A night of many firsts

Los Angeles: Honouring a stream of women, people of colour and films and talent from across the world, Oscars 2019 turned out to be a night of many firsts and an example of how diversity needs to be embraced now more than ever.

A record seven black men and women – Regina King, Mahershala Ali, Ruth E Carter, Hannah Beachler, Peter Ramsey, and others – won Oscars here at Sunday night's ceremony.

Green Book, the story of an unlikely friendship across racial divides, upstaged Alfonso Cuaron's Roma to bag Best Picture Oscar at the 91st Academy Awards. Cuaron bagged the Oscar for Best Director while Olivia Colman got the Best Actress win for The Favourite and Rami Malek Best Actor for his turn as Queen musician Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody.

Roma may have missed on the ultimate prize but it prevailed in other prominent categories, creating many firsts in the Academy's history.

The glittering ceremony, which went hostless for only second time since 1989, began on a predictable note but Best Picture and Best Actress awards proved that anything can happen at the Oscars.

In a heartfelt speech, Best Actor Malek spoke about reconnecting with rock legend Mercury over their shared immigrant roots – his from Egypt and Mercury's from India. "... We made a film about an immigrant, who lived his life just unapologetically himself. And the fact that I'm celebrating him and this story with you tonight is proof that we're longing for such stories," Malek said.

Ruth E Carter became the first African-American to win an Academy Award for costume design with her Afro-futuristic wardrobes in Black Panther, which also won for original score and production design.

Regina King accepted her first Oscar, the best supporting actress honour for If Beale Street Could Talk at the gala, where Spike Lee scored a statuette for the very first time for adapted screenplay as a co-writer of BlacKkKlansman.

Lady Gaga was emotional when she scored her first Oscar in the best original song category for 'Shallow'. The performances at gala added a distinct flavour to the ceremony. The highlight was Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's intimate performance.

List of winners

Best Picture: Green Book

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron for 'Roma'

Best Actress: Olivia Colman for 'The Favourite'

Best Actor: Rami Malek for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King for 'If Beale Street Could Talk'

Best Supporting Actor: Mahershala Ali for 'Green Book'

Best Foreign Language Film: 'Roma' (Mexico)

Best Animated Feature Film: 'Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse'

Best Original Screenplay: 'Green Book'

Best Adapted Screenplay: 'BlacKkKlansman'

Best Original Score: 'Black Panther'

Best Original Song: 'Shallow' from 'A Star Is Born'

Best Documentary Feature: 'Free Solo'

Best Documentary Short: 'Period. End Of Sentence'

Best Production Design: 'Black Panther'

Best Costume Design: 'Black Panther'

Best Hair And Makeup: 'Vice'

Best Sound Editing: 'Bohemian Rhapsody'