Oscars 2026: Paul Thomas Anderson wins Best Director as ‘One Battle After Another’ bags Best Picture

Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson won the coveted Best Director honour at the 98^th Academy Awards for his dark comedy, One Battle After Another as the film also bagged the Oscar for Best Picture.

During the ceremony, One Battle After Another emerged as the big winner with six awards. The other four being, Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, Best Adapted Screenplay for Anderson, Best Casting for Cassandra Kulukundis and Best Editing for Andy Jurgensen.

It was followed by Ryan Coogler’s vampire-thriller Sinners which won in four categories, including, Best Actor for Michael B. Jordan, Best Original Screenplay for Coogler, Best Cinematography for Autumn Durald Arkapaw and Best Original Score for Ludwig Göransson.

Accepting the award for Best Director, Anderson said, “I’m here because of people’s faith in me – that give me their faith and their time, and that’s the best part about being on a film crew, is being with people. We need each other. This is a wonderful gift, and I’m so happy to call the movies home. This is really terrific. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love it.”

This was the first Oscar win for Anderson, known for making films like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood and Phantom Thread. For One Battle After Another, he had already won a series of other awards this season at the BAFTA, Golden Globe and DGA Awards.