In what capped an incredible night at the Oscars, “12 Years a Slave” took home the Oscar for best picture on Sunday night. The space odyssey “Gravity” was the big winner of the night, going home with seven Oscars, including Best Director, according to CBS News.
“12 Years a Slave,” which is based on the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup, was done by Steve McQueen. McQueen dedicated the win to those who suffered slavery and to “the 21 million who still endure slavery today.”
“Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live,” said McQueen. “This is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup.”
Alfonso Cuaron, director of “Gravity,” is the first Latino to win in the category.
“It was a transformative experience,” said Cuaron. “For a lot of people, that transformation was wisdom. For me, it was the color of my hair.”
Matthew McConaughey took home the Oscar for best actor in “Dallas Buyers Club.” Best actress went to Cate Blanchett for “Blue Jasmine.”
“As random and subjective as this award is, it means a great deal in a year of extraordinary performances by women,” Blanchett said.
McConaughey ended his speech with, “To any of us, whatever those things are, whatever we look up to, whatever it is we look forward to and whoever it is we’re chasing — to that I say, alright, alright, alright. And then I say, just keep livin’.”
Best supporting actress went to Lupita Nyong’o for her role in “12 Years a Slave.”
“It doesn’t escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else’s, and so I want to salute the spirit of Patsey for her guidance,” said Nyong’o. “I’m certain that the dead are standing about you and they are watching and they are grateful, and so am I. When I look down at this golden statue may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you’re from, your dreams are valid.”
The first award of the night, for best supporting actor, went to Jared Leto from “Dallas Buyers Club.”
The “Wolf of Wall Street” was shutout during the ceremony.
There were multiple musical performances to tout the songs up for the award of Music (Original Song). U2, Pharrell Williams, Karen O and Idina Menzel. The winning song was “Let it Go,” from “Frozen. The song was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, a husband and wife song-writing team. They also worked on the 2011 Disney film “Winnie the Pooh.”