Over the course of 2019, a total of 786 movies were released in North America, over 90 fewer than in 2018. On Feb. 9, 24 of them were established as the elite. Crowned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the annual Academy Awards ceremony known as the Oscars honored the best films of 2019. These awards were given for artistic and technical merit among the film industry.

This year, the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, CA for the 18th consecutive year in a row. The first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16, 1929 for an audience of only 270 people. Now, the Oscars ceremony is broadcast on ABC for millions.

Every year, the Oscars is highly anticipated by many viewers specifically to find out who will win “The Big Five” academy awards consisting of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress, and Best Screenplay (or Best Adapted Screenplay.) This year, the award for Best Director in particular sparked lots of conversation.

The reason it’s so controversial? No female directors were nominated. For the second year in a row. The culmination of all male nominees angered many for its emphasis of the sexist prejudices held among the film industry. Women recently have finally risen in popularity and have even received credit for directing some of this year’s most acclaimed movies. Yet, the academy has overlooked them. Again.

Actress Natalie Portman honored the female directors that were snubbed by wearing a cape embroidered with all of their last names on the red carpet.

In the past, only five women have ever been nominated for this category and even then, only one woman has ever won: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker in 2010. Many feel especially strongly about the exclusion of Greta Gerwig for Little Women.

Despite getting six other nominations for the movie, Gerwig herself was not considered for her tremendous work on the movie.

But that isn’t the only category that has people talking. The next biggest topic of debate regarding the upcoming Oscars is the award for Best Picture. This category is looked at as the most prestigious award that represents the American film industry. The difficulty in determining this year’s big winner is the large discrepancy of tone and theme throughout all nine nominations. Read more aboutour thoughts on Best Picture on page 15.

Despite “Parasite” breaking numerous records for being a four-time Oscar winning Korean film, the main talking point of the Oscars remains its negligence towards minorities. According to the Oscar voting pool, the academy is 68 percent male and 84 percent white. So, although the winners may have been well deserved and well liked, the pool of nominees in the future still needs more diversification.