94th Academy Awards

The 94th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), took place on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The awards were scheduled after their usual late February date to avoid conflicting with both the 2022 Winter Olympics and Super Bowl LVI, with the latter being held in nearby Inglewood, California. During the gala, the AMPAS presented Academy Awards (commonly referred to as Oscars) in 23 categories honoring films released from March 1 to December 31, 2021. The ceremony, televised in the United States by ABC, was produced by Will Packer and Shayla Cowan and was directed by Glenn Weiss. Actresses Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes hosted the show for the first time. Two days earlier, in an event held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom of the Ovation Hollywood complex in Hollywood, the Academy held its 12th annual Governors Awards ceremony.

CODA won three awards, including Best Picture. Other winners included Dune with six awards, The Eyes of Tammy Faye with two, and Belfast, Cruella, Drive My Car, Encanto, King Richard, The Long Goodbye, No Time to Die, The Power of the Dog, The Queen of Basketball, Summer of Soul, West Side Story and The Windshield Wiper with one each.

The ceremony received negative reviews, and many were critical of Best Actor winner Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, whose head was shaved due to alopecia areata. In response, the Academy banned Smith from attending its events for a decade as punishment. Criticism was also directed toward the decision to present eight categories separate from the main telecast. The telecast drew 16.62 million viewers in the United States.

Winners and nominees

The nominees for the 94th Academy Awards were announced on February 8, 2022, by actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross. The Power of the Dog led all nominees with twelve nominations; Dune came in second with ten. The winners were announced during the awards ceremony on March 27.

CODA became the first Best Picture winner to be distributed via a streaming platform and the first one starring a primarily deaf cast. Its three nominations were the fewest for any Best Picture winner since 1932's Grand Hotel, and it was the first Best Picture winner without directing or film editing nominations since the aforementioned film. Furthermore, it became the first without any nominations in the below-the-line categories since 1980's Ordinary People.

Best Director winner Jane Campion was the third woman to win the award and the first woman to be nominated twice, having previously been nominated for 1993's The Piano. The Power of the Dog became the first film to win Best Director as its sole award since 1967's The Graduate. Best Original Screenplay winner Kenneth Branagh was the first person to have been nominated in seven different categories throughout his career, having also been nominated as director and as one of the producers for Belfast.

Best Supporting Actor winner Troy Kotsur became the first deaf man and second deaf individual overall to win an acting award. Best Supporting Actress winner Ariana DeBose was the first Afro-Latina person and first openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar. Furthermore, as a result of her win for portraying Anita in the 2021 film adaptation of the Broadway musical West Side Story, she and Rita Moreno, who previously won for playing the same character in the 1961 film adaptation, became the third pair of actors to win for portraying the same character in two different films.

Nominated for their performances as Leda Caruso in The Lost Daughter, Best Actress nominee Olivia Colman and Best Supporting Actress nominee Jessie Buckley were the third pair of actresses nominated for portraying the same character in the same film. Flee became the first film to be nominated for Best Animated Feature, Best International Feature Film, and Best Documentary Feature in the same year.

Awards

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).

Governors Awards

The Academy held its 12th annual Governors Awards ceremony on March 25, 2022, during which the following awards were presented:

Honorary Awards

• To Samuel L. Jackson, whose dynamic performances resonate across genres and generations of audiences worldwide.
• To Elaine May, writer, director, performer, pioneer whose bracing comedic spark illuminates us all.
• To Liv Ullmann, for her deeply affecting screen portrayals and lifelong commitment to exploring the human condition.

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

• Danny Glover – "For [his] decades-long advocacy for justice and human rights reflects his dedication to recognizing our shared humanity on and off the screen."

Films with multiple nominations and awards

Presenters and performers

The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.

Ceremony information

In October 2021, the Academy hired film director and producer Will Packer and his production company chief of staff Shayla Cowan to oversee production of the 2022 ceremony. "Will is a powerhouse producer who has enjoyed success across all movie genres! He's already bringing a boundless energy and a focus on innovation to this year's Oscars, to entertain the widest spectrum of fans. Many wonderful surprises ahead," remarked Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson. In response, Packer expressed his gratitude, saying: "The power, the beauty, the romance of the imagery in movies has always attracted me. I'm fully embracing the challenge of bringing an ode to one of the most iconic mediums in the world to life. What an honor." Four months later, actresses and comedians Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes were announced as hosts of the gala during an interview with Packer on Good Morning America. This marked the first time that three people had shared hosting duties for the Oscars since Chevy Chase, Goldie Hawn, and Paul Hogan presided over the 59th ceremony held in 1987.

This year, the show was centered around the theme "Movie Lovers Unite". In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Packer explained his reasoning behind the theme, stating: "Some are movie lovers who have seen every single one of the nominated movies, and they've got very specific opinions about who wins. And then you have people who are just casual moviegoers, who perhaps have not seen the awards fare but who also love movies. I'm inviting them in as well. They're just as important to me as a viewer. And I think we can have a show that does both. We can walk and chew gum at the same time." In tandem with the theme, several people from different backgrounds, such as firefighters and healthcare workers, participated in the nominations announcement. DJ Khaled introduced the hosts at the beginning of the telecast, and athletes Tony Hawk, Kelly Slater, and Shaun White introduced a montage saluting the 60th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise.

Also tying in with the ceremony's theme of "Movie Lovers Unite", the Academy teamed up with Twitter to host an "Oscars Fan Favorite" contest, where Twitter users could vote for their favorite film of the year and their favorite movie moment. The contest drew a predominantly negative reaction from Academy members, with some comparing it to the "Popular Film" category initially proposed for the 91st ceremony held in 2019, and others viewing it as an attempt to recognize Spider-Man: No Way Home and its box office performance. Ultimately, Army of the Dead was named the Oscars Fan Favorite, while the Oscars Cheer Moment went to Zack Snyder's Justice League for "The Flash Enters the Speed Force". According to TheWrap, the most active voters were autonomous web programs, although the Academy denied this claim.

The festivities marked their return to the Dolby Theatre after a one-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In compliance with Los Angeles County health and safety standards, AMPAS announced that attending nominees and guests would need to show proof of vaccination or a valid medical exemption, and two negative PCR tests, in order to attend. Presenters and performers underwent "rigorous testing" but were not required to be vaccinated. Audience members in sections closest to the stage were seated further apart but were not required to wear face masks. Masks were required for attendees in the mezzanine. Additionally, the annual Governors Awards was held on March 25, two days before the main ceremony, after previously being postponed from its original January 15 date due to concerns due to health and safety concerns related to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant.