• World
  • Feb 25

Green Book denies Netflix top Oscar

Road trip movie Green Book triumphed over Roma to win best the best picture Oscar on February 25, denying Netflix bragging rights as the first streaming service to beat Hollywood at its own game.

Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron was chosen as best director for Roma, his sentimental black-and-white journey back to his childhood, and the film won two other Oscars, including for best foreign language.

In the biggest upset of the night, Britain’s Olivia Colman won her first Oscar for her role as petulant monarch Queen Anne in period comedy The Favourite, beating presumed front-runner Glenn Close, who starred in The Wife.

Rami Malek won for his role as late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in musical Bohemian Rhapsody. The film was the biggest overall winner, with four Oscars, and it also stamped its mark on the show when Queen became the first rock band to open an Academy Awards show.

It was also a big night for diversity, with Oscars going to black supporting actors Mahershala Ali and Regina King, while Spike Lee won for adapted screenplay for his Ku Klux Klan movie BlacKkKlansman. Malek was born in the US to Egyptian parents.

Black Panther, with a predominantly black cast, came away with three Oscars, including costume design, for its vision of a fictional glorious African kingdom of Wakanda.

Green Book, a film about an unlikely friendship between a black pianist and his white driver touring the segregated US South in the 1960s, also won for original screenplay and supporting actor for Ali.

The Oscar ceremony went ahead without a host for the first time since 1989 and instead was filled with powerhouse music performances from Queen, Bette Midler and Jennifer Hudson. Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper performed an intimate duet of Shallow from A Star is Born, which brought Gaga her first Oscar.

The full list of winners

Best Picture: Green Book

Best Director: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Best Actress: Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Best Actor: Rami Malek (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 (A Star Is Born)

Best Documentary Feature: Free Solo

Best Documentary Short: Period. End Of Sentence

Best Live Action Short: Skin

Best Animated Short: Bao

Best Cinematography: Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)

Best Production Design: Black Panther

Best Costume Design: Black Panther

Best Hair And Makeup: Vice

Best Sound Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Sound Mixing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Visual Effects: First Man

Best Editing: Bohemian Rhapsody

Notes