Oscar 2026: Best Director – "Battle by Battle"

At the 98th Academy Awards ceremony, the winner of the Best Director category was announced: the award went to the film "Battle by Battle."

Ryan Coogler's "The Sinners" is a fantasy vampire story set in a Southern Gothic setting. The plot centers on twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan), World War I veterans and former gangsters who, upon returning to their hometown, decide to open a black music bar. The brothers' project, in addition to racial issues and their criminal past, is hampered by... a vampire.

"Battle After Battle" is a masterful tragicomedy action film from one of today's leading directors, Paul Thomas Anderson. Based on Thomas Pynchon's novel "Vineland," the film retains little of the original plot.

The story centers on the confrontation between an anarchist terrorist group and the government, led by the obsessive officer Stephen Lockjaw (Sean Penn). After a failed operation, in which the protagonist, Pat Calhoun (a brilliant performance by Leonardo DiCaprio), loses his lover, he and his daughter go on the run and begin a new life, eluding the authorities for sixteen years. But one day, the past returns, and Calhoun is forced to protect himself and his daughter.

The film "Marty Magnificent" received perhaps the most extensive marketing campaign of any nominated film this season. Timothée Chalamet, who played the film's lead role, was the talk of the town, not only for his filmmaking achievements but also for his controversial statements and public activism. The film was considered an Oscar frontrunner, and Chalamet was tipped to win Best Actor—his performance impressed not only audiences but critics as well.

Josh Safdie's film is based on the life of American ping-pong player Marty Reisman, but it's not a true biopic. The story takes place in New York City in the early 1950s. Marty Mauser (Timothée Chalamet) sells shoes, loves to play table tennis, and dreams of the high life, which he hasn't yet achieved. Desperate, he flees to London after robbing his boss to compete in an international tournament.

Joachim Trier's "Sentimental Value" tells the classic story of fathers and sons, tweaked with a new ethic and through a fresh lens. The father is director Gustav Borg (Stellan Skarsgård), and the children are his two adult daughters, with whom Borg seeks to mend his relationship after the funerals of their mother and his ex-wife. To do so, Borg decides to make an autobiographical film about the disintegration of his family, a venture that exacerbates long-standing conflicts and forces everyone to rethink the past.

Chloé Zhao, who already won an Oscar for Nomadland, has directed Hamnet, a period drama that offers a new perspective on William Shakespeare, his family, and his legacy. The film centers not on Shakespeare himself, but on his wife, Agnes (Jessie Buckley). The plot revolves around the death of their 11-year-old son, Hamnet: while Agnes is consumed by grief, Shakespeare seeks solace in creativity and begins work on Hamlet.

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