanda on screen -- and elevating Black representation in Hollywood.
"Black Panther" went on to win three Oscars, and secured a best picture nomination.
Its 2022 sequel was largely defined by the death of star Chadwick Boseman after a battle with cancer, which forced Coogler to rewrite the film.
"Me and Chad were getting closer, so it was like a wound to the heart," Coogler told The Hollywood Reporter.

Vampires and the blues

So far, "Sinners" is perhaps his most personal project -- sparked by wanting to learn more about a great-uncle who had introduced him to the blues and was from Mississippi.
It also came from his own imagination, not from current events or existing intellectual property.
"I did feel more vulnerable," Coogler told The New York Times about the experience.
Jordan plays both Smoke and Stack, twin brothers who fought in World War I and return home to the southern state after a time in Chicago working for crime lords such as Al Capone.
They want to open a juke joint -- but their dreams collide with the ghosts of slavery, white supremacy and the white vampires as a metaphor for the exploitation of Blacks.
One central scene that employs magical realism to trace the history of Black music from West Africa through the blues to present-day hip-hop is a standout -- before the blood flows.
"I see Ryan the most in this movie," Jordan told The Hollywood Reporter.
Upcoming projects include the third "Black Panther" film and a new cinematic take on "The X-Files," the 1990s hit sci-fi show about FBI agents investigating the unknown.
sst/bgs

film

Oscar winners in main categories

  • "One Battle After Another" emerged as the big winner with six awards, followed by "Sinners" with four.
  • Here are the winners in key categories for the 98th Academy Awards, which were handed out in Hollywood on Sunday.
  • "One Battle After Another" emerged as the big winner with six awards, followed by "Sinners" with four.
Here are the winners in key categories for the 98th Academy Awards, which were handed out in Hollywood on Sunday.
"One Battle After Another" emerged as the big winner with six awards, followed by "Sinners" with four.
Best picture: "One Battle After Another"
Best director: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best actor: Michael B. Jordan, "Sinners"
Best actress: Jessie Buckley, "Hamnet"
Best supporting actor: Sean Penn, "One Battle After Another"
Best supporting actress: Amy Madigan, "Weapons"
Best original screenplay: Ryan Coogler, "Sinners"
Best adapted screenplay: Paul Thomas Anderson, "One Battle After Another"
Best international feature film: "Sentimental Value" (Norway)
Best animated feature: "Kpop Demon Hunters"
Best documentary feature: "Mr. Nobody Against Putin"
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film

Paul Thomas Anderson: eclectic filmmaker, critical darling

BY HUW GRIFFITH

  • The filmmaker had already won a BAFTA, a Critics Choice Award, a Golden Globe and a Directors Guild Award in the run-up to the Academy Awards.
  • Director Paul Thomas Anderson has often been on the outside looking in during an eclectic career of boundary-pushing filmmaking, but he received the ultimate insider's accolade Sunday -- the Oscar for best director of his acclaimed "One Battle After Another."
  • The filmmaker had already won a BAFTA, a Critics Choice Award, a Golden Globe and a Directors Guild Award in the run-up to the Academy Awards.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson has often been on the outside looking in during an eclectic career of boundary-pushing filmmaking, but he received the ultimate insider's accolade Sunday -- the Oscar for best director of his acclaimed "One Battle After Another."
The Los Angeles native has long been a critical darling, with a raft of previous Academy Award nominations dating back to his breakout film "Boogie Nights" and including his last feature "Licorice Pizza."
But "One Battle After Another" -- with an all-star cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Teyana Taylor -- has proved unstoppable during awards season.
Anderson also took home the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay and shared the Oscar for best picture as a producer.
"I'm so happy to call the movies home," Anderson told the audience.
With "One Battle After Another" a quirky tale about a pot-addled revolutionary who must get back into the game to rescue his daughter, the 55-year-old Anderson bested Chloe Zhao for "Hamnet," Josh Safdie for "Marty Supreme," Joachim Trier for "Sentimental Value" and Ryan Coogler for "Sinners."
The filmmaker had already won a BAFTA, a Critics Choice Award, a Golden Globe and a Directors Guild Award in the run-up to the Academy Awards.

'Boogie Nights' breakthrough

Born in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1970, Anderson grew up in California and studied at New York University before dropping out after a single semester.
By then, Anderson had already developed a strong interest in film, having made a 30-minute mockumentary about a male porn star during high school.
The subject of the film would form the inspiration for his 1997 breakthrough movie "Boogie Nights," often described as the best big-screen depiction of the porn industry, which earned Anderson his first Oscar nomination for best original screenplay.
The film also garnered an Oscar nod for Julianne Moore and burnished the reputations of a crop of young actors who subsequently went on to great success including Mark Wahlberg, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Don Cheadle and John C. Reilly.
Anderson followed "Boogie Nights" with the 1999 drama "Magnolia," which skillfully interweaves the lives of several people living in the San Fernando Valley suburbs of Los Angeles.
The film -- which earned Anderson another Oscars nod for best original screenplay, and an acting nomination for Tom Cruise -- famously featured a bizarre biblical twist in which the sky suddenly rains down thousands of exploding frogs.
The quirky 2002 rom-com "Punch-Drunk Love" followed, starring Adam Sandler as a hapless small business owner who falls for his sister's co-worker (Emily Watson).
While the film was a critical hit, it flopped at the box office, recouping only $17 million against a $25 million budget.
As a result, Anderson had trouble raising funding for his next film "There Will Be Blood," based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 book "Oil!" and shot in Texas for a budget of around $25 million.
But it ended up with eight Oscar nominations and two statuettes -- for best actor Daniel Day-Lewis and best cinematography.

