The Changing 'Stream': Why The 2022 Oscars May Be Remembered As Historic (No, Not Because Of Will Smith)

While the 94th Academy Awards are in the news for reasons other than what the organisers would’ve ‘willed’ against, there were several feats that were witnessed at the Oscars this year.

Apple TV+’s CODA which was adjudged as the Best Picture was the first film produced by a streaming service to win the award. CODA was nominated in just three categories – Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor – and won in all the three.

Netflix’s Power of the Dog, which had 12 nominations in its name, won only one award. However, it also became the first film distributed by a streaming platform to become the most nominated film in an edition of the Oscars.

In all, ten films by Netflix bagged a whopping 27 nominations this year. Netflix remains the most nominated streaming service at Oscars but is yet to win a Best Picture. Notably, Amazon’s Manchester by the Sea in 2016 got the first Best Picture nomination for a film by a streaming service.

Meanwhile, Disney+’s Luca was nominated in the Best Animated Feature Film and Amazon’s Being The Ricardos was nominated in three acting categories – Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actor. A total of 13 films out of the 23 winners were distributed by streaming services either exclusively or alongside a theatrical release.

CODA’s Troy Kotsur won the Best Supporting Actor award. He consequently became the first deaf man to win an Oscar for acting. Incidentally, the first deaf actor to ever win an Oscar, Marlee Matlin also starred in CODA. She had won the Best Actress in 1987 for her role in Children of a Lesser God.

The sci-fi fantasy Dune was nominated in ten categories and won six, sweeping almost all the laurels in technical departments. The film won the Best Visual Effects award and one of the VFX companies that worked on the film is the UK based DNEG (Double Negative) headed by Namit Malhotra who is the CEO of the company.

With six Oscars under its belt, DNEG was behind the VFX of major movies like Tenet, First Man, Interstellar, Ex Machina, Inception, Chernobyl, Blade Runner 2049, The Dark Knight Rises, Dunkirk, Altered Carbon, Foundation, Sherlock Holmes, and Last Night In Soho.

Will Smith won the Best Actor award for his performance in the film King Richard. This was the first Oscar of his career. Ariana DeBose who won the Best Supporting Actress for West Side Story became the first queer Black woman to win in any acting category.