On Feb. 26, Hollywood’s best and brightest gathered for the 89th Academy Awards, a notable night honoring the best in film of 2016. The night was full of political messages as Donald Trump was ridiculed more often than not, and various surprises that shocked viewers.

The night began well with a strong opening number by Justin Timberlake and the energetic hosting of Jimmy Kimmel.  The opening award was the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, with rising star Mahershala Ali winning for his brief but memorable performance as Juan in “Moonlight.”  Then, Viola Davis took home the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for her thunderous and magnetic performance as Rose Maxson in the film “Fences.”  

As the ceremony continued, “La La Land” began its winning streak, picking up wins for Best Achievement in Production Design, David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco; Best Achievement in Cinematography, Linus Sandgren; Best Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score), Justin Hurwitz; a well-deserved win for Best Original Song, Justin Hurwitz, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul for “City of Stars;” and Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role by Emma Stone for her performance as Mia Dolan.

Best Animated Feature Film went to, unsurprisingly, “Zootopia” for the incredible animation and message.  Notably, “The Salesman,” the Iranian submission for foreign language film, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. However the director, Asghar Farhadi, chose not to appear in protest against the controversial executive order signed by President Trump which denied entry to the U.S. from  Iran and from six other Muslim-majority countries. He had a statement he prepared to be read aloud to the crowd, which was received with thunderous applause.

Following this, Best Adapted Screenplay was awarded to Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney for their work on “Moonlight,” while Best Original Screenplay went to Kenneth Lonergan for his screenplay on “Manchester by the Sea.” As for the other major Academy Awards, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role was given to the phenomenal Casey Affleck for his performance as Lee Chandler in “Manchester by the Sea.”

Following that, Damien Chazelle won Best Directing for his iconic work in “La La Land.”  However, nothing would be quite as shocking and memorable as the award for Best Picture.  Legendary actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway went out to present the award, which was first mistakenly given to “La La Land” until slowly those offstage realized that it was not the winner— “Moonlight” was.  

People were either very happy or upset at the outcomes, but then again, the Academy Awards tend to do that.