Loyal company of actors

Perhaps due to his habit of creating roles for his stars that result in critical accolades, several of Anderson's movies have seen him reunite with a stable of revered actors.
Anderson teamed up again with Hoffman for 1950s-set "The Master," which centered on a Scientology-inspired nascent cult called "The Cause." All three lead actors -- Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams -- were nominated for Oscars.
Phoenix then worked again with Anderson on "Inherent Vice," the first-ever screen adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel. The 1970s-set Los Angeles detective noir earned Anderson an adapted screenplay Oscar nomination.
And in 2017, Day-Lewis returned for "Phantom Thread."
The fashion drama set in 1950s London earned Day-Lewis his third best actor Oscar. 
Anderson tapped into a different talent pool for "Licorice Pizza," his nostalgic 1970s love letter to the San Fernando Valley.
Anderson earned his third directing nomination for the film -- after "There Will Be Blood" and "Phantom Thread" -- along with best picture and screenplay nods, but came away empty-handed from the 2022 ceremony.
Away from the screen, Anderson's partner is actress and comedian Maya Rudolph. The couple has four children.
amz-hg/sst

film

Michael B. Jordan battles his way to Oscar for 'Sinners'

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

  • - 'Charisma' - The twin roles fall right in line with other characters designed for Jordan by Coogler, who has featured the actor in all of his films -- always a complicated, imperfect man.
  • Michael B. Jordan on Sunday won the best actor Oscar for playing twins confronted with pure evil in vampire race fable "Sinners" -- tortured fighters typical of the roles director Ryan Coogler has repeatedly created for him.
  • - 'Charisma' - The twin roles fall right in line with other characters designed for Jordan by Coogler, who has featured the actor in all of his films -- always a complicated, imperfect man.
Michael B. Jordan on Sunday won the best actor Oscar for playing twins confronted with pure evil in vampire race fable "Sinners" -- tortured fighters typical of the roles director Ryan Coogler has repeatedly created for him.
Jordan made good on the momentum he gained by winning the SAG Actor Award two weeks ago to bring home an Academy Award in his first try.
He bested "Marty Supreme" star Timothee Chalamet, who had been the frontrunner for most of Hollywood's awards season, along with Leonardo DiCaprio of "One Battle After Another," Wagner Moura ("The Secret Agent") and Ethan Hawke ("Blue Moon").
At age 39, Jordan joins a small circle of Black actors who have won the prestigious best actor Oscar, after Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker and Will Smith.
"I stand here because of the people who came before me," an emotional Jordan told the audience.
"Sinners," a supernatural tale of racial segregation in 1930s Mississippi, was a box office success in large part due to Jordan's compelling performances as Smoke and Stack, World War I veterans who return home after working in organized crime in Chicago.
The brothers want to open an off-the-books juke joint, smack in the middle of the Prohibition era. 
Of course, they want to make some money, but they also want to help the locals drown their sorrows in alcohol and the blues.
Things quickly go sour when white vampires come calling, looking to quench their thirst for blood and music.

'Charisma'

The twin roles fall right in line with other characters designed for Jordan by Coogler, who has featured the actor in all of his films -- always a complicated, imperfect man.
The pair started their collaboration with "Fruitvale Station" (2013), in which Jordan played Oscar Grant, a young Black man battling fate until he is shot dead by a police officer. 
They moved on to the titular boxer in "Creed," tormented by his father's legacy, and the villainous Killmonger of "Black Panther," traumatized by being an orphan in a racist world.
Coogler says Jordan's success in tough roles is a "testament to his charisma."
"As soon as you put the camera on him, you just naturally care about the guy, he told The New York Times in April last year, when "Sinners" debuted.
The filmmaker has turned Jordan into a star over the last decade, even when the actor doubted he could overcome the perennial obstacles for Black performers in Hollywood.
Coogler "gave me the reassurance and the confidence that I needed," Jordan told the Times in the same interview.
"It made me double down and fueled this fire that I had to make it a reality."

'Workaholic'

Born in California on February 9, 1987 and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Jordan's teacher mom pushed him into modeling at age 11.
After a few commercials, Jordan picked up small television roles before his first real break, appearing in a season of the lauded HBO crime drama "The Wire" at age 15.
He then did stints on soap opera "All My Children" and the NBC football drama "Friday Night Lights" before moving on to the big screen with a role in 2012's "Red Tails," about the Tuskegee Airmen, a crew of Black pilots during World War II.
"Fruitvale Station" came out the following year, and his partnership with Coogler was sealed.
In 2015, the director called him back for "Creed," a reboot of the "Rocky" franchise with Jordan playing Adonis, the son of Rocky's nemesis Apollo Creed and Sylvester Stallone sliding back into his signature role -- this time as Adonis's trainer.
His first taste of the superhero genre came in the unfancied 2015 adaptation of "Fantastic Four" as Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, but "Black Panther" and its sequel solidified his presence in the Marvel cinematic universe.
Since then, Jordan has carefully managed his image. 
He has made no secret of going to therapy to shed Killmonger's demons, but has said little about his private life and described himself to GQ last year as a "workaholic" whose longest relationship lasted a year.
In recent years, he has moved into co-producing some of the films in which he has appeared, including "Just Mercy" and "Without Remorse." He even directed the third installment of the "Creed" series himself.
He is directing and starring in an upcoming adaptation of "The Thomas Crown Affair," expected in theaters in 2027, in which he will play the role of the gentleman thief previously taken on by Steve McQueen and Pierce Brosnan.
But Jordan has a new dream.
"I'm looking forward to directing something that I'm not in at all," he told Vanity Fair earlier this year.  
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