'Nomadland' wins big, Boseman snubbed at Oscars

This year's Oscars were a night of historic firsts for diversity, but ended with a major upset.

"Nomadland," which follows one woman wanderer's journey across the American West, took home the ceremony's top prize for Best Picture.

And its China-born director Chloe Zhao became the first woman of color, and the second woman ever, to take home the award for Best Director.

In her acceptance speech, Zhao cited a Chinese poem from her childhood as inspiration for her work.

"(Speaks in Mandarin) People at birth are inherently good... So this is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold onto the goodness in themselves and to hold onto the goodness in each other no matter how difficult it is to do that.

Frances McDormand won Best Actress for her work on the film, starring as a recently-unemployed factory worker who finds home in the nomadic community.

Tales of people of color won big throughout the show.

In another first, Yuh-Jung Youn became the first South Korean to win Best Supporting Actress.

Youn played the swearing, gambling but loving grandmother in "Minari," a personal tale following a Korean-American family trying to build their American Dream.

Daniel Kaluuya was named Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of activist Fred Hampton in "Judas and the Black Messiah," which documents the trials and tribulations of the Black Panthers in 1960s Chicago.

Pixar's movie "Soul," its first featuring a black main character, won the prize for best animated feature.

But in a surprise twist for Best Actor, Anthony Hopkins won out over presumed frontrunner Chadwick Boseman, for his role as a dementia patient in "The Father."

Hopkins, who is now the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar, did not attend the ceremony.

Diversity and race relations set the tone for much of the night.

Actress Regina King opened the ceremony with a powerful speech about police brutality and racism, later echoed by honorary award winner Tyler Perry and best live-action short winner Travon Free.

The ceremony, which has not had a host since 2018, was held largely in person.

But it lacked much of the glitz and glam of previous Oscars shows, with stars sitting apart at socially-distanced tables.