The 2019 Awards season concluded last night with the 91st Academy Awards, where Oscars were presented to Green Book for Best Picture, Lady Gaga for Best Song, and Free Solo for Best Documentary Feature, among many others.
Free Solo is the critically-acclaimed and visually arresting National Geographic Films documentary following rock climber Alex Honnold as he makes a record-breaking attempt to scale El Capitan without the aid of ropes.
The film was directed by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and edited by New York Film Academy (NYFA) faculty Bob Eisenhardt. Eisenhardt, who is a three-time Emmy winner, is an editing instructor for NYFA’s Documentary Filmmaking department. He was previously nominated by the Academy for Best Documentary Short and has edited two previous Oscar-winning films. He’s also won the American Cinema Editors “Eddie” Award twice, including this year for his work on Free Solo.
Another nominee in the Best Documentary category was the hit film RBG, which was shot by Claudia Raschke, cinematography instructor for the NYFA Documentary Filmmaking department.
The rest of the ceremony provided some predicted wins for Oscar favorites as well as some surprises. In addition to Best Picture, Green Book won Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali. Black Panther picked up several awards, including for Production Design, Costume Design, and Original Score.
Olivia Colman won Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Favourite and Rami Malek picked up Best Actor in a Leading Role for Bohemian Rhapsody. Regina King won Best Supporting Actress for If Beale Street Could Talk. The veteran actress has also directed for several television series, including NYFA alum Issa Rae’s HBO series Insecure.
Netflix was also a big winner last night. Its film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs had three nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay. Two of the nominees in the Documentary Short category are Netflix productions as well—its film Period. End of Sentence. won the Oscar. Netflix’s most high profile film was Best Picture nominee Roma, which won Best Foreign Language Film and picked up Best Director and Best Cinematography for Alfonso Cuarón. In his speech, he thanked Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos, who spoke with NYFA students last year, for the support he gave to Cuarón’s deeply personal passion project.
The NYFA community celebrated other nominations as well—Best Actress nominee Glenn Close and Best Supporting Actor nominee Adam Driver are both previous guest speakers for the Academy. NYFA alum Francesco Panzieri worked as a VFX artist on Avengers: Infinity War, which was nominated for Best Visual Effects. Broadcast Journalism alum Celina Liv Danielsen attended the ceremony, covering the red carpet for Danish network TV-2.
The New York Film Academy congratulates all the winners and nominees of the evening and applauds Documentary Filmmaking instructor Bob Eisenhardt for his work on Academy Award winner Free Solo!
Here is a complete list of the 2019 Academy Award winners:
BEST PICTURE
Black Panther
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Favourite
Green Book – WINNER
Roma
A Star Is Born
Vice
DIRECTING
BlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee
Cold War, Paweł Pawlikowski
The Favourite, Yorgos Lanthimos
Roma, Alfonso Cuarón – WINNER
Vice, Adam McKay
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Favourite, Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
First Reformed, Paul Schrader
Green Book, Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, and Peter Farrelly – WINNER
Roma, Alfonso Cuarón
Vice, Adam McKay
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
BlacKKKlansman, Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott, and Spike Lee – WINNER
Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins
A Star Is Born, Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, and Will Fetters
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Christian Bale, Vice
Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born
Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate
Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody – WINNER
Viggo Mortensen, Green Book
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Yalitza Aparicio, Roma
Glenn Close, The Wife
Olivia Colman, The Favourite – WINNER
Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born
Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams, Vice
Marina de Tavira, Roma
Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk – WINNER
Emma Stone, The Favourite
Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Mahershala Ali, Green Book – WINNER
Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman
Sam Elliott, A Star Is Born
Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Sam Rockwell, Vice
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Free Solo – WINNER
Hale County This Morning, This Evening
Minding the Gap
Of Fathers and Sons
RBG
DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Black Sheep
End Game
Lifeboat
A Night at the Garden
Period. End of Sentence. – WINNER
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Capernaum, Lebanon
Cold War, Poland
Never Look Away, Germany
Roma, Mexico – WINNER
Shoplifters, Japan
ANIMATED FEATURE
Incredibles 2
Isle of Dogs
Mirai
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – WINNER
ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Animal Behavior
Bao – WINNER
Late Afternoon
One Small Step
Weekends
LIVE ACTION SHORT
Detainment
Fauve
Marguerite
Mother
Skin – WINNER
ORIGINAL SCORE
Black Panther – WINNER
BlacKkKlansman
If Beale Street Could Talk
Isle of Dogs
Mary Poppins Returns
ORIGINAL SONG
“All the Stars,” Black Panther
“I’ll Fight,” RBG
“The Place Where Lost Things Go,” Mary Poppins Returns
“Shallow,” A Star Is Born – WINNER
“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings,” The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cold War, Lukasz Zal
The Favourite, Robbie Ryan
Never Look Away, Caleb Deschanel
Roma, Alfonso Cuarón – WINNER
A Star Is Born, Matthew Libatique
FILM EDITING
BlacKkKlansman
Bohemian Rhapsody – WINNER
The Favourite
Green Book
Vice
PRODUCTION DESIGN
Black Panther – WINNER
The Favourite
First Man
Mary Poppins Returns
Roma
COSTUME DESIGN
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Black Panther – WINNER
The Favourite
Mary Poppins Returns
Mary Queen of Scots
SOUND MIXING
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody – WINNER
First Man
Roma
A Star Is Born
SOUND EDITING
Black Panther
Bohemian Rhapsody – WINNER
First Man
A Quiet Place
Roma
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLE
Border
Mary Queen of Scots
Vice – WINNER
VISUAL EFFECTS
Avengers: Infinity War
Christopher Robin
First Man – WINNER
Ready Player One
Solo: A Star Wars Story