Coming-of-age drama "Moonlight" won the best picture Oscar defeating strong favourite "La La Land" after a shocking mix-up in the announcement of the top award. "La La Land" which won six trophies including best director and actress, was incorrectly declared the winner by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. However, midway through their victory speech, the producers of the musical realised the error and John Horowitz announced that the award actually belonged to "Moonlight". Many thought he was just making a statement but then he cleared that he was not joking and showed the audience the card which read "Moonlight". "I want to tell you what happened. I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land. That's why I took such a long look at Faye and at you. I wasn't trying to be funny," a flustered Beatty later clarified.
"Well I don't know what happened. I blame myself for this," host Jimmy Kimmel joked after the moment. "Let's remember, it's just an awards show. I mean, we hate to see people disappointed, but the good news is we got to see some extra speeches. We have some great movies. I knew I would screw this show up, I really did. Thank you for watching. I'm back to work tomorrow night on my regular show. I promise I'll never come back. Good night!," he said. Adapted by Jenkins from Tarell Alvin McCraney's autobiographical play 'In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue', the "Moonlight" has been hailed by critics for its humanity in portraying this struggle.
A tender story of a young black man coming to terms wit his sexuality while growing in a rough Miami neighbourhood, the film also won Jenkins and McCraney best adapted screenplay and Mahershala Ali best supporting actor trophy. The small budget film, Jenkins' second outing after a gap of eight years, entered the competition with eight nominations.
