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29 March 2024

Oscars 2016: Best film 'Spotlight', Leonardo DiCaprio finally wins

Published
By Ajanta Paul

'Spotlight' takes home the big prize at the 88th Academy Awards with a Best Picture victory.

The Best Picture race seemed to be clearly leaning in favour of survival epic 'The Revenant' but the drama about the Boston Globe's investigation into the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal also nabbed a statue for its screenplay, while 'Mad Max: Fury Road' picked up a leading six Oscars exclusively in technical categories.

'Spotlight' not only beat out Alejandro Iñárritu's revenge film, but audience favorites like 'Mad Max: Fury Road' and 'The Martian', as well as critical darlings 'Room' and 'Brooklyn'.

The Oscar for Actor in a Leading Role goes to Leonardo DiCaprio for his outstanding performance in 'The Revenant'.

DiCaprio had previously been nominated for 'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' (1993), 'The Aviator' (2004), 'Blood Diamond' (2006) and 'The Wolf of Wall Street' (2013). He was also nominated for best picture as a producer of 'Wolf.'

“Thank you to (Alejandro G. Inarritu) and Chivo (cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki) for creating a transcendent cinematic experience," DiCaprio said with the Oscar statue (finally) in hand.

He went on to speak again about climate change and how his experience on the film only fueled his passion in fighting it all the more. "Let us not take this planet for granted,” he said. “I do not take this night for granted.”

US Vice President Joe Biden introduced Lady Gaga's performance of a song from rape doc 'The Hunting Ground'..

Biden urged attendees and viewers of the 88th Academy Awards to 'take the pledge' to end campus sexual assault on college campuses.

Lady Gaga delivered a powerful performance that saw many move to tears.

As the song crescendoed, she was joined onstage by survivors of sexual assault, who surrounded the piano as she brough the song home.

Each of them had an arm extended and words like 'It happened to me,' 'Survivor,' and 'It's not your fault' written on them in black ink.

The Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role goes to Brie Larson for her brilliant performance in 'Room'.

Brie Larson hugs fellow actor Jacob Tremblay before accepting the award for Best Actress.

"The thing that I love about movie-making is how many people it takes to make it," Larson said moments after Eddie Redmayne opened the envelope and announced her name to the Dolby Theatre audience. "Thank you to the moviegoers."

The Oscar for Directing goes to Alejandro González Iñárritu for 'The Revenant'.

Alejandro is only the third director to have won Oscar back-to-back for direction.

"Gracias a la Academia — Thanks to the Academy," the Mexican native began his acceptance.

"I can't believe this is happening. It's amazing to receive this award tonight. It's much more beautiful for me to share it with all the talented and crazy cast and colleagues and crew members that made this film possible."

Inarritu, who won last year for 'Birdman,' topped Lenny Abrahamson for 'Room,' Tom McCarthy for 'Spotlight,' Adam McKay for 'The Big Short' and George Miller for 'Mad Max: Fury Road.'

The Oscar for Original Song goes to Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith for 'Writing on the Wall'  for the James Bond film 'Spectre.'

Sam Smith beats Lady Gaga, who was also nominated for her song 'Til It Happens To You'.

The Oscar for Original Score goes to Ennio Morricone for 'The Hateful Eight'.

The Oscar for Foreign Language Film goes to Hungarian movie 'Son of Saul' directed by László Nemes.

Director Laszlo Nemes (R)

The Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film goes to 'Stutterer' - Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage.

The Oscar for Documentary Feature goes to 'Amy' - Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees

C-3PO, R2-D2 and BB-8 from 'Star Wars' make Oscar debute.

Director Pete Docter (R) and Jonas Rivera win Best Animated Feature for Disney's 'Inside Out'.

The Oscar for Supporting Actor goes to Mark Rylance for his performance in 'Bridge of Spies'.

Mark Rylance beats Sylvester Stallone in first big upset of the night but 'Rocky' has Arnold Schwarzenegger by his side.

The Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject goes to 'A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness' directed  by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

The Oscar for Makeup and Hairstyling goes to Lesly Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega and Damian Martin for 'Mad Max: Fury Road'.

The Oscar for Production Design goes to Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson for 'Mad Max: Fury Road

The Weeknd performs 'Earned It' from 'Fifty Shades of Grey' at the Oscars

'Mad Max: Fury Road' also takes home best sound editing.

Best film editing goes to 'Mad Max: Fury Road'. Margaret Sixel accepting the award from Priyanka Copra.

The Oscar for Costume Design goes to Jenny Beavan for 'Mad Max: Fury Road'

Alicia Vikander is taking home Best Supporting Actress for her role as Gerda Wegener in 'The Danish Girl'.

In her acceptance speech Alicia thanked her mom and dad, "for giving me the belief anthing can happen."

Ryan Gosling presenting Adapted Screenplay and it goes to 'The Big Short'

Adam McKay and Charles Randolph picks up the golden statue for adapted screenplay

'Spotlight' wins best original screenplay

Chris Rock kills it in his opening speech

"Well, I'm here at the Academy Awards, also known as the White People's Choice Awards," host Chris Rock kicks of the ceremony.

Addressing the diversity issue, Rock continues his monologue - "I thought about quitting... The last thing I need is to lose another job to Kevin Hart."

He went on to say, "It's not about boycotting anything. We just want opportunities. Black actors want the same opportunities."

Just so that you know..

The 88th Academy Awards, the highest honors in the English movie industry, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood is hosted by comedian Chris Rock.

All eyes will on the comedian, who returns to host the awards for a second time, despite calls for him to join a boycott sparked by the paucity of ethnic minority nominees in the acting categories.

It's a balancing act for Rock, who is under pressure to bite the hand that feeds him but presumably doesn't want to burn bridges in Hollywood with years of his career still ahead of him.

Hollywood hits the Oscars red carpet for its annual show of glitz and pageantry honoring cinema's finest.

The sparkling night of celebration sees survival epic 'The Revenant' leading the charge for golden statuettes and a panoply of rivals snapping at its heels.

Jaws will drop and lots of memes to follow if best actor doesn't go to Leonardo DiCaprio for 'The Revenant,' 22 years after his first of five acting nominations.

A widely-anticipated best supporting actor Oscar for Sylvester Stallone, who reprises his turn as underdog boxer Rocky Balboa in 'Creed,' would be one of the stories of the night, almost four decades after his only other nominations for the franchise's original outing, 'Rocky.'

First-time nominee Brie Larson looks to be a lock for best actress, having dominated the awards season with her performance as a kidnapped mother in 'Room.'

Best supporting actress favorite Alicia Vikander ('The Danish Girl') faces tough competition from 'Carol' star Rooney Mara, on her second nomination, and previous best actress winner Kate Winslet, acclaimed for her work in 'Steve Jobs.'

'Spotlight,' about child abuse in the Catholic Church, and Wall Street satire 'The Big Short' look like safe bets for the original and adapted screenplay honors after being recognized by the Writers Guild.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 'The Revenant' is the overall frontrunner, with 12 nominations, followed by George Miller's stark action epic 'Mad Max: Fury Road' with 10 and Ridley Scott's space adventure 'The Martian,' with seven.

The Gold Derby website, which aggregates the predictions of the experts, has 'The Revenant' in the lead for best film, but analysts are split on whether Inarritu will also pick up best director for the second year in a row following his win for 'Birdman.'