The season of winter often has a new nickname at the beginning of the year: The Awards Season. Actors, actresses, singers, songwriters, screenwriters, and more gather to have their accomplishments honored through many different awards shows. The People’s Choice Awards, Golden Globes, and Grammy’s are a few well-known and highly-anticipated awards shows. Another big one: the Academy Awards, or as it is more commonly known, the Oscars.

Leading up to the Oscars, everyone was buzzing with excitement over the host, the fashion, and the nominees. This year, the Oscars were under fire for their “lack of diversity” because all twenty of the acting contenders were white, and there were no women in the directing or writing categories. Film academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs replied to the accusations by stating, “In the last two years, we’ve made greater strides than we ever have in the past toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive organization through admitting new members and more inclusive classes of members, and, personally, I would love to see and look forward to see a greater cultural diversity among all our nominees in all of our categories.”

The nominees for best actor were Steve Carell(Foxcatcher), Bradley Cooper(American Sniper), Benedict Cumberbatch(The Imitation Game), Michael Keaton(Birdman), and Eddie Redmayne(The Theory of Everything). Eddie Redmayne was the winner for his performance as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything.

The nominees for best actress were Marion Cotillard(Two Days, One Night), Felicity Jones(The Theory of Everything), Julianne Moore(Still Alice), Rosamund Pike(Gone Girl), and Reese Witherspoon(Wild). Julianne Moore was the winner for her performance as a woman with Alzheimer’s in Still Alice.

The nominees for best supporting actor were Robert Duvall(The Judge), Ethan Hawke(Boyhood), Edward Norton(Birdman), Mark Ruffalo(Foxcatcher), and J.K. Simmons(Whiplash). J.K. Simmons was the winner for his performance as a music teacher in Whiplash.

The nominees for best supporting actress were Patricia Arquette(Boyhood), Laura Dern(Wild), Keira Knightley(The Imitation Game), Emma Stone(Birdman), and Meryl Streep(Into the Woods). Patricia Arquette was the winner for her performance as the mother in Boyhood.

Other winners include Big Hero 6 for best animated feature film, Glory from Selma for best original song, Feast for best animated short film, and Birdman for best picture.

There were several memorable moments from the Oscars this year, such as when Common and John Legend sang the song Glory and moved many people to tears, including David Oyelowo who played Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma. Another headline-making moment was when best supporting actress winner Patricia Arquette gave a rousing speech about gender and wage equality. Meryl Streep was so struck that she stood up, “pointing in solidarity.” Lady Gaga sang a beautiful medley from The Sound of Music in honor of its fiftieth anniversary, touching Julie Andrews’ heart. A somber moment happened when Graham Moore, who won best adapted screenplay for The Imitation Game, talked in his speech about how he tried to commit suicide when he was sixteen because he felt “different” and “weird.” He went on to say, “…I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different or doesn’t fit in anywhere. Yes, you do.”

The Oscars are a time to bring people together in order to honor the actors, writers, and everyone else who works to make great entertainment. Hopefully next year will be full of nominees as talented as this year’s!