Sawt Falasteen - 'Oppenheimer' starts strong in bid for Oscars glory

Christopher Nolan's masterful drama about the father of the atomic bomb, half of last summer's massive "Barbenheimer" phenomenon, is the firm favorite to sweep the movie industry's top awards, including best picture.

"I would like to thank my terrible childhood and the Academy, in that order," Downey said after accepting the statuette.

Downey, who had been the butt of a joke by host Jimmy Kimmel about his well-documented drug problems, lavished thanks on his wife Susan for her support.

"She found me a snarling rescue pet and loved me back to life," he said.

The film also snapped up prizes for editing and cinematography.

The other huge smash of the year, Greta Gerwig's pop feminist blockbuster "Barbie," featured heavily throughout the gala in Los Angeles.

While the movie, which grossed $1.4 billion at the box office, was not expected to win many prizes, it proved a target that Kimmel could not pass up in his opening monologue, with a nod to stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.

"Ryan and Margot, I want you to know that even if neither of you wins an Oscar tonight, you both already won something much more important: the genetic lottery," he said.

- 'This is the year' -

But all eyes were on Nolan's cerebral take on what he has called "the most important person who ever lived."

Beyond Downey's win, the film has a strong chance at best actor honors for Cillian Murphy, who is locked in a tight race with Paul Giamatti of "The Holdovers."

The film is still up for golden statuettes for best director, and technical prizes including score.

"It just had everything, the scale, the scope, the importance," said one Oscars voter, who asked to remain anonymous as Academy members are instructed not to discuss their ballots.

"This is the year for 'Oppenheimer,'" the voter told AFP.

Da'Vine Joy Randolph ("The Holdovers") won the first award of the night for best supporting actress for her performance in "The Holdovers."

Elsewhere, the competition for best actress promises to be a nail-biter.

Emma Stone, who previously won an Academy Award for "La La Land," gives a stunning, daring performance in the surreal, Frankenstein-esque "Poor Things."

But Lily Gladstone of "Killers of the Flower Moon" has not just the clout of her director Martin Scorsese, but the weight of history behind her.

She is seeking to become the first Native American to win an acting Oscar.

"Gladstone holds her own against Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, these towering actors" in Scorsese's historical crime epic, said the anonymous voter.

Should the two frontrunners cancel one another out, Sandra Hueller of "Anatomy of a Fall" could be "the underdog," the voter added.

The French courtroom thriller won for best original screenplay.

Co-writer Justine Triet revealed backstage that the 50 Cent song that features heavily in the film was originally going to be a Dolly Parton track.

"But they refused to give us the rights," she told reporters.

- Pink carpet -

"Barbie" won the happenstance battle for eyeballs with "Oppenheimer" -- both films were released on the same day -- and still has a chance for Oscars hardware.

Both Billie Eilish's "What Was I Made For?" and the movie's showstopping "I'm Just Ken" are up for best original song.

Eilish delivered a heartfelt performance, and supporting actor nominee Ryan Gosling's first-ever live performance of his character's signature power ballad brought down the house.

Simu Liu, who plays one of the Kens in the movie, told reporters that making the film had been "so much pink."

"More pink that I've ever seen in my entire life," he said.

- Protests -

The United Kingdom also scored its first-ever best international film Oscar with Auschwitz drama "The Zone of Interest."

The best documentary win for "20 Days in Mariupol" might help redirect attention -- however momentarily -- to the war in Ukraine.

But it was the war in Gaza that remained in focus, with some on the red carpet, including supporting actor nominee Mark Ruffalo, wearing pins calling for a ceasefire, while demonstrators gathered around the edges of the security curtain.

In one protest witnessed by AFP, around 50 people took over an intersection on Hollywood Boulevard.

A driver who tried to pass had his windshield broken when one demonstrator hurled a traffic cone at his car.

K.AbuDahab--SF-PST