Cover Zoe Saldana after winning Best Supporting Actress at Oscars 2025 (Photo: Getty Images)
Zoe Saldana after winning Best Supporting Actress at Oscars 2025 (Photo: Getty Images)
1 / 1
From an appeal for ceasing the war in Gaza to the more racial representation, the powerful speeches delivered by the winners at Oscars 2025 demonstrated the far-reaching impact of cinema and its makers
This year’s Academy Award, which took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, wasn’t only a celebration of the best talents in Hollywood and beyond—the Oscars-winning filmmakers and actors also took the opportunity to talk about issues that matter to the world in their acceptance speeches.
Emilia Pérez actor Zoe Saldaña, who took home the Best Supporting Actress, and Wicked’s costume designer Paul Tazewell, talked about being the first from their communities to be recognised at the occasion.
The directors of No Other Land, who won Best Documentary Feature Film, made a robust speech against the Gaza war.
Read on to find out more about the five most inspiring speeches this year.
Don’t miss: Oscars 2025: Asian stars and creatives in Oscar-nominated films, from ‘Wicked’ to ‘Emilia Pérez’
1. Paul Tazewell, Best Costume Design for ‘Wicked’
Above Paul Tazewell (Photo: Getty Images)
Paul Tazewell (Photo: Getty Images)
1 / 1
“This is absolutely astounding. I am the first black man to receive the Costume Design Award for the film Wicked. I am so proud of this.”
2. Sean Baker, Best Original Screenplay for ‘Anora’
Above Sean Baker (Photo: Getty Images)
Sean Baker (Photo: Getty Images)
1 / 1
“I want to thank the sex worker community. They have shared their stories. They have shared their life experience with me over the years. My deepest respect. Thank you! I share this [award] with you.”
3. Zoe Saldaña, Best Supporting Actress for ‘Emilia Pérez’
Above Zoe Saldaña (Photo: Getty Images)
Zoe Saldaña (Photo: Getty Images)
1 / 1
“I’m floored by this honour. Thank you to the academy for recognising the quiet heroism and the power in a woman like Rita. Talking about powerful women, my fellow nominees, the love and community that you have offered me is a true gift and I will pay it forward. Thank you so much. Jacques Audiard, you’re forever a beloved character in my life. Thank you for taking the interest, thank you for being so curious about these women to tell this story.
My grandmother came to this country in 1961. I am a proud child of immigrant parents. With dreams and dignity and hardworking hands, and I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an academy award, and I know I will not be the last. The fact that I’m getting an award for a role where I got to sing and speak in Spanish, my grandmother, if she were here, she would be so delighted. This is for her.”
Read more: A United Front: Asian Americans Speak Up On #StopAsianHate And Why It Matters
4. Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham, Best Documentary Feature Film for ‘No Other Land’
Above From left: Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham (Photo: Getty Images)
From left: Basel Adra, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal and Yuval Abraham (Photo: Getty Images)
1 / 1
“We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” said Adra, a Palestinian journalist and activist. “About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now. No Other Land reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still resist.”
“We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together, our voices are stronger,” said Abraham, an Israeli journalist. “We see each other, the destruction of Gaza and its people, which must end, the Israeli hostages, brutally taken in the crime of October 7, which must be freed.” He further points out he and Adra live “unequal” lives: “We live in a regime where I am free under civilian law and Basel is under military laws that destroy his life and he cannot control. There is a different path, a political solution without ethnic supremacy, with national rights for both of our people.”
5. Jacques Audiard, Clément Ducol and Camille, Best Original Song for ‘Emilia Pérez’
Above From left: Clément Ducol, Jacques Audiard and Camille Dalmais (Photo: Getty Images)
From left: Clément Ducol, Jacques Audiard and Camille Dalmais (Photo: Getty Images)
1 / 1
Camille Dalmais, who performs professionally as Camille and co-wrote the song El Mal with her partner Clément Ducol, said onstage, “We wrote El Mal as a song to denounce corruption. We hope it speaks to the role music and art can play and continue to play as a force of the good and progress in the world.”
Topics
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
