'Moonlight' becomes the first LGBT film in history to win Best Picture at the Oscars

After months of critical adulation and major awards show glory, Moonlight has made history by becoming the first LGBT-themed film in history to win Best Picture at the Oscars.

Barry Jenkins’ compelling coming-of-age drama, which charts the life of a young gay black man growing up in a deprived Miami neighbourhood, scooped the top prize at the 89th Academy Awards in Los Angeles last night (February 27) in the most exceptional of circumstances, after its main rival, La La Land, was wrongly announced as the winner following a mix-up with the announcement cards.

Presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced Damien Chazelle’s musical romance as the winner after mistakenly being given an envelope opened earlier and containing a card that said Emma Stone had won best actress for La La Land.

The teams behind La La Land were in the middle of their acceptance speeches when the mistake was noticed. After learning of the error, one of the film’s producers told the stunned audience of A-listers: “There’s been a mistake – Moonlight, you guys won Best Picture.”

After holding the correct card announcing Moonlight‘s historic victory, he later added: “I’m really proud to hand this to my friends at Moonlight.”

There was understandable shock in the Moonlight camp as the film’s stars and producers came to terms with their victory, which came following wins earlier in the night for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala Ali.

Biggest #Oscars mix up of all time? Watch the full play-by-play: pic.twitter.com/RT2zGiR798

— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 27, 2017

The unfortunate mix-up could not overshadow the magnitude of Moonlight‘s achievement, which comes 11 years after Ang Lee’s romantic cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain controversially lost out to Crash for Best Picture at the 2006 ceremony, amid accusations that the film’s central same-sex romance had hindered its chances with Academy voters.

Taking to the stage, Jenkins said: “Very clearly, even in my dreams this could not be true, but to hell with dreams! I’m done with it because this is true. Oh, my goodness. I have to say it is true, it’s not fake.”

PriceWaterhouseCooper, the accountancy firm responsible for counting the ballots, have “sincerely” apologised for the error, saying in statement: “We are currently investigating how this could have happened, and deeply regret that this occurred.”

Despite missing out on Best Picture, La Land remained the night’s biggest individual winner with six awards, including Best Director for Chazelle and Best Actress for Emma Stone.

The 28-year-old, who had accepted her own award just minutes before the Best Picture mix-up, later paid tribute to Moonlight, telling reporters alter she believed it was “one of the best films of all time.”

In the acting categories there were also victories for Casey Affleck, for his affecting turn as a man dealing with grief in Manchester by the Sea, and for Viola Davis, who took home a first – and, for many, long overdue – Academy Award for her role in Fences.

Moonlight opened in UK cinemas last Friday, taking a modest £368,000 in its opening week. Importantly, however, it had a higher screen average than any other film on release, achieving its taking from just 85 cinemas.

The film’s Best Picture win is likely to propel it to even greater commercial success – aided by the fact it expanded into 177 UK venues.

Check out the full list of winners from the 89th Academy Awards below:

BEST PICTURE

Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight – WINNER

BEST ACTRESS
Emma Stone, La La Land – WINNER
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Ruth Negga, Loving

BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea – WINNER
Denzel Washington, Fences
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Dev Patel, Lion
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight – WINNER
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Viola Davis, Fences – WINNER

BEST DIRECTOR
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Damien Chazelle, La La Land – WINNER
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
13th
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
O.J.: Made in America – WINNER

BEST SCORE
Jackie
La La Land – WINNER
Lion
Moonlight
Passengers

BEST SONG
“Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” La La Land
“Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Trolls
“City of Stars,” La La Land – WINNER
“How Far I’ll Go,” Moana
“The Empty Chair,” Jim: The James Foley Story

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
The Red Turtle
Zootopia – WINNER

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
20th Century Women
Hell or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
Manchester by the Sea – WINNER

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
Moonlight – WINNER

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
A Man Called Ove
Land of Mine
Tanna
The Salesman – WINNER
Toni Erdmann

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
4.1 Miles
Extremis
Joe’s Violin
The White Helmets – WINNER
Watani: My Homeland

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Ennemis Intérieurs
La Femme et le TGV
Sing – WINNER
Silent Nights
Timecode

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Arrival
La La Land – WINNER
Lion
Moonlight
Silence

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
La La Land – WINNER
Passengers

BEST MAKE-UP AND HAIR
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
Suicide Squad – WINNER

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Allied
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – WINNER
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land

BEST SOUND EDITING
Arrival – WINNER
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully

BEST SOUND MIXING
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge – WINNER
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider and Cigarettes
Pearl
Piper – WINNER

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
The Jungle Book – WINNER
Kubo and the Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

BEST FILM EDITING
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge – WINNER
Hell or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight

‘Moonlight’ becomes the first LGBT film in history to win Best Picture at the Oscars

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