The 2022 Academy Awards, officially known as the 94th Oscars, concluded with CODA winning Best Picture, making it the first film from a streaming service (Apple TV+) to take the top prize. Other major winners included Will Smith (Best Actor), Jessica Chastain (Best Actress), and Jane Campion (Best Director) for The Power of the Dog.
The 94th Academy Awards, held on March 27, 2022, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, represented a pivotal moment in cinematic history. As we look back from 2026, the ceremony is remembered not only for its specific winners but for the shifting tides of the film industry—specifically the formal recognition of streaming platforms as the new titans of prestige cinema. The evening was a blend of historic firsts, technical triumphs for blockbuster filmmaking, and a significant emphasis on representation across the board.
The Historic Victory of CODA
The win for CODA (Child of Deaf Adults) in the Best Picture category was a watershed moment. Directed by Sian Heder, the film arrived at the Oscars with immense momentum after winning the top prize at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Its victory was significant for several reasons. First, it solidified Apple TV+ as a major player in the industry, beating out traditional studios and fellow streamers like Netflix, which had been campaigning heavily for The Power of the Dog.
Secondly, CODA was a triumph for disability representation. The film features a largely deaf cast, and its narrative focuses on the cultural and linguistic nuances of the deaf community. By winning all three categories in which it was nominated—Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Sian Heder)—it achieved a rare 100% success rate on Oscar night.
From a 2026 perspective, CODA is often cited as the film that finally broke the "streaming barrier" for the Academy's highest honor. While previous years had seen nominations for films like Roma and The Irishman, CODA provided the heartwarming, universal narrative that finally unified the voting body.
Individual Achievement in Acting
The 2022 acting categories featured a mix of veteran stars receiving long-overdue recognition and historic breakthroughs for marginalized communities.
Best Actor and Best Actress
Will Smith won Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard. Smith’s performance was widely praised for its depth and vulnerability, capturing the complex drive of the man who coached Venus and Serena Williams. While the evening was partially overshadowed by an altercation between Smith and presenter Chris Rock, the award itself remains a career milestone for Smith, marking his first Oscar win after decades of being one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
Jessica Chastain secured the Best Actress trophy for her transformative role in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. Chastain, who also served as a producer on the film, underwent hours of prosthetic makeup and vocal coaching to embody the infamous televangelist. Her win was a testament to "prestige transformation," a style of acting that the Academy has historically favored, but it was also praised for finding the humanity behind a frequently parodied public figure.
Supporting Categories and Milestones
Troy Kotsur made history as the first deaf male actor to win an Academy Award, taking home Best Supporting Actor for his role as Frank Rossi in CODA. His win followed in the footsteps of his co-star Marlee Matlin, who won Best Actress in 1987. Kotsur’s acceptance speech, delivered in American Sign Language (ASL), was one of the most emotional highlights of the 94th Oscars.
Ariana DeBose won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s reimagining of West Side Story. This win was significant on two fronts: DeBose became the first Afro-Latina and openly queer woman of color to win an acting Oscar. Furthermore, she won for the exact same role that earned Rita Moreno an Oscar in 1962, making them the first pair of actresses to win for playing the same character in different films (a feat previously achieved by Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro as Vito Corleone).
Directing and Writing Excellence
Jane Campion won Best Director for The Power of the Dog, a psychological Western that explored themes of repressed masculinity and isolation. Campion’s win was historic, as she became only the third woman to win the category (following Kathryn Bigelow and Chloé Zhao) and the first woman to be nominated for Best Director twice in her career. Her win solidified her status as one of the most influential auteurs in modern cinema.
In the screenplay categories, the Academy rewarded both intimate storytelling and bold adaptations:
- Best Original Screenplay: Kenneth Branagh won for Belfast, a semi-autobiographical look at his childhood during the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
- Best Adapted Screenplay: Sian Heder won for CODA, adapting the 2014 French film La Famille Bélier for an American context.
Technical Dominance: The Year of Dune
While CODA and The Power of the Dog dominated the narrative categories, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune was the night's most-awarded film in terms of volume. The sci-fi epic swept the technical and craft categories, winning six Oscars in total.
Dune was praised for its immersive world-building, which was reflected in its wins for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, and Best Production Design. Hans Zimmer took home the Oscar for Best Original Score, marking his second win and a rare instance of a contemporary sci-fi score becoming a cultural phenomenon. Greig Fraser’s cinematography was also recognized, capturing the vast, brutalist aesthetics of the planet Arrakis in a way that felt both ancient and futuristic.
