Most years, movie fans would have feasted on the year’s Oscar winners well before the red carpet was unfurled at Hollywood’s biggest night of the year.
But following a 2020 that resulted in movie release schedules being thrown into chaos and the enforced closure of cinemas across the UK since Christmas, film fans could be forgiven for being in the dark about some of Sunday night’s triumphs.
For those who can’t wait until some belatedly make their way onto the big screen when cinemas reopen in May, we will here usher you to where and when the cream of the crop are available for home viewing.
Best Picture – Nomadland
In 2020, Best Picture winner Parasite became a sensation at the box office – enticing thousands of Aberdonians to the city’s Belmont Filmhouse as it became the venue’s most successful foreign language film.
But this year’s top film, Nomadland, is still days away from its UK release. It will only be when it is launched on the Disney Plus streaming platform on Friday that people on this side of the pond will be able to decide if it was a worthy winner.
Meanwhile, its star Frances McDormand picked up the Best Actress gong for her portrayal of the protagonist in the picture about a woman living in her van in the American West after the financial crash.
And Best Director prize went to Nomadland filmmaker Chloe Zhao, who made history as the first non-white woman and second woman overall to win best director.
Best Actor – Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
The Father follows the story of an elderly man suffering from memory loss with 83-year-old Sir Anthony Hopkins winning his second Best Actor Oscar for the leading role.
The Father was due to be released in the UK at the start of January. Unlike many films which found alternative homes on streaming services, it has been held back for a theatre release – and is due to hit screens on June 11.
Best Supporting Actor – Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)
British star Daniel Kaluuya won Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton.
The movie, set in the 1960s, is a biographical drama about the betrayal of Hampton at the hands of William O’Neal, an FBI informant.
Amid uncertainty about the reopening of picture houses, the film was released earlier this year to rent on Amazon Prime video for £15.99.
It’s also available to watch on Sky Store, Google Play, BFI Player, and BT TV for the same price.
Best Supporting Actress – Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari)
Yuh-Jung Youn became the first South Korean actress to win an Oscar, for her role as the grandmother in Korean-American family drama Minari.
The film, which follows the trials and tribulations of a Korean-American family that moves to an Arkansas farm, is available for rent on Amazon Prime Video for £9.99.
It can also be found on the Belmont Filmhouse’s online streaming service – along with a host of other recent releases that might normally have been screen at the city centre venue.
Best Animated Picture – Soul
Pixar’s latest release proved just the tonic for many when it was released as the UK entered its second national lockdown on Boxing Day.
It is available to watch on the Disney Plus platform, at no extra cost to subscribers.
Best Original Screenplay – Promising Young Woman
Emerald Fennell, best known to many in the UK as Patsy in BBC drama Call the Midwife and Camilla Parker-Bowles in Netflix’s The Crown, picked up this Oscar for her first film as writer and director.
The dark character study, which is now showing on Sky Movies and can be rented from Now TV, stars Carey Mulligan as a woman avenging the rape of her best friend.
Meanwhile, several films highlighted on the night can be seen on Netflix for those with a subscription.
James Reed won best documentary feature for My Octopus Teacher, which is available on the platform.
Mank, which won for Best Cinematography and was nominated for Best Picture, is on Netflix too.
And Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which took the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling along with Best Costume Design, is on the site as well.
Late star Chadwick Boseman had been tipped for the Best Actor Oscar posthumously, and Anthony Hopkins paid tribute to the popular performer in his acceptance speech.
However, many of the films which were highlighted at the Academy Awards are expected to finally get the big screen treatment on May 17 when cinemas across the country reopen.
And after a bruising past year for the industry, it is hoped that the chance to see some of 2021’s most lauded pictures as they were intended will help to keep cinemas both big and small alive.