The 2017 Academy Awards were a night to remember with politics, social issues, and diversity at its center. The moments started early on even before the show started. Celebrities used the Red Carpets to begin making statements, whether it was showing unity by wearing a blue ACLU ribbon or wearing ecofriendly gowns.
Here are our top moments from the Red Carpet:
Olivia Culpo had a special dress designed for her by Marchesa, in partnership with Stella Artois and Water.org. To demonstrate the importance of bringing clean water to people in developing countries, her dress was made with broken beer glasses, featuring beads made from limited-edition chalices that benefit Water.org.
Through the sale of one chalice, someone in the world gets access to five years of clean water.
Image by Getty
The ACLU made a bold statement at the Red Carpet- Celebrities including model Karlie Kloss, original song nominee Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Loving” nominee Ruth Negga, Busy Phillips, best known for her role in the television show “Cougar Town,” and “Moonlight” director Barry Jenkins represented the American Civil Liberties Union’s new “Stand With ACLU” initiative.
By wearing the pin, the celebrities are showing their support “for the rights and civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution to everyone in the United States,” the ACLU said in a statement.
Ava DuVernay also made a political statement with her red carpet gown, choosing to wear a dress from Ashi Studio, a Lebanon-based fashion house.
A small sign of solidarity. I chose to wear a gown by a designer from a majority Muslim country. Thanks to @AshiStudio of Lebanon. #Oscars pic.twitter.com/CbEkK7rCpG
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) February 27, 2017
Here are the most memorable moments from the Oscars:
Late night comedian, Jimmy Kimmel hosted the awards show and as expected, politics played a huge role through the night.
Here are a few of the most tweeted about quotes:
“As you know, I don’t have to tell anybody, the country is divided right now. I’ve been getting a lot of advice. It’s time to bring people together. You have to say something. Let’s just get something straight off the top. I can’t do that. There’s only one “Braveheart” in the room, and he’s not gonna unite us either.”
“ I’m not the man to unite this country, but it can be done. You know, if every person watching this show — I don’t want to get too serious, but there are millions and millions of people watching right now — and if every one of you took a minute to reach out to one person you disagree with, someone you like, and have a positive, considerate conversation — not as liberals or conservatives, as Americans — if we could all do that, we can make America great again. We really could. It starts with us.”
“ I want to say thank you to President Trump. I mean remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist? It has been an amazing year for movies. Black people saved NASA and white people saved jazz. That’s what you call progress.”
He also tweeted to Donald Trump and dared him to respond:
Hey @realDonaldTrump u up?
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) February 27, 2017
Mahershala Ali made history at Sunday night’s Oscars, becoming the first Muslim actor to win an Academy Award. He won the first award of the night, best supporting actor, for “Moonlight.”
Viola Davis becomes first black actor to win an Oscar, Emmy & Tony.
Davis won the best supporting actress Oscar Sunday night for her performance in Denzel Washington’s “Fences.”
“You know there’s one place where all the people with the greatest potential are gathered, and that’s the graveyard,” Davis started her speech. “People ask me all the time — What kind of stories do you want to tell? And I say, exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories.”
Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian filmmaker of “The Salesman” who won an Oscar Sunday night for best foreign-language film, was not at the ceremony, but had a representative speak on his behalf:
“I’m sorry I’m not with you tonight. My absence is out of respect for the people in my country and those of other six nations whom have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the U.S. Dividing the world into the “us “ and “our enemies” categories creates fear, a deceitful justification for aggression and war. These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression. Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between “us” and “others,” an empathy which we need today more than ever.”
The White Helmets, directed by Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara, won the award for best documentary short. The film focuses on “White Helmets,” a group who, in war-torn Syria, rescue survivors in the Syrian war zone. Von Einsiedel read a statement on Raed Al Saleh, the head of the White Helmet’s behalf:
“We are so grateful that this film has highlighted our work to the world. Our organization is guided by a verse in the Koran: ‘To save one life is to save all of humanity.’ We have saved more than 82,000 civilian lives. I invite anyone here who hears me to work to stop the bloodshed in Syria and around the world.”
“It’s easy to forget this war has been going on six years. If everyone could stand up and show we care, that this war should end as quickly as possible,’ Von Einsiedel added.
Chery Boone Isaacs, the President of the Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences talked about inclusion.
“Tonight is proof that art has no borders,” she said, focusing on the diversity in the Oscars this year.
“All creative artists around the world are connected by an unbreakable bond that is powerful and permanent,” she added.
Moonlight’s Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney were awarded the Oscar for best-adapted screenplay.
“All you people out there who feel like your life is not reflected, the Academy has your back, the ACLU has your back,” Jenkins said. “For the next four years we will not leave you alone, we will not forget you.”
McCraney, the playright who wrote the screenplay the film is based on added, “To all the black and brown boys and girls and non-gender-conforming individuals, this is for you.”
And finally the craziest moment of the night is trending on Twitter.
In a Steve Harvey type mixup, La La Land was named as the winner of best picture by presenter Faye Dunaway. While their team was accepting the award on stage, co-presenter Warren Beatty interrupted to announce the real winner of the night, Moonlight.
