This Kansas City native, a Shawnee Mission grad, wins the Oscar for best picture
This piece of the Oscar ceremony went according to script.
“Nomadland” entered the Academy Awards as the front-runner for best picture. After all, it had already won top honors from the Producers Guild and Directors Guild, the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes.
And sure enough, the Oscars’ top prize Sunday night went to the drama co-produced by Kansas City native Peter Spears, who was raised in Overland Park and graduated from Shawnee Mission South High School.
His fellow producers: Chloé Zhao, who became the first woman of color to win best director, and Frances McDormand, who also won best actress for her role as a woman who makes a new kind of home for herself roaming the American West, doing odd jobs. The other producers were Dan Janvey and Mollye Asher.
First, Zhao — who is Chinese and only the second woman ever to win best director — accepted the award for all of the producers, thanking the real-life nomads who appeared in the film.
“Thank you for teaching us the power of resilience and hope and for reminding us what true kindness looks like,” she said.
Next it was McDormand’s turn, and she looked ahead to a post-COVID future: “One day very very soon, take everyone you know into a theater, shoulder to shoulder in that dark space and watch every film that’s represented here tonight.
“We give this one to our wolf.” And then she let out a howl.
Later backstage in the press room, Zhao explained that it was a tribute to Michael Wolf Snyder, a production sound mixer on the film who died by suicide at 35 earlier this year.
Spears himself did not speak, but he did get a lengthy stretch on the Oscar broadcast as the camera followed him and fellow winners heading backstage.
Spears and McDormand had optioned the Jessica Bruder book that “Nomadland” is based on. He told The Star last month that he and McDormand met over coffee with Zhao to discuss the film, and she ran with it.
“Nomadland” was up for six awards. It is now streaming on Hulu.
Earlier in the evening, predictions held true for the supporting acting categories: Daniel Kaluuya won best supporting actor for “Judas and the Black Messiah,” and Yuh-Jung Youn won the supporting actress award for “Minari.”
Usually, the best picture honor caps the Oscar ceremonies. But this time, it was third to last, followed by best actress and actor.
Perhaps Oscar producers planned to end the night by crowning the late Chadwick Boseman, the runaway favorite for his riveting performance in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” But the evening ended in a plot twist: Anthony Hopkins won the acting award for his devastating portrayal of dementia in “The Father.” At 83, he is the oldest performer to win an acting award.
Hopkins did not attend the ceremonies, but Monday morning he posted a video acceptance speech. “I want to pay tribute to Chadwick Boseman who was taken from us far too early,” Hopkins said. “I really did not expect this, so I feel very privileged and honored.”
Boseman died last summer of colon cancer at age 43.
The Oscar winners
Picture: “Nomadland”
Actor: Anthony Hopkins, “The Father”
Actress: Frances McDormand, “Nomadland”
Supporting actor: Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Supporting actress: Yuh-Jung Youn, “Minari”
Director: Chloé Zhao, “Nomadland”
International feature: “Another Round” (Denmark)
Animated feature: “Soul”
Documentary: “My Octopus Teacher”
Adapted screenplay: Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, “The Father”
Original screenplay: Emerald Fennell, “Promising Young Woman”
Original score: “Soul” (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste)
Original song: “Fight for You” from “Judas and the Black Messiah” (music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; lyrics by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas)
Short film (animated): “If Anything Happens I Love You”
Short film (live action): “Two Distant Strangers”
Short film (documentary): “Colette”
Cinematography: “Mank”
Film editing: “Sound of Metal”
Costume design: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Makeup and hairstyling: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”
Production design: “Mank”
Sound: “Sound of Metal”
Visual effects: “Tenet”
This story was originally published April 25, 2021 at 10:55 PM with the headline "This Kansas City native, a Shawnee Mission grad, wins the Oscar for best picture."
