Oscars 2018: Winners and Highlights

The most prestigious awards in the cinema industry were handed out to this year’s winners in a very glamorous edition of the Academy Awards last night in Los Angeles. This puts an end to this year’s awards season.
This year’s ceremony was dominated by a powerful sense of community with stars and attendees giving speeches promoting inclusivity and diversity. Time’s Up and Me Too once again made an appearance in a year that has been pivotal in the fight for gender equality in the entertainment industry.
‘A Fantastic Woman’ won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It is the first time a film with a transgender lead character has ever won an award. The 90th Academy Awards also became the first occasion in which a transgender person presented one of the awards.
There was another first at last night’s ceremony. Jordan Peele became the first Afro-American to win the award for Best Original Screenplay for ‘Get Out’.
James Ivory became the oldest person to ever win an Oscar when he was awarded the recognition for his screen adaptation of André Aciman’s novel ‘Call Me By Your Name’. British cinematographer Roger Deakins finally won a Best Cinematography award for his work on ‘Blade Runner 2049’ after 13 nominations with no win.
Host Jimmy Kimmel was both sensitive to the current environment in Hollywood and witty, living up to his reputation after last year’s success. He inserted some humour into the ceremony when he announced that the winner to deliver the shortest speech would be going home with a shiny new jet ski, which was showcased by Helen Mirren.
Gary Oldman won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in ‘Darkest Hour’. In his speech he thanked his mother who he pointed out was older than the Oscar and finished his speech saying: “Put the kettle on, I’m bringing Oscar home”.
There was also room to criticise American president Trump with many condemning his treatment of the Dreamers and Common took to the stage and while free styling condemned the NRA.
Guillermo del Toro won Best Director and delivered a moving speech talking about immigration. “I am an immigrant. The greatest thing out art does and our industry does is to erase the lines in the sand. We should continue doing that when the world tells us to make them deeper,” he said.
The real highlight of the ceremony though happened when Frances McDormand won the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her turn as grieving mother Mildred in ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’. She took the opportunity to ask all the female nominees to stand up and praised all of the women working in the industry. The other four best actress nominees gathered together for a hug.
‘The Shape of Water’, that was nominated in 13 categories, was the big winner of the night taking home a total of four golden statuettes, including Best Director and Best Film.
Another of this year’s favourites, ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’, won in two of the four acting categories with Frances McDormand winning Best Leading Actress and Sam Rockwell the Best Supporting Actor award.
Here is the full list of the 90th Academy Awards winners:
Best supporting actor – Sam Rockwell in ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’
Best makeup and hair – Darkest Hour#
Best costume design – Phantom Thread
Best documentary – Icarus
Best sound editing – Dunkirk
Best sound mixing – Dunkirk
Best production design – The Shape of Water
Best foreign language film – A Fantastic Woman
Best supporting actress – Allison Janney in ‘I, Tonya’
Best animated short – Dear Basketball
Best animated film – Coco
Best visual effects – Blade Runner 2049
Best editing – Dunkirk
Best documentary short – Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Best live action short – The Silent Child
Best adapted screenplay – ‘Call Me By Your Name’ by James Ivory
Best original screenplay – ‘Get Out’ by Jordan Peele
Best cinematography – Blade Runner 2049
Best score – The Shape of Water
Best song – “Remember me” from Coco
Best director – Guillermo Del Toro for ‘The Shape of Water’
Best actor – Gary Oldman in ‘Darkest Hour’
Best actress – Frances McDormand in ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’
Best picture – The Shape of Water
> Naomi Round