Academy Awards, including the coveted Best Picture. The annual star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles, United States, on Sunday night also saw No Other Land, a documentary film about the plight of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, winning an Oscar. Anora’s 25-year-old star, Mikey Madison, was named Best Actress, while the film also earned Best Director for Sean Baker and trophies for original screenplay and editing.

In his acceptance speech, Baker exhorted filmmakers to keep creating projects for the big screen, bemoaning the erosion of the theatregoing experience. “In a time in which the world can feel very divided, this is more important than ever,” Baker said. “It’s a communal experience you simply don’t get at home. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry.” Anora was made for $6million, a tiny sum by Hollywood standards. It emerged as the winner in an unpredictable Oscars race that included papal thriller Conclave, Jewish immigrant story The Brutalist, and blockbuster musical Wicked.

“If you’re trying to make independent films, please keep doing it. We need more. This is proof,” Baker said. Adrien Brody claimed his second Oscar, winning the Best Actor award for his role as a Jewish immigrant and architect who chases the American dream in The Brutalist. His first win came 22 years ago for The Pianist when he was 29.

Zoe Saldana was named Best Supporting Actress for her role as the fixer for a Mexican drug lord in Emilia Perez, a Spanish-language musical, while Kieran Culkin won the Best Supporting Actor award for the film, A Real Pain. I’m Still Here, a film about a family torn apart by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for more than two decades, gave the country its first Oscar win in the international film category. The Walter Salles film stars Fernanda Torres as Eunice Paiva, the wife of Rubens Paiva, a former leftist Brazilian congressman who, at the height of the country’s military dictatorship in 1971, was taken from his family’s Rio de Janeiro home and never returned.