The Oscars, also known as the Academy Awards, are used as honor achievements for all kinds of cinematography. This year, the event will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. These awards have been presented by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the past 98 years and grant awards to the best picture, director, actor, actress and screenplay of the previous year.
Best Picture
The best picture award, also known as the most prestigious and highest award given out of the entire ceremony, is used to show honor for the best film of that given year.
The nominations for 2026 are “Train Dreams,” “Marty Supreme,” “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Sinners,” “Hamnet,” “Frankenstein,” “One Battle After Another,” “Sentimental Value” and “The Secret Agent.” These movies earned their spot as a nominee for this award because they showed success in the box office and had overall good reviews from the public.
Best Screenplay
Unlike the other awards given throughout the night, what makes the best screenplay award unique is that, rather than being decided by the AMPAS members and judges, this award is chosen by a vote from their peers in the writing industry. It is awarded to honor original scripts that aren’t adapted from books or other media and focuses on the script’s ability to focus on the story, dialogue and structure.
The movie scripts selected as nominations are “Marty Supreme,” written by Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein; “Blue Moon,” written by Robert Kaplow; “Sentimental Value,” written by Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt; “It Was Just An Accident,” written by Jafar Panahi and “Sinners,” written by Ryan Coogler.
Best Actor/Actress
Near the end, the best actor and actress award is given and is used to act as the climax for the whole ceremony. This achievement is used to demonstrate an actor’s outstanding performance in their leading role and is known as the highest honor in the entire film industry. The winners of the best actor and actress awards receive the gold-plated statuette known as the Oscar.
This year, the nominees for best actor are Leonardo DiCaprio for the film “One Battle After Another,” Michael B. Jordan for the film “Sinners,” Timothée Chalamet for the film “Marty Supreme,” Ethan Hawke for the film “Blue Moon” and Wagner Moura for the film “The Secret Agent.” For the best actress award, the nominees are Emma Stone for the film “Bugonia,” Rose Byrne for the film “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Jessie Buckley for the film “Hamnet,” Renate Reinsve for the film “Sentimental Value” and Kate Hudson for the film “Song Sung Blue.”
Best Director
The final award of the night is the best director award and it is given to recognize a director’s way of storytelling and bringing their artistic vision to life. This includes looking at the way the director does camera work, lighting and the overall pacing of the storyline.
The 2026 nominees are Chloé Zhao, who directed “Hamnet,” Joachim Trier, who directed “Sentimental Value,” Paul Thomas Anderson, who directed “One Battle After Another,” Ryan Coogler, who directed “Sinners” and Josh Safdie, who directed “Marty Supreme.”
While these are the main categories for the Academy Awards, there are 24 in total. Some other categories that will be covered at this event include best international feature film, animated feature, supporting actor and actress, original song, original score, documentary feature, live action short film, animated short film, visual effects, etc. All of these categories have five nominees, except for the best picture award which has ten nominations.
This night is recognized as a prestigious event and the biggest honor in film history. It is where you witness your favorite actors walk the red carpet and get to recognize them all for their cinematic excellence. Being known as Hollywood’s biggest night, the Oscar’s shows as a reminder for how far the film industry has come since 1929.
