Craziest Oscar Moment: Moonlight Wins Best Picture After La La Land Mixup

Unforgettable Closing Moments At Oscars 2017

Moonlight won the best picture at the 89th Academy Awards after an astonishing gaffe in which La La Land was initially named the winner.

The producers and the cast of La La Land were in the middle of their acceptance speeches and began their thank yous when the mistake was announced.

The celebration was interrupted when “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz discovered the discrepancy on the winners card in his hand. The moment of truth halted the celebration especially when Horowitz showed the card to the camera, which clearly showed “Moonlight” had won.

Horowitz said, “This is not a joke. Moonlight is best picture.

The triumphant producers and cast of Moonlight were filled with disbelief at first. But when the clarification was made for the real winner, the “Moonlight” crew made their way to the stage and received the award with big smiles written on their faces.

Aside from winning the best picture, the low-budget film also won the adapted screenplay award and a best supporting actor prize for Mahershala Ali.

Amid the dismay of not winning the best picture category, La La Land still ended up the biggest winner of the night, taking home six Oscars including a best actress award for Emma Stone.

The trophy of a prestigious award, the Academy Award. Wikimedia Commons
The trophy of the prestigious Academy Award. Wikimedia Commons

Brief Moonlight Background

Moonlight is a 2016 American drama film directed by Barry Jenkins and written by Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney. The film has a powerhouse cast that included Trevante Rhodes, André Holland, Janelle Monáe, Ashton Sanders, Naomie Harris and Mahershala Ali.

Moonlight garnered other awards as well. At the 74th Golden Globe Awards, the film won Best Motion Picture – Drama, and was nominated in five other categories. At the prestigious 89th Academy Awards, the film received eight Oscar nominations and won Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor for Ali and Best Adapted Screenplay for Jenkins and McCraney.

Moonlight also became both the first film with an all black cast and the first LGBT film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The Winners

Here is the complete list of all the winners.

BEST PICTURE- “Moonlight

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE- Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE- Mahershala Ali in “Moonlight

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE- Emma Stone in “La La Land

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE- Viola Davis in “Fences

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM- “Zootopia

CINEMATOGRAPHY- “La La Land

COSTUME DESIGN- “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

DIRECTING- “La La Land” – Damien Chazelle

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)- “O.J.: Made in America”

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)- “The White Helmets

FILM EDITING- “Hacksaw Ridge

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM- “The Salesman

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING- “Suicide Squad

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)- “La La Land

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)- “City Of Stars” from “La La Land

PRODUCTION DESIGN- “La La Land

ANIMATED SHORT FILM- “Piper

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM- “Sing

SOUND EDITING- “Arrival

SOUND MIXING- “Hacksaw Ridge

VISUAL EFFECTS- “The Jungle Book

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)- “Moonlight

WRITING- “Manchester by the Sea

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NYBoR2rRfg

Mina Fabulous follows the news, especially what is going on in the US State Department. Mina turns State Department waffle into plain English. Mina Fabulous is the pen name of Carmen Avalino, the NewsBlaze production editor. When she isn’t preparing stories for NewsBlaze writers, she writes stories, but to separate her editing and writing identities, she uses the name given by her family and friends.