The 97th Academy Awards will not disappoint, as the almost 10,000 voting peers from all walks of movie making life will, once again, make their decisions as to who should receive this most sought-after and revered little gold statuette.

For much of the lifetime of Oscar, the studio system has mostly prevailed. The “Big Five” studios — MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros, Columbia and Universal — dominated the awards year after year. Then, in the mid 1960s, this began to change as the studios started to fracture in various ways. As TV became a bigger focus of production, less money became readily available for movie production. Independent producers started to set up small production companies and gather investors of their own, to shore up the budget shortfall from the major studios, who were slowly moving over to just becoming distributors with ever decreasing percentages of up-front money becoming available.

The first Oscar winning Best Picture to really come out of this slowly changing studio system was “Midnight Cowboy” (1969). This was the first truly independent movie to take top honors, and although studios have bounced back and forth over the years following, it has been independents that have continued to garner stronger showings each year.

“Midnight Cowboy,” (1969) marked a significant milestone in cinema history as, due to its independence from any big studio control, its screenwriter, Waldo Salt, and director, John Schlesinger, were able to command total artistic freedom in both their production and storytelling preferences and, as such, a new kind of “masterpiece” was made. One that just could not be ignored anymore.

Indeed, it was the first “X” rated — later changed to R rated by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of American — film ratings board — movie to ever win Best Picture. There have since been 32 R rated winners out of the 54 total, to date.

In the last few years, this has become even more apparent with extremely small budgeted independent movies consistently winning in the big categories.

“Moonlight” (2016), “Parasite” (2019), “Nomadland” (2020), “CODA” (2021) and “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” (2022) are all examples of small budgeted, investor financed, independent productions that took Best Picture honors.

Indeed, “CODA,” (2021) was actually financed by Apple TV’s film financing department, a first for a TV Streaming service. It’s interesting to note that none of the “Big Five” studios that I mentioned earlier, were involved in any of these five winners.

Almost all of the 10 movies nominated in the Best Picture category this year are, with a couple of exceptions, once again, independent, multi-financed, extremely small budgeted productions.

Leading the list is “Emilia Perez,” with 13 nominations, and is one of the strongest contenders for top honors.

A fascinating French/Spanish collaboration that is a crime drama, a musical and somewhat of a comedy all rolled into what can only be described as a “cinematic enigma.” To say this is a uniquely original movie is an understatement. The script, direction and all the main performances, have elevated this relatively small, obscure production to worldwide cult status.

Having already won over 60 international movie awards, with many more still pending and Oscar sitting at the top of that list of course, it surely is the one to watch. Incidentally, if it does win Best Picture, it will be only the second one ever that is not in the English language — the other being “Parasite.” (2019)

“The Brutalist,” with 10 nominations, is the story of an immigrant architect’s incredible journey to America, after the Holocaust, and in the pursuit of the “American Dream.” Adrien Brody’s performance has been hailed as perfection by many and has certainly catapulted this movie to the forefront of the list this year.

“Wicked,” also with 10 nominations, is a movie adaptation of the Tony award winning stage musical and has become somewhat of a phenomenon. This is mainly due to the enigmatically electric performances by its two leads — Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande (both nominated respectively) — as the two witches who start out as best friends, only to become sworn enemies. This is a brilliantly crafted movie that has struck all the right chords with audiences around the world, taking in over $710 Million at the worldwide box office and delighting critics across the board.

Two other Best Picture contenders worth mentioning are, “A Complete Unknown,” and “Conclave.” Both have nine nominations each and both received high praise from audiences and critics alike.

Timothee Chalamet’s performance as Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” has already won him several major awards, making him, and Adrien Brody, joint favorites to win at this point.

“Conclave,” a story about the choosing of the next Pope and the discovery of secrets and scandals of the various candidates, has Ralph Fiennes in the lead role, delivering a powerful performance that carries this intense thriller/drama to the highest of acclaim by critics the world over.

Two other performances worth mentioning are, Mikey Madison, in “Anora,” and Demi Moore in, “The Substance.” Both have been highly praised for their equally intense yet starkly opposing studies of the suffering of transformation — one mentally and one physically.

The Best Director category is interesting this year as it features five first time nominees. Most years there will be at least one veteran director to be nominated in the category. But this year, not only first timers but some very diverse styles and backgrounds have come into play also. Whilst there is no clear contender, Brady Corbet, for his tantalizingly cinematic work on “The Brutalist,” seems to be the apparent frontrunner, and one whom I personally believe will win — but we shall see.

With the exception of the big budget studio nominees, “A Complete Unknown,” with a $60 million budget, “Dune: Part Two,” with a $190 million budget and “Wicked,” with a $150 Million budget, all the other Best Picture nominees are small, independent productions — several under $10 million — that have shone through purely on their artistic and cinematic fervor and shown, as I earlier stated, that even the smallest of budgets (“I’m still here” was made for as little as $1.48 Million) that quality over quantity has proven itself yet again.

The ever-changing face of cinema continues to roll on and for the better, as the small productions have allowed for a wealth of diverse talent from around the globe to come forward in recent years, more than ever before, and has helped keep world cinema alive for now, and on into the future.

The ceremony will be held on Sunday, March 2 — moved later than originally planned due to the LA fires in January — and will be broadcast on ABC from 7 p.m.

Here are the nominees in the top six categories:

Best Picture

Anora

The Brutalist

A Complete Unknown

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Perez

I’m Still Here

Nickel Boys

The Substance

Wicked

Best Director

Sean Baker — Anora

Brady Corbet — The Brutalist

James Mangold — A Complete Unknown

Jacques Audiard — Emilia Perez

Coralie Fargeat — The Substance

Best Actor

Adrien Brody — The Brutalist

Timothee Chalamet — A Complete Unknown

Colman Domingo — Sing Sing

Ralph Fiennes — Conclave

Sebastian Stan — The Apprentice

Best Actress

Cynthia Erivo — Wicked

Karla Sofia Gascon — Emilia Perez

Mikey Madison — Anora

Demi Moore — The Substance

Fernanda Torres — I’m Still Here

Best Supporting Actor

Yura Borisov — Anora

Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain

Edward Norton — A Complete Unknown

Guy Pearce — The Brutalist

Jeremy Strong — The Apprentice

Best Supporting Actress

Monica Barbaro — A Complete Unknown

Ariana Grande — Wicked

Felicity Jones — The Brutalist

Isabella Rossellini — Conclave

Zoe Saldana — Emilia Perez