Movie poster of  Moonlight, the movie that beat La La Land to win the Best Picture at the 2017 Oscar Awards.

ENTERTAINMENT/MOVIES

Moonlight beats La La Land to win Best Picture at the 2017 Oscar Awards in a spectacular event that continues generate conversations across the globe.

BY KAZAD

HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES-“What a calamity?” That was how someone described what happened during the presentation of the Best Picture Award during the 89^TH Oscar Awards.  Close to the end of the award ceremony, Warren Beatty got on stage to present the Best Picture Awards. He opened the envelope and after some hesitation, his fellow presenter, Faye Dunaway, bellowed La La Land as the winner.

The La La Land cast and crew could not contain their excitement and rushed to the stage to accept the award. The excitement was not unexpected. The movie was touted as one of the movies of all time and was expected to win many awards, including Best Picture.

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Sadly, the excitement was short-lived.  Just as the La La Land crew began giving speeches, Jordan Horowitz, producer of the movie announced that Moonlight was the winner and not La La Land. There was a gasp in the hall that was filled to capacity. Some of the guests could not hide their angst and others stared, dismay written all over their faces.

That feeling of exasperation traveled from the hall to social media, where everyone wanted to know what had happened.  “What is happening?” someone asked.  No one could provide answers to what was going on.

In the Dolby Theatre, people were talking, whispering and conversing on what had just happened.  But even as confusion reigned in the hall, the cast of Moonlight got on stage to receive the award for Best Picture. They were cheered and celebrated. Many people, however, could not but notice the difference in casting. While the cast of La La Land is mostly White, Moonlight is black. The difference in casting for some people is very telling. ‘That is so awkward,” someone said on twitter.

Many people have continued to draw a comparison between what happened during the 2015 Miss Universe Pageant when Steve Harvey announced the wrong person as the winner of the Pageant.

Despite the La La Land and Moonlight debacle, the 89^TH Oscar Awards was a successful event. La La Land was expected to be the star of the night.  The Oscar nomination announced several months ago engendered high expectations for La La Land. Nominated for 14 awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screen Play, it was clear that the musical was on its way to becoming one of the great movies of recent times. The hope was that La La Land would win 12 of the 14 nominations, becoming the biggest Oscar winner ever. It would surpass Titanic, Ben-Hur, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Those who were expecting La La Land to break all the records were, however, disappointed. The movie only won 6 of the 14 awards it was nominated for during Oscar nominations.  Nevertheless, La La Land did not disappoint at all in spite of the shortfall.  It won for Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Original Song, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, and Best Actress, won by Emma Stone. 

Repeatedly La La Land was called to the stage to receive awards. However, La La Land was not alone in what was an extraordinary night. Moonlight won for Best Picture, Writing Adapted Screen Play, and Actor in Supporting role won by   Mahershala Ali

Below are details of winners at the at the 89^TH Oscar Awards

Best Picture
Arrival
Fences
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Hidden Figures
La La Land
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight- Winner

Best Director
Damien Chazelle, La La Land  –Winner
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight 
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea 
Denis Villeneuve, Arrival
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge

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

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight–Winner
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Dev Patel, Lion
Lucas Hedges, Manchester by the Sea
Michael Shannon, Nocturnal Animals

Best Supporting Actress
Viola Davis, Fences –Winner
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea 
Naomie Harris, Moonlight 
Nicole Kidman, Lion 
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures

Best Adapted Screenplay
Moonlight–Winner
Arrival
Fences
Lion
Hidden Figures

Best Original Screenplay
Manchester by the Sea-Winner
La La Land
Hell or High Water
The Lobster
20th Century Women

Best Foreign Language Film

Toni Erdmann
The Salesman–Winner
Land of Mine
Tanna
A Man Called Ove

Best Documentary Feature
O.J.: Made in America–Winner
13th
Fire at Sea
I Am Not Your Negro
Life Animated

Best Animated Feature
Zootopia–Winner
Kubo and the Two Strings
The Red Turtle
My Life As a Zucchini
Moana

Best Film Editing
La La Land
Moonlight
Arrival
Hacksaw Ridge–Winner
Hell or High Water

Best Original Song
City of Stars, La La Land -Winner
Audition (The Fools Who Dream), La La Land
How Far I’ll Go, Moana
Can’t Stop the Feeling, Trolls
The Empty Chair, Jim: The James Foley Story

Best Original Score

La La Land–Winner
Lion
Jackie
Moonlight
Passengers

Best Cinematography
La La Land–Winner
Moonlight
Arrival
Silence
Lion

Best Costume Design
Florence Foster Jenkins
La La Land
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them–Winner
Allied
Jackie

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Star Trek Beyond
A Man Called Ove
Suicide Squad-Winner

Best Production Design
La La Land–Winner
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Hail, Caesar!
Arrival
Passengers

Best Sound Editing
Hacksaw Ridge
Arrival-Winner
Deepwater Horizon
La La Land
Sully

Best Sound Mixing
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Hacksaw Ridge-Winner
La La Land
Arrival
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi

Best Visual Effects
The Jungle Book-Winner
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Kubo and the Two Strings
Doctor Strange
Deepwater Horizon

Best Short Film, Live Action
Timecode
Silent Nights
La Femme et le TGV
Ennemis Interieurs
Sing-Winner

Best Short Film, Animated
Piper–Winner
Pearl
Borrowed Time
Blind Vaysha
Pear Cider and Cigarettes

Best Documentary, Short Subject
Joe’s Violin
The White Helmets–Winner
Extremis
Watani: My Homeland
4.1 Miles

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