Catholic Church abuse movie "Spotlight" was named best picture, the top award at Sunday's Oscar ceremony, after an evening peppered with pointed punchlines from host Chris Rock about the #OscarsSoWhite controversy that has dominated the industry.
Mexico's Alejandro Inarritu nabbed the best directing Oscar for "The Revenant", taking home the trophy for the second straight year after winning in 2015 for "Birdman."
"The Revenant" had gone into Sunday's ceremony with a leading 12 nominations, and was among four movies believed to have the best chances for best picture after it won Golden Globe and BAFTA trophies.
"I (am) very lucky to be here tonight but unfortunately many others haven't had the same luck," Inarritu said, expressing the hope that, in the future, skin colour would become as irrelevant as the length of one's hair.
Open Road Films' (RGC.N) "Spotlight", which traces the journalism probe of sex abuse in the Boston Catholic Church also won best original screenplay.
Warner Bros (TWX.N) "Mad Max: Fury Road" started the night with 10 nominations and the action-adventure won a slew of Oscars, including for costume, make-up, editing, and production design.