Sean Baker, Zoe Salda?a among stars making history with Oscar wins

The 2025 Oscars ceremony was full of standout moments — from the show’s powerful opening number featuring Wicked nominees Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo to Conan O’Brien’s hosting zingers — but the night was also filled with famous firsts. Whether it was director Sean Baker’s sweep or costume designer Paul Tazewell’s notable win, the Academy Awards made history on multiple fronts.

Sean Baker becomes 1st director to take home 4 Oscars since Walt Disney

The Anora director took home four Oscars on Sunday night, a first since Walt Disney did the same in 1954.

Baker won not only Best Director but also Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Film Editing, even poking fun at his multiple roles in his acceptance speech for editing.

“God if you saw that footage — I saved this film in the edit. Trust me! That director should never work again,” he joked.

Disney pulled off the same feat more than 70 years ago, when the Mickey Mouse creator won for Best Documentary Feature, Best Documentary (Short Subject), Best Short Subject (Cartoon) and Best Short Subject (Two Reel).

Baker is also the first director to take home the Film Editing award as a solo editor.

Paul Tazewell is the 1st Black man to receive Costume Design Oscar

Paul Tazewell, who created the costumes for Wicked, became the first Black man to win the award for Best Costume Design at the Oscars, a moment he called “astounding.”

“Thank you, Academy, for this very significant honor,” he said in his acceptance speech. “I'm so proud of this."

Tazewell elaborated on the honor when he went back to the Oscars press room.

“I've been designing costumes for over 35 years. Much has been on Broadway, and now into film," he said. "The whole way through, there was never a Black male designer that I saw that I could follow that I could see as an inspiration. And to realize that that's actually me, it becomes a Wizard of Oz moment. It's like, no place like home."

‘I’m Still Here’ win marks Brazil’s 1st Oscar for International Film

The Walter Salles-directed film won the Academy Award for Best International Film, making I’m Still Here the first Brazilian entry to win in the category.

Starring Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here tells the true story of Eunice Paiva (Torres), who must take charge of her family after her husband disappears under mysterious circumstances during the country’s military dictatorship in the early 1970s.

Salles, who was also nominated for his 1998 film Central Station, starring Torres’s mother, Fernanda Montenegro, honored all three women in his acceptance speech.

“This goes to a woman who, after a loss suffered during an authoritarian regime, decided not to bend. And to resist. So, this prize goes to her. And it goes to the two extraordinary women who gave life to her, Fernanda Torres, and Fernanda Montenegro,” he said.

Zoe Salda?a is the 1st American of Dominican origin to win an Oscar

The Emilia Pérez actress earned her first Oscar nomination and win for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first American of Dominican origin to win an Academy Award. She said she knows she “will not be the last.”

“I am a proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands," Salda?a said in her acceptance speech.

Speaking to journalists in the press room after her win, Salda?a said the biggest obstacle she had to overcome in getting to that moment was “getting out of my own way.”

She also said it was important to listen to and trust your voice.

“You know that you being a part of that is going to be something really special,” she said. “You just have to listen to that.”

‘Flow’ wins Latvia’s 1st Oscar

Flow, an animated film from Latvia about a cat’s remarkable journey for survival, won the Academy Award for Animated Feature Film, making it the country’s first Oscar win.

The film, which boasts no dialogue and was created with Blender, an open-source computer graphics software tool, beat out studio films like Disney’s Inside Out 2 and The Wild Robot from DreamWorks Animation.

Director Gints Zilbalodis, who celebrated his win at California fast-food staple In-N-Out Burger á la Paul Giamatti, told journalists after his win, “I think you can express a lot more without words. Some of these emotions and ideas I couldn’t articulate with words but with music, sound, movement and editing, I can say a lot more.”

Adrien Brody goes 2-for-2

Best Actor winner Adrien Brody has been here before. The Oscar winner took home his second Academy Award in the category, this time for his role as fictional Hungarian immigrant architect László Tóth in The Brutalist.

This marks the first time an actor has had back-to-back wins from his only two nominations. Brody won his first Best Actor Oscar in 2003 for his role in The Pianist, in which he also played a Holocaust survivor.

Brody also holds the record for the youngest winner of the Best Actor Oscar, which he won at 29.

The actor recalled his own grandparents’ struggles as Hungarian immigrants in a moment backstage.

“Their loss and their resilience have paved the way for my own good fortune,” he said, “and I had an opportunity to honor them in this film.”