How a historically diverse and artistically thrilling set of Oscar nominees beat the pandemic-clouded odds.
The milestones feel exciting, if profoundly overdue.
This too had never happened before.
(The South Korean thriller is the only non-English-language film to win the award.)
The pre-2020 movie marketplace, dominated by tentpoles, crushed most smaller indies' chances of standing out.
But the pandemic offered low-budget players an opportunity to fight back.
One thing this slate of contenders is not, however?
And so the show must and should go on.
