History was made at last night’s Oscars as the little film that could scooped the big prize despite an unsavoury moment involving Will Smith and Chris Rock.

Considered a massive underdog early in awards season, the indie drama CODA landed three wins, including the prestige Best Picture gong ahead of the long-fancied frontrunner The Power of the Dog.

The Apple TV+ film, which centres on an aspiring singer left torn between attending Berkeley College and looking after her deaf family, becomes the first Best Picture winner to be distributed via a streaming platform and leaves rival streamer Netflix still waiting for their moment to shine.

In addition to CODA’s main triumph, filmmaker Siân Heder took home Best Adapted Screenplay for her work on the film, while cast member Troy Kotsur becomes the first deaf man to win an acting Oscar for his supporting role as fisherman Frank Rossi.

Despite coming into the ceremony with a hefty twelve nominations, the western drama The Power of the Dog was forced to settle for just the one win for Kiwi filmmaker Jane Campion, who becomes only the third woman (after Kathryn Bigelow and Chloé Zhao) to triumph in the Best Director category.

However, the key talking point of the night came during the presentation of Best Documentary Feature, as Chris Rock came out to present the award.

Best Actor nominee Will Smith then proceeded to walk onstage and slap Rock across the face after the comedian made a joke about the star’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.

After returning to his seat, Smith then shouted obscenities towards Rock, with other audience members visibly shocked over the turn of events.

This ugly incident overshadowed Smith’s evening, as he later went on to win the Best Actor award for his portrayal of tennis coach Richard Williams in the sports biopic King Richard.

During an emotional speech, he apologised for his actions to the Academy and his fellow nominees, but not to Rock.

There was less drama in the Best Actress category, as Jessica Chastain deservedly won for her performance as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in the factual drama The Eyes of Tammy Faye.

She overcame strong competition from the likes of Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), and Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos) to prevail.

Jessica spoke of recent times of “trauma and isolation” and how suicide has affected many, including herself. She also paid tribute to those who “feel out of place with their peers” and face “discriminatory and bigoted legislation that has swept our country”.

In addition to her victory, The Eyes of Tammy Faye also bagged an additional win for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

As predicted, Ariana DeBose made history by becoming the first homosexual woman of colour to win an Oscar for her supporting turn as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s lavish remake of the musical West Side Story.

Additionally, DeBose follows in the footsteps of veteran co-star Rita Moreno, who previously won for the same role way back in 1962!

Another remake also dominated the accolade tally as the sci-fi epic Dune scored an impressive six wins for Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Visual Effects and Best Original Score for composer Hans Zimmer.

Elsewhere, Kenneth Branagh clinched the Best Original Screenplay gong for his work on the autobiographical drama Belfast, while Billie Eilish took home Best Original Song for her chart-topping track “No Time to Die” from the James Bond blockbuster No Time to Die.

Meanwhile, there were double successes for Disney as Encanto and Cruella respectively won Best Animated Film and Best Costume Design, while the Japanese drama Drive My Car scooped the Best International Feature prize.

There was also an unlikely victory for British actor Riz Ahmed as he picked up Best Short Film (Live Action) for co-producing a short film based on his own concept album The Long Goodbye.

The remaining films to pick up gold statuettes were Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (Best Documentary Feature), The Queen of Basketball (Best Documentary – Short Subject), and The Windshield Wiper (Best Short Film – Animated).

However, it was a disappointing night for multi-nominated films as Being the Ricardos, Cyrano, Don’t Look Up, Flee, Licorice Pizza, The Lost Daughter and Nightmare Alley, all failed to win a prize.

In a change of tact, the ceremony was co-hosted by comedian actresses Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes, while tributes were made to the likes of The Godfather, Pulp Fiction and James Bond.

The full list of Oscar winners are….

BEST PICTURE
CODA

BEST DIRECTOR
Jane Campion, THE POWER OF THE DOG

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

BEST ACTOR
Will Smith, KING RICHARD

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ariana DeBose, WEST SIDE STORY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Troy Kotsur, CODA

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA (Siân Heder)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BELFAST (Kenneth Branagh)

BEST EDITING
DUNE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
DUNE

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
DUNE

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
CRUELLA

BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
THE EYES OF TAMMY FAYE

BEST SOUND
DUNE

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
DUNE

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
DUNE (Hans Zimmer)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
NO TIME TO DIE (“No Time to Die”)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
ENCANTO

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
DRIVE MY CAR (Japan)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
SUMMER OF SOUL (…OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED)

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
THE QUEEN OF BASKETBALL

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
THE LONG GOODBYE

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
THE WINDSHIELD WIPER