-blogged by @hshtgmike
Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight took home the award for Best Picture at the 2017 Oscars, after an embarrassing mix-up that mistakenly declared La La Land as the winner.
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway took the stage to announce the night’s biggest achievement. As Beatty opened the red envelope, viewers could see a look of confusion in his eyes. After a brief, but awkward moment, Beatty shows Dunaway the card. Dunaway then announces La La Land as the 2017 Academy Award winner for Best Picture.
As the La La Land cast took the stage and began to read off their Thank You’s, a frantic production team was trying to correct their mistake. You see, La La Land did not truly win the award, Moonlight did. The card Warren Beatty was holding was the Best Actress in a Leading Role card and the winner was Emma Stone for La La Land.
Obviously disappointed, and rightfully so, the cast of La La Land handed over their Oscars to the true winners of the night.
“There’s a mistake. ‘Moonlight’ you guys won best picture,” Jordan Horowitz told the audience. “This is not a joke, come up here” the producer added. “Moonlight has won best picture.”
Still in shock, writer-director Barry Jenkins accepted the award, saying, “Very clearly, even in my dreams, this could not be true…but to hell with dreams! I’m done with it, ’cause this is true!”
Moonlight is a coming-of-age story about a young Black boy in a rough neighborhood of Miami, FL, battling his sexuality and a drug-addicted mother, while finding solace in a guardian angel named Juan (played by Mahershala Ali). The film tackles issues of homophobia, absent parenthood, drug abuse, and adolescence, juxtaposed against the peaceful oasis of the beaches of Miami.
Since its release, Moonlight has received universal acclaim. The film currently holds a 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and scored a 99/100 on Metacritic. Over the course of the 2016-2017 award season, Moonlight has garnered a total of 120 awards.
Moonlight‘s Best Picture win solidifies the film as one of the best of the year, and Jenkins as Hollywood’s next brightest star.
As for the mix up with envelopes, according to a Huffington Post FAQ written last month, there are two sets of winning envelopes.
“You can’t be too careful! We have two sets of results envelopes, each packed in its own briefcase – one for each of us. At the event, we are both backstage to hand the envelopes to the presenters.”
Watch Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announce #LaLaLand as the best picture winner. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/I6kqJry0Ik
— Variety (@Variety) February 27, 2017
Watch the moment #LaLaLand‘s filmmakers realized there was a mistake. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/mXQt6lv2aX
— Variety (@Variety) February 27, 2017
