Apple TV+ film "CODA" has won Best Picture at the 94th Academy Awards, becoming the first film from a streaming service to ever win the award.
Academy Award for Best Picture category:
- "Belfast"
- "CODA" — Winner
- "Don't Look Up"
- "Drive My Car"
- "Dune"
- "King Richard"
- "Licorice Pizza"
- "Nightmare Alley"
- "The Power of the Dog"
- "West Side Story"
"CODA" cast and crew also won multiple Academy Awards. Troy Kotsur became the first deaf male actor to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, while "CODA" writer and director Siân Heder won in the Best Adapted Screenplay category.
"On behalf of everyone at Apple, we are so grateful to the Academy for the honors bestowed on 'CODA' this evening," said Zack Van Amburg, Apple's co-head of Worldwide Video. "We join our teams all over the world in celebrating Siân, Troy, the producers, and the entire cast and crew for bringing such a powerful representation of the Deaf community to audiences, and breaking so many barriers in the process."
"CODA" revolves around a young woman named Ruby, the sole hearing member of a deaf family. Using sign language, Ruby acts as an interpreter for her parents while working for her family's struggling fishing boat business. After joining her high school's choir club, Ruby finds herself torn between family obligations and pursuing her dreams.
Ruby is played by Emilia Jones, with other family members played by Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, and Daniel Durant.
Apple acquired the rights to "CODA" for a reported $25 million after the film premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. The film, produced by Vendome Pictures and Pathé, has been streaming on Apple TV+ since August 2021.
Top Rated Comments
I mean the ****ing film already premiered at Sundance before Apple even knew about it.
Apple TV+ has a relatively limited content library. Why? Because Apple either produces or opts to buy rights to content that in its view, amplifies important topics.
They could quite easily snap up a whole lot of content if they so chose to do so. But they pick content through a different lens than other streaming platforms.
“I hope that this film and Apple’s powerful support will help kick down some doors standing in the way of inclusion and representation and pave a path for more stories that center characters from the Deaf and Disabled community. The world has waited too long for these stories to be told. Now is the time. No more excuses.” - Sian Heder, director of CODA
And it’s fair to say, that with such a limited content library, Apple has been able to amplify and market a smaller range of must see content than would be possible on other streaming services.
And this particular movie? It shines a spotlight on a disabled community that is often overlooked. So I think we should welcome that rather than debating over fanboism.