A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
President Trump's politics and war in the Middle East came up several times at Sunday night's Academy Awards, where "One Battle After Another" won Best Picture. NPR's Mandalit del Barco was in the audience at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Mandalit, tell us about the big winners.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Yeah, so "One Battle After Another," a film about revolutionaries, won six Oscars in all. Paul Thomas Anderson wrote, directed and produced the drama. And onstage for winning for Best Adapted Screenplay, Anderson said he wrote the film for his kids.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SPECIAL, "THE OSCARS")
PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON: To say sorry for the housekeeping mess that we left in this world we're handing off to them, but also with the encouragement that they will be the generation that hopefully brings us some common sense and decency.
DEL BARCO: The film's casting director, Cassandra Kulukundis, earned the very first Oscar given for Best Achievement in Casting. And all night, "One Battle After Another" duked it out with the supernatural thriller "Sinners." Director Ryan Coogler won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar. The film's star, Michael B. Jordan, got a standing ovation when he won the Oscar for Best Lead Actor.
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MICHAEL B JORDAN: Whew, man, y'all.
(APPLAUSE)
JORDAN: I stand here because of the people that came before me, Sidney Poitier, Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, Jamie Foxx, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith.
DEL BARCO: Among "Sinners'" four awards, one was historic. Autumn Durald Arkapaw became the first woman in the Academy Award's 98-year history to win for Best Cinematography. And Jessie Buckley was crowned Best Lead Actress for her role in "Hamnet" as William Shakespeare's wife. She became the first Irish actress to win the award.
MARTÍNEZ: So a lot of Oscar love to go around. Any snubs or any surprises during the ceremony?
DEL BARCO: Well, first, A, there were some really touching moments. Comedian Billy Crystal gave a really heartfelt tribute to his friends Rob and Michele Reiner. They were killed at their home in December. The late actress Diane Keaton was honored. And Barbra Streisand sang for her friend and costar Robert Redford, who died in September.
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BARBRA STREISAND: (Singing) The way we were.
DEL BARCO: And as for snubs, the ping-pong movie Marty Supreme didn't get much love at the Oscars. Star Timothée Chalamet's comments dissing opera and ballet made him the butt of more than one joke during the night.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah, host Conan O'Brien was among those making fun of Chalamet. But he also got political, as did a few others in the ceremony. Tell us about what some people said.
DEL BARCO: Well, during his monologue, Conan also referred to the Super Bowl's counterprogramming, saying that an alternative Oscars ceremony was being held by Kid Rock. But before presenting the award for Best International Feature Film, actor Javier Bardem was more serious.
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JAVIER BARDEM: No to war. And free Palestine.
(CHEERING)
DEL BARCO: Now, former Oscar host Jimmy Kimmel was onstage making some jabs at President Trump without naming him. Then he presented the Oscar to the winner of the Best Documentary Feature, "Mr. Nobody Against Putin." Codirector David Borenstein told the audience his film is about how to lose your country.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SPECIAL, "THE OSCARS")
DAVID BORENSTEIN: When we act complicit when a government murders people on the streets of our major cities. When we don't say anything when oligarchs take over the media and control how we could produce it and consume it.
(CHEERING)
DEL BARCO: And backstage, Borenstein said his Russian colleagues and friends have warned him that democratic backsliding is happening faster in America than it did in Russia under President Vladimir Putin in his early years.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. That's NPR's Mandalit del Barco. Thanks a lot for staying up late.
DEL BARCO: Sure, thanks.
(SOUNDBITE OF JONNY GREENWOOD'S "ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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