Crime drama Spotlight beat favourite The Revenant to the top honours at the 2016 Oscars, but events on the outside overshadowed the glitzy event on Sunday. This year’s is the most politically charged ceremony to date as people at the venue and around the world protested against the lack of racial diversity among its nominations and awardees.
Black actors, especially host Chris Rock, took the opportunity to make several pointed jokes during their time on stage, including a skit that spoofed all the films they could have been in but were not. The hashtag #OscarsSoWhite was trending as it has been for several days now, and many chose simply to not watch the event. The Academy’s management is likely to introduce new measures next year to prevent this kind of backlash, vowing to “diversify” the event, though also scrambling to please advertisers displeased with the poorer viewership.
Those who did follow the show saw Spotlight win Best Film and Alejandro González Iñárritu bag the Best Director prize for The Revenant. A collective sigh of relief fluttered around the interweb as Leonardo DiCaprio finally won a Best Actor prize for his performance in the period drama. As expected, Brie Larson picked up the Best Actress award for portraying a captive mother in the heart-stopping Room. Alicia Vikander won Best Supporting Actress for her role The Danish Girl, while the Best Supporting Actor prize went to Mark Rylance for Steven Spielberg's Cold War film Bridge of Spies. Mad Max: Fury Road won a host of technical awards, including Best Editing, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design.
Oh, and Priyanka Chopra was there too.
Here's a full list of the winners.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!