Klara, Basia and Sonia, all 17, discuss the 2026 Oscar gala
Paul Thomas Anderson with One Battle After Another cast and creatives accept the Oscar for Best Picture.
18 March 2026
‘Those Oscars were very political.’ Film & Book Club writers discuss the 2026 Academy Awards gala
By recognising One Battle After Another as well as Sinners, while largely ignoring Marty Supreme, the Academy sent a strong political message about the current American moment. The ceremony signalled a clear preference for films engaging directly with social conflict, identity, and generational consequences over more conventional narratives.
Arguably, however, the entire gala was overshadowed by Sean Penn, who redirected attention away from Hollywood by choosing Kyiv over the red carpet at the Dolby Theatre, highlighting the urgency of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
In their discussion, the Film & Book Club editor Klara Hammudeh and writers Basia Karsznia and Sonia Rybus reflected on both the spectacle and the substance of the evening.
Fashion remained a key talking point, with Chanel dominating the red carpet and standout appearances from figures like Demi Moore and Jessie Buckley. At the same time, our writers noted a return to more traditional Oscar aesthetics, particularly in menswear, suggesting a conscious shift toward classic Hollywood presentation despite the ceremony’s more provocative themes.
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This year’s Oscars were marked by an unusually explicit political undercurrent, both in the awards themselves and in the conversations surrounding them. The dominance of One Battle After Another, which won six awards, reflected an appetite for cinema that confronts power, ideology, and the long-term consequences of political decisions.
At the same time, Sinners — with its allegorical exploration of race and cultural exploitation — reinforced the sense that the Academy is increasingly willing to reward films that challenge audiences rather than simply entertain them.
