* 'Nomadland' wins 3 Oscars
* Anthony Hopkins wins over Chadwick Boseman
* Women win in multiple fields
(Recasts throughout at end of ceremony)
By Jill Serjeant
LOS ANGELES, April 25 (Reuters) - "Nomadland," the story of
van dwellers in America, won the best picture Oscar and two
other Academy Awards on a triumphant night for women that also
saw a return to Hollywood glamour after a long pandemic
shutdown.
In a major upset, Britain's Anthony Hopkins won the best
actor trophy for his role as a man battling dementia in "The
Father." The Oscar had been widely expected to go to the late
Chadwick Boseman for his final film, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
China native Chloe Zhao was named best director for
Searchlight Pictures' "Nomadland," making her the first
Asian woman and only the second woman ever to take home the
trophy. Kathryn Bigelow was the first in 2010.
Zhao thanked the nomadic community for "teaching us the
power of resilience and hope and reminding us what true kindness
looks like."
Frances McDormand, one of the few professionals in the film
in which several people played versions of themselves, won her
third Oscar.
Social distancing forced a rethink of the ceremony, moving
it to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.
After strict COVID-19 testing and quarantine protocols,
nominees and their guests walked the red carpet, mostly
maskless. They sat in a cabaret-style room inside the Mission
Revival-style rail station or chatted in an outdoor courtyard.
The prospect of all four acting honors going to people of
color for the first time was not realized. But 14 women took
home Oscars, including for sound ("Sound of Metal"), production
design ("Mank"), original screenplay ("Promising Young Woman")
and documentary feature ("My Octopus Teacher.")
The national reckoning about systemic racism in the United
States was also a theme following the murder conviction last
week of a white police officer who knelt on the neck of Black
man George Floyd.
"As a mother of a black son, I know the fear that so many
live with, and no amount of fame or fortune changes that," said
Regina King, who directed "One Night in Miami," about four black
icons at the height of the 1960s civil rights movement.
Youn Yuh-jung, 73, won the best supporting actress Oscar for
her role as a cantankerous grandmother in immigrant tale
"Minari."
Youn, the first South Korean actor or actress to win an
Oscar, joked about people mispronouncing her name.
"Tonight you are all forgiven," she said. "Me being here, I
cannot believe it."
The ceremony for the highest honors in the movie business
took place after a turbulent year for the industry that
shuttered production and movie theaters for months and saw
studios delay the release of some blockbusters by more than a
year.
"This was indeed a hard year for everyone, but our love for
movies helped to get us through it," said presenter King,
opening the ceremony, which had no host for the third straight
year.
McDormand made a passionate plea for people to return to
theaters.
"One day, very soon, take everyone you know into a theater,
shoulder to shoulder in that dark space, and watch every film
that's represented here," she said.
Britain's Daniel Kaluuya was named best supporting actor for
his role as 1960s Black Panther activist Fred Hampton in "Judas
and the Black Messiah."
The movie "Soul," the first from Disney's Pixar to feature a
black lead character, won best animated feature, while Denmark's
"Another Round" took the prize for best international feature.
The winners were chosen in a secret ballot by the 9,000
members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Additional reporting by Maria
Caspani, Lisa Richwine, Nichola Groom and Dan Trotta; Editing by
Jonathan Oatis)