Open the history books: Bong Joon-ho’s critically acclaimed comedy thriller Parasite has won Best Picture at the 2020 Academy Awards. Follow our complete winner’s list for an update on all the night’s victories.
A monumental victory for Asian filmmaking, Parasite is the first South Korean film to be named Best Picture by the Academy. It was quite a coup, too, having faced stiff competition in 1917, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Marriage Story, Little Women, Joker, Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, and Jojo Rabbit.
The win is a fitting cap for what’s been quite an historic run, which began last May at the Cannes Film Festival, where it became the first South Korean film to win the Palme d’Or. It has similarly broken new ground for South Korea at the Golden Globes, SAG, and the BAFTAs. The film also took home Best International Feature Film, Best Screenplay (Bong and Jin Won Han), and Best Director for Bong. Indeed, it was a massive night for Bong, South Korean film, and cinema at large.
Rest assured, this isn’t the end of Parasite. Back in January, news broke that Bong and Adam McKay were teaming up to create an HBO limited series based on the film. As the Oscar winner explained, the idea would be to “expand this film and explore all the ideas that I’ve had from the script writing stage from what could happen in between the scenes through the TV series.”
Elsewhere, the series adaptation of Bong’s 2014 epic, Snowpiercer, will debut on TNT on May 31st. The show stars Jennifer Connelly and Bong serves as executive producer.
Oscars 2020: Parasite named Best Picture in historic win
Michael Roffman
