Oscars 2021: All you need to know about the reinvented awards ceremony, when and where to watch

An Oscars unlike any before will get underway on 25 April 8 pm EDT (26 April, 5.30 am in India), with history on the line in major categories and a telecast retooled for the pandemic. There will be no host, no audience, nor face masks for nominees attending the ceremony at Los Angeles’ Union Station — this year’s hub for a show usually broadcast from the Dolby Theatre. In contrast with the largely virtual Golden Globes, Zoom boxes have been closed out — though numerous international hubs and satellite feeds will connect nominees unable to travel. Pulling the musical interludes (though not the in memoriam segment) from the three-hour broadcast — and drastically cutting down the time it will take winners to reach the podium — will free up a lot of time in the ceremony. And producers, led by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh , are promising a reinvented telecast. The Oscars will look more like a movie, Soderbergh has said. The show will be shot in 24 frames-per-second (as opposed to 30), appear more widescreen and the presenters are considered “cast members.” The telecast’s first 90 seconds, Soderbergh has claimed, will “announce our intention immediately.” Here’s a guide to everything there is to know about the reinvented awards ceremony. Where to watch The awards updates will be available on the Academy’s social media feeds. In India, the ceremony will be telecast Star Movies and Star World channels live at 5:30 a.m. The event will be aired again on the same platforms at 8.30 pm. Is there a red carpet? Show producers are hoping to return some of the traditional glamor to the Oscars, even in a pandemic year. Casual wear is a no-no. The red carpet is back, though not the throngs; only a handful of media outlets will be allowed on site. (E! red carpet coverage starts at 3 p.m.) Presenters The presenters this year include Laura Dern, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt and Renée Zellweger — as well as Angela Bassett, Halle Berry, Bong Joon Ho, Don Cheadle, Bryan Cranston, Harrison Ford, Regina King, Marlee Matlin, Rita Moreno, Reese Witherspoon and Zendaya. Performers The New York Times writes that Celeste, H.E.R., Leslie Odom Jr, Laura Pausini, Daniel Pemberton and Diane Warren are expected to put on a show. Their performances will be taped from Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, which will open on September this year. Nominees Netflix dominated this year with 36 nominations, including the lead-nominee David Fincher’s Mank. The streamer is still pursuing its first best-picture win; this year, its best shot may be Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7. But the night’s top prize, best picture, is widely expected to go to Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland, a contemplative character study about an itinerant woman (Frances McDormand) in the American West. Zhao is also the frontrunner for best director, a category that has two female filmmakers nominated for the first time. Also nominated is Emerald Fennell for the scathing revenge drama Promising Young Woman. History is also possible in the acting categories. If the winners from the Screen Actors Guild Awards hold — Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’s Chadwick Boseman for best actor, Viola Davis for best actress; Yuh-Jung Youn (Minari) for best supporting actress; and Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) for best supporting actor — it would the first time nonwhite actors swept the acting categories — and a dramatic reversal from recent “OscarsSoWhite” years. (With inputs from The Associated Press)