After months of speculation, Moonlight has taken the top prize at this year’s Oscar ceremony. The beautiful exploration of gay masculinity and race relations in poverty-stricken Miami is the first ever LGBTQ+ film to take the Best Picture award.
As always, the ceremony sparked controversy – in a mix-up between envelopes, presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty read out the wrong winner, causing La La Land’s team to be cut off mid-speech by horrified producers. It’s undoubtedly one of the most dramatic moments in the awards’ history.
La La Land couldn’t help but take the spotlight for one last time; however, it didn’t stop Moonlight from taking centre stage. Its win is a landmark achievement for queer and black cinema. Regardless of your opinions of the Academy, Moonlight’s success marks a step forwards in giving LGBTQ+ stories the mainstream attention they deserve.
In the acting categories, the Academy awarded – as expected – Emma Stone for Best Actress and Casey Affleck for Best Actor. For the first time in ten years, there was more than one black acting winner, with Viola Davis for Best Supporting Actress and Mahershala Ali for Best Supporting Actor. Ali was also the first Muslim to win a top acting prize.
Here at Kettle Mag, we asked our writers to vote for who they thought should win on the big night. It’s safe to say that our list looked a little different. Hidden Figures – the story of an all-female team of African-Americans who helped NASA’s first mission to space – took the top prize. Ruth Negga has been mostly overlooked for her nomination in the mainstream press, yet we thought her quietly powerful performance blew Emma Stone out of the water.
Take a look at the full list of winners below:
BEST PICTURE
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures – WINNER
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge – WINNER
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving – WINNER
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
DIRECTING
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight – WINNER
What do you think of our winners? Let us know in the comments below!
