Although there wasn’t quite as much LGBT success at the Oscars as some may have hoped, there were two awards that went our way. Out filmmaker James Ivory won Best Adapted Screenplay for the gay-themed Call Me By Your Name. It’s the first Oscar for the man who’s directed everything from Maurice and A Room With A View to Remains Of The Day and Howard’s End.
And while those hoping Timothee Chalamet would win Best Actor for CMBYM ended up being disappointed (it went to the hot favourite, Gary Oldman for Darkest Hour), Chalamet did get to go up on stage vicariously, as Ivory had a drawing of the young actor painted on his tuxedo shirt.
The other major LGBT winner was the Chilean trans-themed movie, A Fantastic Woman, which picked up Best Film Not In The English language. The film follows a trans mourning the death of her boyfriend, but who is confronted by anger and prejudice from his previous family. The movie’s star, Daniela Vega, also made history as the first trans Oscar presenter when she stepped on stage to introduced Sufjan Stevens’ performance of his Best Original Song nominee, Mystery of Love, from Call Me By Your Name.
Its also been revealed that after last year’s Best Picture mix-up, the Academy offered the cast and crew of Moonlight another chance to pick up their award, without the confusion of La La Land thinking they’d won first. However, they turned the opportunity down.
The big winner of the night was The Shape Of Water, which picked up four awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Guillermo Del Toro. Frances McDormand won Best Actress for Three Billboards and gave a barnstorming speech about inclusion, while the Best Supporting Actress and Actor awards went to Alison Janney for I, Tonya and the hotly tipped Sam Rockwell for Three Billboards.
Another standout moment was British cinematographer Roger Deakins finally winning for Blade Runner 2049. Long considered one of the best in the business, this was his 14th nomination but the first time he’s won. His first nomination was for The Shawshank Redemption back in 1995, so it’s long overdue.
Take a look at the full list of winners below. [Read more…]