Complete 2022 Academy Awards Winners List
The following table provides the full list of winners across all 23 competitive categories from the 94th Oscars.
| Category | Winner | Film |
|---|---|---|
| Best Picture | Philippe Rousselet, Fabrice Gianfermi, and Patrick Wachsberger | CODA |
| Best Director | Jane Campion | The Power of the Dog |
| Best Actor | Will Smith | King Richard |
| Best Actress | Jessica Chastain | The Eyes of Tammy Faye |
| Best Supporting Actor | Troy Kotsur | CODA |
| Best Supporting Actress | Ariana DeBose | West Side Story |
| Best Original Screenplay | Kenneth Branagh | Belfast |
| Best Adapted Screenplay | Sian Heder | CODA |
| Best Animated Feature | Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino, and Clark Spencer | Encanto |
| Best International Feature | Ryusuke Hamaguchi | Drive My Car (Japan) |
| Best Documentary Feature | Questlove, Joseph Patel, Robert Fyvolent, and David Dinerstein | Summer of Soul |
| Best Cinematography | Greig Fraser | Dune |
| Best Film Editing | Joe Walker | Dune |
| Best Original Score | Hans Zimmer | Dune |
| Best Original Song | Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell | "No Time to Die" from No Time to Die |
| Best Production Design | Patrice Vermette and Zsuzsanna Sipos | Dune |
| Best Costume Design | Jenny Beavan | Cruella |
| Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram, and Justin Raleigh | The Eyes of Tammy Faye |
| Best Sound | Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, and Ron Bartlett | Dune |
| Best Visual Effects | Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor, and Gerd Nefzer | Dune |
| Best Documentary Short | Ben Proudfoot | The Queen of Basketball |
| Best Live Action Short | Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed | The Long Goodbye |
| Best Animated Short | Alberto Mielgo and Leo Sanchez | The Windshield Wiper |
Specialized Categories and Global Impact
Animation and International Cinema
The 2022 Oscars highlighted the global reach of cinema. Drive My Car, directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi, became the first Japanese film to be nominated for Best Picture, though it ultimately took home the award for Best International Feature Film. This win continued the trend of Asian cinema gaining significant traction within the Academy following the success of Parasite (2020) and Minari (2021).
In the animation category, Disney’s Encanto took the top prize. Beyond the award itself, the film’s soundtrack, particularly the song "We Don't Talk About Bruno," became a global chart-topper, proving the enduring power of musical animation. Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O'Connell also made waves by winning Best Original Song for the James Bond theme "No Time to Die," making Eilish one of the youngest people to win the "Triple Crown" of music/film awards (Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe).
Documentary Achievement
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) won Best Documentary Feature. Directed by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, the film excavated and restored footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. The win was seen as a major victory for cultural preservation, highlighting a historic event that had been largely forgotten by mainstream media for half a century.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which film won the most Oscars in 2022?
Dune was the most successful film at the 2022 Academy Awards, winning a total of six trophies. These included Best Visual Effects, Best Sound, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Cinematography. While it did not win the "Big Five" categories (Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, Screenplay), its sweep of the craft categories demonstrated its immense technical achievement.
Did any streaming service win Best Picture before 2022?
No, CODA's win for Apple TV+ in 2022 was the first time a film distributed by a streaming service won the Academy Award for Best Picture. This was a significant shift for the Academy, which had previously faced criticism and internal debate regarding whether films that did not have traditional, exclusive theatrical windows should be eligible for the top prize.
Who was the first deaf actor to win an Oscar?
Marlee Matlin was the first deaf actor to win an Oscar, taking home Best Actress for Children of a Lesser God in 1987. At the 2022 ceremony, Troy Kotsur became the second deaf actor and the first deaf male actor to win an Oscar for his supporting role in CODA.
Why was Jane Campion's win historic?
Jane Campion's win for Best Director was historic because she became the first woman to ever receive two nominations for Best Director (the first being for The Piano in 1994). Furthermore, her win marked the first time in Oscar history that the Best Director award was given to women in consecutive years, following Chloé Zhao’s win for Nomadland in 2021.
How were the winners selected?
The winners of the 2022 Academy Awards were selected by the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). As of 2022, the Academy consisted of approximately 10,000 film industry professionals. Voting for the winners is done through a preferential ballot for Best Picture and a plurality vote for the other 22 categories, with members generally voting within their specific branches (e.g., actors vote for actors) for nominations, and the entire membership voting for the final winners.
Moving Forward: Legacy of the 94th Oscars
For those looking to explore the best of 2022 cinema, the 94th Academy Awards winners list serves as a comprehensive guide to a year of transition. The best way to engage with these films today is to view them through the lens of their historical significance—CODA for its representation and streaming breakthrough, Dune for its technical prowess, and The Power of the Dog for its directorial mastery.
To further understand the evolution of film, viewers are encouraged to compare these winners with the nominees of the preceding and subsequent years. The trends established in 2022—such as the prominence of international features and the acceptance of non-traditional distribution models—continued to shape the industry through the mid-2020s.
