'CODA' takes best picture, Will Smith slaps Chris Rock as Oscars return to Hollywood

Deaf family drama 'CODA' won best picture honors at the Oscars on March 27, the first-ever triumph for a streamer, in a ceremony that was overshadowed by best actor-winner Will Smith striking comedian Chris Rock on stage for making a joke about his wife.

Tinseltown's biggest night began with a performance by pop megastar Beyoncé and touched on politics with a moment of silence over the Ukraine crisis.

But before the final awards were handed out, the shocking Smith-Rock altercation went viral and changed the mood of the night.

'CODA', a feel-good indie drama starring deaf actors in lead roles, had been presumed a longshot for Hollywood's biggest prize until very recently but pulled off a remarkable late surge to emerge triumphantly.

The film bagged the historic prize for 'Apple TV+', a relative newcomer in a streaming market dominated by rivals like 'Netflix'.

Taking its title from the acronym for 'child of deaf adult', the movie also won best adapted screenplay and best supporting actor for Troy Kotsur, who plays the father of a teenage girl who can hear and wants to pursue a career in music.

Kotsur dedicated his golden statuette to the deaf and disabled communities.

"This is our moment," he said.

Jessica Chastain won best actress for 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye', in which she played a real-life televangelist who became an unlikely champion for the LGBTQ community.

But Hollywood's biggest night was dominated by a shocking moment in which Smith - who won the best actor for his work on 'King Richard' - slapped Rock on stage, before returning to his seat alongside his wife Jada Pinkett Smith and shouting profanities.

"Keep my wife's name out of your mouth," yelled Smith, forcing the producers to bleep out several seconds of audio from the televised broadcast in the United States.

Rock, presenting the best documentary prize, had compared Jada's tightly cropped hair to Demi Moore's appearance in the film 'G.I. Jane'. Jada suffers from alopecia, a condition causing hair loss.

The moment left stunned viewers questioning if it had been scripted or genuine.

But when he returned to the stage to accept his award, a tearful Smith lamented 'people disrespecting you' in Hollywood and apologised to the Academy 'and all my fellow nominees'.

Smith, who plays the father of tennis greats Serena and Venus Williams in 'King Richard', added: "Art imitates life. I look like the crazy father, just like they said about Richard Williams."

Dark, psychological Western 'The Power of the Dog' won the best director for Jane Campion.

She is only the third woman to do so in Oscars' history, just a year after Chloe Zhao became the second ('Nomadland'). Kathryn Bigelow was the first for 'The Hurt Locker'.

Kenneth Branagh's childhood-inspired 'Belfast' - another presumed best picture frontrunner - triumphed for best original screenplay.

Ariana DeBose won best-supporting actress for playing Anita in 'West Side Story' and Disney's 'Encanto' was named best-animated feature.

DeBose, who first made her name on Broadway, celebrated her historic win for 'an openly queer woman of color, an Afro-Latina'.

'Summer of Soul' won the best documentary for musician Questlove's first movie about the huge 'Black Woodstock' festival that took place in 1969 Harlem.

Japan's 'Drive My Car', a Japanese arthouse film based on a short story of the same name by Haruki Murakami, was named the best international film.

The award for the best original song went to Billie Eilish for her James Bond theme song 'No Time to Die'.

Sci-fi epic 'Dune' ended the night with the most wins, earning six in craft and technical categories - best sound, score, editing, production design, visual effects and cinematography.

The winners of Oscars 2022 are as follows:

Best picture: CODA

Best actress: Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)

Best actor: Will Smith (King Richard)

Best director: Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)

Best original song: No Time to Die (No Time to Die; Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell)

Best documentary feature: Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution could not be televised)

Best adapted screenplay: CODA (Screenplay by Siân Heder)

Best original screenplay: Belfast (Written by Kenneth Branagh)

Best costume design: Jenny Beavan (Cruella)

Best international feature: Drive My Car (Japan)

Best supporting actress: Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)

Best supporting actor: Troy Kotsur (CODA)

Best animated feature: Encanto

Best original score: Hans Zimmer (Dune)

Best cinematography: Greig Fraser (Dune)

Best visual effects: Dune (Paul Lambert, Tristan Myles, Brian Connor and Gerd Nefzer)

Best film editing: Joe Walker (Dune)

Best sound: Dune (Mac Ruth, Mark Mangini, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill and Ron Bartlett)

Best production design: Dune (Production Design: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Zsuzsanna Sipos)

Best make-up and hairstyling: (The Eyes of Tammy Faye - Linda Dowds, Stephanie Ingram and Justin Raleigh)

Best live-action short: The Long Goodbye

Best animated short: The Windshield Piper

Best documentary short: The Queen of Basketball