Barry Jenkins’ coming-of-age drama Moonlight took home the top prize of Best Picture at the 89th Academy Awards last night. But in perhaps the most extraordinary end to any Oscars in living memory, it very nearly didn’t. In an apparent envelope mix-up, the presenters of the award, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, initially read out La La Land, somehow having been given the envelope for Best Actress (which went to that film’s Emma Stone).
The La La Land team promptly took to the stage, supposedly victorious, and had already begun making their speeches when Academy producers suddenly interrupted and demanded to see the winning envelopes. When the error became clear, La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz announced to gasps: “This is not a joke. Moonlight won Best Picture”.
It was a stunning end to a ceremony which up until that point had gone more or less without a hitch. Damien Chazelle’s musical ultimately won six awards, not quite sweeping its record-equalling 14 nominations but still the biggest winner overall, taking big categories like Best Director and Best Actress.
Elsewhere, Moonlight also won Best Adapted Screenplay; Casey Affleck kept Denzel Washington at bay to win Best Actor, and Viola Davis took Best Supporting Actress in an emotional speech. There was also something of a political edge to the evening, with many winners and presenters choosing to use their platform to speak out against recent immigration laws in the US; the director of the Best Foreign Language Film, Asgar Farhardi, chose not to attend in a political protest.
But frankly, it’ll all be overshadowed by the Best Picture fiasco, which saw the unbelievable sight of Oscar winners handing over the trophies they thought they had won to the actual winners; and a screen legend like Warren Beatty – visibly shaken – attempt to explain to the audience what the hell had just happened. At time of writing, it's still unclear what exactly went wrong, and there will be big questions for the show’s producers, for PricewaterhouseCoopers (the firm that organises the vote) and the Academy. The teams behind La La Land and Moonlight will be forced to enjoy the strangest, most bittersweet celebrations imaginable; and Hollywood will have to collectively attempt to pick its jaw up from the floor.
Full list of winners and nominees
BEST PICTURE
Winner: Moonlight
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell Or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester By The Sea
BEST DIRECTOR
Winner: La La Land - Damien Chazelle
Arrival - Denis Villeneuve
Hacksaw Ridge - Mel Gibson
Manchester By The Sea - Kenneth Lonergan
Moonlight - Barry Jenkins
BEST ACTRESS
Winner: Emma Stone - La La Land
Isabelle Huppert - Elle
Ruth Negga - Loving
Natalie Portman - Jackie
Meryl Streep - Florence Foster Jenkins
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Winner: Viola Davis - Fences
Naomie Harris - Moonlight
Nicole Kidman - Lion
Octavia Spencer - Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams - Manchester By The Sea
BEST ACTOR
Winner: Casey Affleck - Manchester By The Sea
Andrew Garfield - Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling - La La Land
Viggo Mortensen - Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington - Fences
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Winner: Mahershala Ali - Moonlight
Jeff Bridges - Hell Or High Water
Lucas Hedges - Manchester By The Sea
Dev Patel - Lion
Michael Shannon - Nocturnal Animals
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Winner: Zootropolis
Kubo And The Two Strings
Moana
My Life As A Zucchini
The Red Turtle
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: La La Land
Arrival
Lion
Moonlight
Silence
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Winner: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Allied
Florence Foster Jenkins
Jackie
La La Land
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Winner: O.J.: Made In America
Fire At Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life, Animated
13th
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Winner: The White Helmets
Extremis
4.1 Miles
Joe's Violin
Watani: My Homeland
BEST FILM EDITING
Winner: Hacksaw Ridge
Arrival
Hell Or High Water
La La Land
Moonlight
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Winner: The Salesman - Iran
Land Of Mine - Denmark
A* Man Called Ove* - Sweden
Tanna - Australia
Toni Erdmann - Germany
BEST MAKE-UP/HAIR
Winner: Suicide Squad
A Man Called Ove
Star Trek Beyond
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Winner: La La Land - Justin Hurwitz
Jackie - Mica Levi
Lion - Dustin O'Halloran And Hauschka
Moonlight - Nicholas Britell
Passengers - Thomas Newman
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Winner: City Of Stars - La La Land
Audition (The Fools Who Dream) - La La Land
Can't Stop The Feeling - Trolls
The Empty Chair - Jim: The James Foley Story
How Far I'll Go - Moana
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Winner: La La Land
Arrival
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
Passengers
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Winner: Piper
Blind Vaysha
Borrowed Time
Pear Cider And Cigarettes
Pearl
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM
Winner: Sing
Ennemis Intérieurs
La Femme Et Le Tgv
Silent Nights
Timecode
BEST SOUND EDITING
Winner: Arrival
Deepwater Horizon
Hacksaw Ridge
La La Land
Sully
BEST SOUND MIXING
Winner: Hacksaw Ridge
Arrival
La La Land
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers Of Benghazi
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Winner: The Jungle Book
Deepwater Horizon
Doctor Strange
Kubo And The Two Strings
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Winner: Moonlight
Arrival
Fences
Hidden Figures
Lion
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Winner: Manchester By The Sea
Hell Or High Water
La La Land
The Lobster
20th Century Women