The gaffe of all gaffes took place during the climax of last night’s Academy Awards ceremony, as Moonlight clinched the prestigious Best Picture gong.

The film’s shock victory came following a terrible mix-up, which saw veteran Hollywood stars Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway initially announce that the much-fancied La La Land had won the main prize.

However, the La La Land producers discovered the cock-up during the middle of their speech and clarified that Moonlight was the actual Best Picture winner. Unsurprisingly, there were stunned reactions amongst the attendees as well as audiences watching at home!

Moonlight, which centres on a young black man struggling to deal with his sexuality over the course of three different time periods, also won Best Adapted Screenplay for filmmaker Barry Jenkins, while Muslim cast member Mahershala Ali was named Best Supporting Actor for his role as Miami drug dealer Juan.

Despite its unexpected defeat, La La Land finished up with the most wins on the night with six, including a Best Director success for Damien Chazelle.

Leading star Emma Stone secured the Best Actress accolade for her role as aspiring actress Mia, while the film also picked up the awards for Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Original Score (for composer Justin Hurwitz) and Best Original Song for the track “City of Stars”.

Elsewhere, Casey Affleck saw off late pressure from Denzel Washington (Fences) to win Best Actor for his performance as Boston janitor Lee Chandler in the drama Manchester by the Sea, which also secured Best Original Screenplay for filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan.

 

Another unsurprising result came in the Best Supporting Actress category, as Viola Davis took home the gong for her performance as frustrated family matriarch Rose Maxson in the drama Fences.

Meanwhile, the Mel Gibson war epic Hacksaw Ridge deservedly won Oscars in the technical categories for Best Editing and Best Sound Mixing. The latter victory was a welcome relief for many, as sound mixer Kevin O’Connell finally landed his first gold statuette at the 21st attempt!

 

In other major categories, the Disney animation Zootopia was named Best Animated Film, while the epic O. J. Simpson documentary O. J.: Made in America beat off 13th to clinch Best Documentary Feature.

Other significant films to win awards included Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Best Costume Design), Suicide Squad (Best Makeup & Hairstyling), Arrival (Best Sound Editing), The Jungle Book (Best Visual Effects), Silent Nights (Best Short Film – Live Action) and the Iranian drama The Salesman (Best Foreign Language Film).

However, it was a bad night for a number of films as the factual drama Lion went home empty-handed from six nominations along with the likes of Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures and Jackie.

Last night’s ceremony saw chat show host Jimmy Kimmel enjoy making quips about current President Donald Trump, while also reigniting his humorous rivalry with actor Matt Damon.

The full list of Oscars winners are…

BEST PICTURE
MOONLIGHT

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle, LA LA LAND

 

BEST ACTRESS
Emma Stone, LA LA LAND

BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck, MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

 

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis, FENCES

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali, MOONLIGHT

 

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
MOONLIGHT (Barry Jenkins)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA (Kenneth Lonergan)

 

BEST EDITING
HACKSAW RIDGE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
LA LA LAND

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
LA LA LAND

 

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
SUICIDE SQUAD

 

BEST SOUND MIXING
HACKSAW RIDGE

BEST SOUND EDITING
ARRIVAL

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
THE JUNGLE BOOK

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
LA LA LAND (Justin Hurwitz)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
LA LA LAND (“City of Stars”)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
ZOOTOPIA

 

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
THE SALESMAN (Iran)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
O. J.: MADE IN AMERICA

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
THE WHITE HELMETS

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
SING

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
PIPER