Netflix’s ‘Roma’ Wins Best Director and Two More Oscars But Best Picture Goes To 'Green Book'

Netflix's foreign venture film Roma wins Best Director followed by two more but lost the Best Picture to comedy-drama, Green Book

2018 drama Mexican-drama film Roma took home three Oscars, earlier tonight — though not which it was eyeing the most— Best Picture, that rather went to Peter Farrelly’s Green Book.

Alfonso Cuarón obviously won an Oscar for directing the film. The silverware was his second victory in the category, following his previous award for 2013 Gravity. And the triumph has now completed a feat of the three Amigos, having won by Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro Inarritu and now, Cuaron.  

Roma wins the best director for Cuaron at the 91st Oscars
SOURCE: Hollywood Reporter

Roma is based on the real-life story of Cuarón’s childhood in Mexico City, a phase told through the eyes of the family’s maid, Cleo. The film went into the night with 10 nods, tying with Yorgos Lanthimos's The Favourite for the most nominations, so it sure was in a well-position to bring home the first Best Picture award for a film produced by a streaming services (the win would also have been the first for a foreign language film).

Despite losing out on the grand prize, it won the famous Merit Stauette for Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Film, and Best Director.

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“Being up here doesn’t get old,” the director said as he took the stage for the third time. Cauron then went on to thank the Academy for recognizing

“a film centered around an indigenous woman — one of the 70 million domestic workers in the world without work rights, a character that had been historically relegated to the background in cinema.”

Netflix spent an estimated $25 to $30 million for the promotional campaign of Roma — a particularly surprising sum since the film only cost $15 million to make. The media company even let go of its protocol of not releasing films on a streaming platform and in theaters, simultaneously (given—running the film in theatrical windows for just a few weeks wouldn’t have been enough to compensate a win over the company’s production cost).

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While Roma was the big success for the streaming giants for the night, Netflix’s Period. End of Sentence also won for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Likewise, the online service’s Ballad of Buster Scruggs (from the director duo, Coen Brothers) also received three nominations, whereas Country singers Gillian Welch and David Rawlings took the rostrum to perform the movie’s Best Song contender When The Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings. Though it eventually lost to Shallow from A Star is Born.

Meanwhile, another streaming services, Hulu’s Minding the Gap was also in the race for Best Documentary Feature but conceded to Jimmy Chin’s sports documentary, Free Solo.

Marvel’s 2018 release Black Panther was the first superhero flick to be nominated for Best Picture (a feat which wasn't awarded to even the Dark Knight-2008 and Spider-Man 2-2002). On the night, it took home the figurines for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score. Another superhero front: Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse also won the golden statuette for Best Animated Feature beating the likes of Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Mirai, and Ralph Braeks the Internet.

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First Man appeared one more time on the night for its second win, Best Visual Effects.

All the awards were given out at a ceremony without a host, which was only the second time in Academy history. The 91st Oscars also didn’t see a monologue for the first time in 30 years. Instead, there was a montage highlighting all kinds of movies from the past year, and then Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Maya Rudolph came out to make a few spoofs before presenting the night’s first award.