For the first time, two winners gave extraordinary speeches focused on the plague that is suicide.
The talented young screenwriter, Graham Moore, who won an Oscar for his work on The Imitation Game told the audience that he had tried, at age 16, to take his own life.
“I tried to kill myself because I felt weird and I felt different and I felt like I did not belong – and now I’m standing here,” he said.
“So I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she’s weird or she’s different or she doesn’t fit in anywhere.
“Yes, you do. I promise you do. Stay weird, stay different, and then when it’s your turn and you are standing on this stage, please pass the same message to the next person who comes along.”
Dana Perry, whose short documentary Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press One also received an Oscar, revealed that her son, like so many of the men in her documentary, had in fact taken his own life.
She urged the audience to talk openly about suicide, as a means to prevention.
The two speeches came in the year that talented comedian Robin Williams ended his life, after a long battle with depression.
Suicide has long been a taboo subject, not only in the US but in Australia, but the Press Council, amongst other bodies, now encourages the media to speak openly about the damn black dog.
Julianne Moore picked up her long-overdue Oscar for her stellar performance in Still Alice where she plays a woman who struggles with early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Julianne Moore with her Best Actress Oscar.
The 54-year-old actress said she was “thrilled” to be given the chance to “shine a light on Alzheimer’s disease.”
“So many people with this disease feel isolated and marginalised and one of the wonderful things about movies is that it makes us feel seen and not alone,” said Moore. “And people with Alzheimer’s dissever to be seen so we can find a cure.”
Human rights, especially those of women and minorities, were also in the spotlight.
A planned Oscars protest over lack of diversity at the awards was cancelled at the last minute, at the request of Selma director Ava DuVernay.
Selma celebrates the civil rights movement, in particular the marches led by Martin Luther King jnr.
None of the actors in film were nominated. In fact, for the first time in two decades, the 20 acting nominee slots – Best Actor, Best Actress, and so on – were filled entirely by white actors.
A number of black actors, including Eddie Murphy and Oprah, were permitted on stage to hand out awards.
The host Neil Patrick Harris quipped: “Tonight we honour Hollywood’s best and whitest.”
Common and John Legend with their Academy Awards for Best Song for film, Selma
The Oscars audience was moved to tears by a performance of the award-winning song Glory from Selma.
Singers John Legend and Common gave a stunning speech linking the civil rights struggle to the protection of human rights around the globe today.
Common reminded the audience that human rights “transcend race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and social status.”
He saluted those young people marching in Hong Kong today, desperate not to lose their freedom of expression; and he saluted those who marched in Paris, after the Charlie Hedbo massacre.
Rights must include all human beings, he said.
The British actor, Eddie Redmayne, dedicated his Oscar for Best Actor to all sufferers of ALS, the disease that crippled but did not destroy Stephen Hawking.
There was a marvellous appearance by the iconic Julie Andrews, celebrating 50 years since her appearance in The Sound of Music.
Some of her famous songs, including How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? were performed by Lady Gaga.
“How lucky can a girl get?” Ms Andrews said.
Patricia Arquette stood up for women’s rights, reminding the audience that women in the US still aren’t paid the same as men.
Oscar host Neil Patrick Harris and husband David Burtka.
The attention given to women on the Red Carpet was as ridiculous as ever, with presenters saying things like: ‘Can we just talk about her skin?’ and ‘It is so hard to wear red hair.’
The two Australians, David Lee and Tim Crosbie, who were nominated for sound and visual effects, respectively, both missed out, but hey, that’s showbiz.
Full list of Oscar winners 2015
Best supporting actor
JK Simmons for Whiplash
Achievement in costume design
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Milena Canonero
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
The Grand Budapest Hotel – Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier
Best foreign-language film
Ida – Pawel Pawlikowski
Best live-action short film
The Phone Call – Mat Kirkby, James Lucas
Best documentary short subject
Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1 – Ellen Goosenberg Kent, Dana Perry
Achievement in sound mixing
Whiplash – Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins, Thomas Curley
Achievement in sound editing
American Sniper – Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman
Best supporting actress
Patricia Arquette for Boyhood
Achievement in visual effects
Interstellar – Paul J Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter, Scott R Fisher
Best animated short film
Feast – Patrick Osborne, Kristina Reed
Best animated feature film
Big Hero 6
Best production design
The Grand Budapest Hotel: Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock
Achievement in cinematography
Birdman: Emmanuel Lubezki
Achievement in film editing
Whiplash – Tom Cross
Best documentary feature
Citizenfour – Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Best original song
Glory from Selma – Lonnie Lynn (Common), John Stephens (John Legend)
Best original score
Alexandre Desplat – The Grand Budapest Hotel
Original screenplay
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo – Birdman
Adapted screenplay
Graham Moore – The Imitation Game
Best director
Alejandro González Iñárritu for Birdman
Best actor
0Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything
Best actress
Julianne Moore for Still Alice
Best picture
Birdman
