Barry Jenkins' coming-of-age drama "Moonlight" walked away with the Best Film award at the Oscars but its thunder was stolen by a bizarre announcement mix-up that initially declared "la la land" as the best picture winner.
It was not the only gaffe at Academy Awards broadcast. The "In Memoriam", four-time Oscar-nominated costume designer Janet Patterson, who died last October, was listed among the film industry luminaries. However, the photo shown on the screen was of living Australian film producer Jan Chapman. In an email to Variety, Chapman said, "I was devastated by the use of my image in place of my great friend and long-time collaborator Janet Patterson."
The final moment of the 89th Academy Award ceremony was full of confusion as Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway mistakenly announced "la la land" as the winner because they had the wrong envelope. The producers of "la la land" were almost through their acceptance speech when the error was detected and Jordon Horowitz, one of the producers, graciously called the team of "Moonlight" onstage.
"I'm sorry, no, there's a mistake. 'Moonlight,' you guys won best picture. This is not a joke," Horowitz said. A shocked Jenkins said, "...Even in my dreams, this could not be true. But to hell with dreams, I'm done with it, 'cause this is true. Oh my goodness."