On Sunday, the 94th Academy Awards event occurred at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California. Although eight categories were awarded in a minor event before the show, something the three hosts—Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes—joked about during the opening ceremony of the show, the Best Picture category was given its usual place of honor at the end of the show. This year’s awards recognize movies released between March 1 and December 31, 2021.

This year, the Best Picture nominees included the movie Belfast, directed by Kenneth Branagh and starring Jude Hill, Lewis McAskie, Caitriona Balfe, and Jamie Dornan. As well as Best Actor-winner Will Smith’s King Richard, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, Don’t Look Up, directed by Adam McKay and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, and more, Licorice Pizza, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starring Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim, as well as CODA, Drive My Car, Dune, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog and West Side Story.

Taking home Best Picture was CODA, making it the first cast of predominantly deaf/non-hearing cast members in leading roles and the first straight-to-streaming film to win the Best Picture category. CODA won three Oscars at the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Writer and director Sian Heder also won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. For the third Oscar, Troy Kotsude became the first deaf actor to win the Oscar for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The film follows the story of a child of deaf adults, also called a CODA (hence the film’s title), Ruby (Emilia Jones), the only hearing person in her family. When Ruby gets a chance to pursue music at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston, she is torn between the fear of abandoning her family while their business is being threatened and her love of music. The film’s cast also includes stars Eugenio Derbez and Daniel Durant.

CODA also made history at the 75th British Academy Film Awards, winning two, including Best Supporting Actor for Kotsur, making him the first deaf person ever to win a BAFTA. Then, at the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards, the film made history again when Kotsur, Matlin, and Durant became the first deaf performers to win a SAG award, Jones, Derbez, and Ferdia Walsh-Peelo for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

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CODA’s Troy Kotsur Makes History

CODA’s Troy Kotsur made history at Sunday’s Academy Awards as the second deaf actor to win an Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The first deaf actor to win an Oscar was his CODA co-star and on-screen wife Marlee Matlin, who won an Oscar Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1986 for Children of a Lesser God. However, he makes history as the first deaf male actor to win an Oscar in the category.

Kotsur acknowledged the monumental moment in his acceptance speech, “This is dedicated to the Deaf community. The CODA community. The disabled community.” Then, he paused and added, “This is our moment.”

Kotsur’s role in CODA has already earned him numerous accolades. He took home the Best Supporting Actor honor at this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, British Actor Film Award, and the Critics Choice Awards. He also took home the Bes Supporting Male win at the Independent Spirit Award and Gotham Independent Film Awards.

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