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upworthy

coda best picture

A story about love and family wins heart and awards.

A sea of raucous clapping—and silent, yet enthusiastic sign language applause—rushed through the crowd as the movie "CODA" made multiple wins during the Oscars. That included Best Adapted Screenplay (Sian Heder), Best Supporting Actor (Troy Kotsur) and Best Picture.

You could say that "CODA" was, to all intents and purposes, a sweet and simple family drama. Not Oscar bait.

It’s a story about children of deaf adults, hence the name, and it follows a hearing teenager with a love of music who works with her deaf parents and brother at a fishing harbor. Besides former Oscar winner Marlee Matlin (who won in 1987 for her role in "Children of a Lesser God"), "CODA" had zero “big names.” It also only had a $10 million budget, and was released on a streaming service.

But still, it swept. It’s history-making victories like these that reflect what the Oscars essentially are at its very best—a celebration of art that truly moves us. And the biggest win of the night rightly went to the deaf community.

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