The Academy Museum Gala returned to Los Angeles last night, drawing one of the most concentrated guest lists of major names in film today, with a focus on directors, award-season frontrunners, and emerging actors rather than purely celebrity spectacle.
Among those in attendance were Zendaya, Margot Robbie, Timothée Chalamet, Ayo Edebiri, Greta Lee, Lily Gladstone, Emma Stone, Barry Keoghan, and Greta Gerwig. Several international actors, including Hunter Schafer, Jung Ho-yeon, and Tahar Rahim, were also present, reflecting the Academy’s continuing push toward global positioning.
This year’s gala honoured four figures for their contributions to cinema: Alfonso Cuarón, Michelle Yeoh, Ryan Coogler, and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (posthumously). Yeoh delivered the most discussed speech of the night, calling for active preservation of global film heritage in an industry now increasingly dictated by algorithmic platforms and shifting audience habits.
The event was held outdoors at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, with guests dressed in predominantly structured, modern eveningwear, more archival in tone than experimental. Notably, there was less emphasis on loud fashion statements compared to previous years.
Dinner was followed by a short archival film screening curated by the Academy’s preservation team, centred on forgotten early cinema. This programming choice highlighted the museum’s shift toward educational and cultural authority rather than simply glamour.
No major announcements were made, but the tone of the evening suggested a quiet positioning of the event as the Academy’s most strategically important cultural gathering — beyond the Oscars — designed to reinforce cinema’s long-term relevance rather than generate viral moments.
The W's favourite looks of the night are below:
