Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave resisted the force of Gravity to be named best picture at the Oscars
The slavery epic also picked up awards for best adapted screenplay and best supporting actress for
Lupita Nyong'o on a night when it seemed that Gravity may sweep the board.
Ellen
DeGeneres proved a hit in her second outing as host, opening the 86th
Academy Awards show with a string of gags poking fun at the event,
before taking selfies of the stars and at one point ordering pizzas.
Calling first upon Meryl Streep, the comedienne was eventually joined by an all-star cast
that included Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto, Julia Roberts, Kevin Spacey,
Jennifer Lawrence, Channing
Tatum and 12 Years star Lupita for the
selfie challenge to get the most retweets ever on Twitter.
Within minutes the social network crashed under the strain of the leap in traffic.
And
just thirty minutes after being posted the picture had been shared more
than half a million times - going on to break the record set by a
President Obama tweet following another ten minutes of frantic Twitter
activity.
Space drama Gravity picked up a handful of Oscars for its technical artists - many of whom are British - and the best director award for Alfonso Cuaron.
But director McQueen was rightly given his moment of glory as the ceremony in Los Angeles ended in triumph for his film, leaving him jumping for joy.
Later
joking he had actually been as 'cool as a cucumber', McQueen said:
"Everyone saw me jump but truly I am so ecstatic, I'm so happy for us
all," he said backstage.
"It's one of those moments in life that
might never happen again but you're living it, you're there, and it
might never happen again so emotions just take over."
Brad
Pitt, who helped produce the film, praised the man who "brought us all
together to tell that story - that is the indomitable Mr Steve McQueen".
McQueen,
a Londoner who now lives in Amsterdam, thanked his wife who first
showed him a copy of Northup's original story for "unearthing this
treasure for me".
The best actor and best actress Oscars went to favourites Matthew McConaughey, for Dallas Buyers Club, and Cate Blanchett for her role in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.
Accepting
her award, Cate praised her fellow actresses including "sublime"
co-star Sally Hawkins, highlighting that films with strong female
characters were not "niche".
"Audiences want to see them and in fact, they earn money," she rallied.
Accepting her award, Nyong'o thanked McQueen for casting her in a film which she said had "been the joy of my life".
She said: "I'm certain the dead are standing about you and they are grateful and so am I".
Speaking backstage, she said McQueen had "really honoured a people that have been unsung thorough doing this film".
The
star, who admitted to feeling "a little dazed", said: "I am going to
the Governors Ball and doing all things Oscar related, this is my first
time here and I feel like Willy Wonka in the chocolate factory."
McConaughey's Dallas Buyers Club co-star Jared Leto was
the first big winner on the night and promised to celebrate to "the
break of dawn".
Winning the the Oscar for best
supporting actor for his role as an HIV-positive transgender woman, Leto
dedicated his win to the "36 million people who have lost the battle to
Aids".
Full list of winners:
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Jared Leto for Dallas Buyers Club
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Lupita Nyong'o for 12 Years A Slave
Achievement in directing
Alfonso Cuaron for Gravity
Best motion picture of the year
12 Years A Slave
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
Steven Price for Gravity
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for Let It Go from Frozen
Adapted screenplay
John Ridley for 12 Years A Slave
Original screenplay
Spike Jonze for Her
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