Tom McCarthy’s film about the Boston Globe’s investigative reporting on sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests won over the favoured frontier epic The Revenant.
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“This film gave a voice to survivors, and this Oscar amplifies that voice which we hope will become a choir that will resonate all the way to the Vatican”, Sugar said on stage while accepting the best picture Oscar.
Meanwhile, Ghanaian youngster Abraham Attah has taken the best actor prize for his portrayal of an African child soldier in “Beasts of No Nation”.
“There is transgender talent”, she said, adding with a hair-flip: “Beautiful transgender talent”.
Later, Taylor won the prize for supporting female and exhorted filmmakers in the room to think more broadly in making their casting decisions. “There’s very handsome transgender talent”. “You better get out there and put them in your movie”.
Attah, who beat out contenders including Jason Segel and Ben Mendelsohn, thanked everyone involved in the production of the film, from Elba and director Cary Fukunaga to the costume designers. But others were less demure.
The show’s hosts, Saturday Night Live’s Kate MCKinnon and Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani, poked fun at the Oscar’s diversity controversy, and Kate joked, “We’re going to do everything you can’t do at the Oscars”. We’ll find out Sunday night people!
“Tonight’s nominees are more diverse than the cover of a brochure for a liberal arts college”, Nanjiani said, “while the Oscar nominees are as diverse as the actual student body of a liberal arts college”.
This year, Jessica Chastain (long a champion of independent film) served as the honorary chair at the Spirit Awards.
And Nate Parker, the director behind the Sundance race-themed phenom “Birth of a Nation”, presented the award for first feature, garnering an enthusiastic response from the room.
The Spirit Awards honour independent films made within a $20 million budget.
It often recognise films that win Oscars the next day, such as dark comedy Birdman previous year.
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Spotlight, led by a strong ensemble cast, had lagged in the lead-up to the Oscars, losing ground to the flashier film-making of Alejandro Inarritu’s film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, who won the best actor statuette.
