INTERNATIONAL: “CODA” is a feel-good dramedy about the only hearing member of a deaf family pursuing music, an activity that the rest of the family cannot appreciate. The film makes history as the first motion picture featuring a predominantly deaf cast in its leading roles, first film from the Sundance Film Festival, and first film distributed by a streaming service, to win Best Picture, at the 94th Academy Awards held on Sunday 27 March.
The film won all three awards it was nominated for, in the categories of Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Picture. Troy Kotsur is the first deaf man and second deaf actor to win an acting Oscar. His co-star, Marleen Matlin, was the first deaf actor to win the award in 1986 for the film “Children of a Lesser God.”
“CODA”, which stands for child of deaf adults, is an English remake of the 2014 French film “La Famille Bélier.” This win also signified the first Best Picture Oscar win for a streaming service, with Apple TV+ beating out Netflix's “The Power of the Dog”, which was a top contender this year with a leading 12 nominations, of which it won one with Jane Campion snagging the award for Best Director.
"CODA" Director, Sian Heder, has described how she fought with studios and financiers who wanted hearing actors to portray the rest of the deaf family after Matlin signed on to the film. However, Matlin put her foot down and said that it was important to cast real deaf actors portraying the deaf family members to show the world what deaf people are like day-to-day.
Patrick Wachsberger, Producer, said, “I really want to thank the Academy for recognizing a movie of love and family on this difficult time that we need today, and this is 'CODA.”
"DUNE" won the most awards of the night, winning in six categories, including Best Cinematography, Editing and Original Score, and other major awards given to Jessica Chastain, for Best Actress, Will Smith, for Best Actor, Ariana DeBose for Best Supporting Actress, Kenneth Branagh's "Belfast" for Best Original Screenplay, and Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Drive My Car" for Best International Feature Film.
