Aside from the now-infamous envelope-gate that will arguably detract from Moonlight’s limelight stealing moment, Oscar night threw up few surprises when the 89^th Academy Awards were doled out in Hollywood last night.

The evening kicked off with Mahershala Ali claiming ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for his role as a surprisingly sweet crack dealer in Moonlight, marking a first for the Academy Awards as the first Muslim actor to take home a statuette. Ali, perhaps best known for House of Cards, was considered the favourite on the night, and marked an evening where the bookie’s odds proved right across all acting categories.

Viola Davis claimed ‘Best Supporting Actress’ for Fences, accepting with a moving, tearful speech. The actress is now just a Grammy away from the mythical EGOT of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, and while composer Lin-Manuel Miranda could have become the 13^th person ever to nab that honour, his song from Moana lost out to La La Land’s City of Stars. The Hamilton writer will have to wait, though with two big movie projects on the horizon, 2019 could be his year.

Casey Affleck was the closest any of the acting categories came to a shock, though having claimed the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Independent Spirit Award for Manchester by the Sea, his win over Denzel Washington seems understandable. Affleck was initially seen as the frontrunner, but after stories emerged about two different women accusing him of sexual harassment during the filming of spoof documentary I’m Still Here, settled out of court, many thought that Washington winning the SAG Award suggested a third Oscar would be coming his way.

There was no luck for either of the Irish nominated on the night, with Loving actress Ruth Negga losing out to Emma Stone, though lauded by the fashionistas as one of the best dressed to walk the red carpet in her red Valentino gown. Speaking of threads, Consolata Boyle, nominated for ‘Best Costume Design’ for Florence Foster Jenkins, lost out to Colleen Atwood for Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them.

Kenneth Lonergan took home ‘Best Original Screenplay’ for Manchester by the Sea, while Moonlight won the adapted prize. In the technical categories, there was greater interest than normal when ‘Best Sound Mixing’ went to Hacksaw Ridge, as Kevin O’Connell finally won his first Oscar after a record 21 nominations without a win. Here’s to the ones who dream.

The full list of winners reads as follows:

Best film

Moonlight

Best actress

Emma Stone (La La Land)

Best actor

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea)

Best director

Damien Chazelle (La La Land)

Best supporting actress

Viola Davis (Fences)

Best supporting actor

Mahershala Ali (Moonlight)

Best original screenplay

Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea)

Best adapted screenplay

Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight)

Best cinematography

Linus Sandgren (La La Land)

Best original score

Justin Hurwitz (La La Land)

Best original song

Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul (La La Land)

Best sound editing

Sylvain Bellemare (Arrival)

Best foreign language film

Asghar Farhadi (The Salesman)

Best film editing

John Gilbert (Hacksaw Ridge)

Best visual effects

Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon (The Jungle Book)

Best production design

David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco (La La Land)

Best sound mixing

Kevin O'Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace (Hacksaw Ridge)

Best documentary Feature

Ezra Edelman and Caroline Waterlow (O.J.: Made in America)

Best animated film

Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Clark Spencer (Zootopia)

Best animated short film

Alan Barillaro and Marc Sondheimer (Piper)

Best documentary short subject

Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara (The White Helmets)

Best live action short film

Kristof Deak and Anna Udvardy (Sing)

Best make-up

Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson (Suicide Squad)

Best costume design

Colleen Atwood (Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them)

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