LOS ANGELES: The 90th Academy Awards, or Oscars, the highest honors in the movie industry, were handed out on Sunday at a ceremony in Hollywood hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel.
Fantastical romance The Shape of Water won Best Picture, the film industry’s most prestigious honour, at the ceremony.
The Fox Searchlight movie’s Mexican filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro, took home the best director Oscar, dashing the hopes of a rare win by a woman or a black filmmaker.
Accepting the award in Hollywood amid high anti-immigrant sentiment in the United States, the director declared himself an immigrant and hailed the power of cinema to “erase the line in the sand.”
The movie about a mute cleaning woman who falls in love with a strange river creature had gone into the ceremony with a leading 13 nominations and won a total of four Academy Awards.
As expected, Britain’s Gary Oldman was named best actor for playing World War Two leader Winston Churchill in Warner Bros’ Darkest Hour, while Frances McDormand’s woman in a fury was a popular best actress winner for Fox Searchlight’s dark comedy Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
A Fantastic Woman, Chile’s groundbreaking story about a transgender woman, played by transgender actress Daniela Vega, won best foreign language film, and Mexican-inspired Coco was named best-animated feature.
Sam Rockwell, and Allison Janney took home their first Oscars for their supporting roles Three Billboards and independent ice-skating movie I, Tonya, respectively.
Allison Janney won her Oscar for her supporting role as the demanding and abusive mother to Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding in the mockumentary I, Tonya. Janney, 58, a seven-time Emmy winner, swept all major acting honours this season, including Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe and BAFTA awards.
The complete list of winners:
Best Picture: The Shape of Water
Best Director: Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water
Best Actor: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Best Actress: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Supporting Actor: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Supporting Actress: Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Original Screenplay: Get Out
Adapted Screenplay: Call Me by Your Name
Foreign Language Film: A Fantastic Woman
Animated Feature: Coco
Visual Effects: Blade Runner 2049
Film Editing: Dunkirk
Animated Short: Dear Basketball
Live Action Short: The Silent Child
Documentary Short: Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405
Score: The Shape of Water
Song: ‘Remember Me’ from Coco
Production Design: The Shape of Water
Cinematography: Blade Runner 2049
Costume Design: Phantom Thread
Makeup and Hairstyling: Darkest Hour
Documentary Feature: Icarus
Sound Editing: Dunkirk
Sound Mixing: Dunkirk