By KATHLEEN DRISCOLL

Staff Writer

As everyone not cut off from all forms of communications is aware, last night was the 89th Academy Awards and it proved to be quite the roller coaster. For those that didn’t get a chance to tune in, here is a list of the five most memorable moments from last night’s award show.

5. Mahershala Ali becomes the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar

The Moonlight star was the favourite to win the category; as Ali’s turn as Juan, the Miami drug dealer who takes the main character Chiron under his wing, has been lauded by critics since the film premiered last year. This win set a pointedly different tone to this year’s awards, considering the wide criticism that the 88th Academy Awards received for the lack of non-white nominees which spawned #OscarsSoWhite. Ali was incredibly humbled by his win, and made the point to thank all of the teachers in his life that helped him get to this point in his career.

4. Moana’s Auli’i Cravalho continues to perform through prop mishap

Singing “How Far I’ll Go,” penned by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, Cravalho impressed the viewing audience with her ability to power through her performance unfazed after one of the prop flags hit her in the head mid-song. Although Moana did not take home the win for Best Original Song, the 16-year-old’s performance by far was one of the best of the night.

3. Best Foreign Language Film’s director uses acceptance speech to comment on Trump’s travel ban

In a night filled with subtle objections towards the Trump administration’s policy initiatives (like Gael Garcia Bernal’s critique of the suggested Wall on the U.S.-Mexican border), none where as impactful as Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s acceptance speech. In protest of President Donald Trump’s travel ban of 7 Muslim-majority countries, which includes Iran, chose not to leave his home country and gave his speech to Iranian-American businesswoman Anousheh Ansari to read on his behalf. In the speech he wrote:

“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.”

2. Viola Davis wins her first Oscar and delivers a powerful acceptance speech

Third time proved to be the charm for Davis, as her third Oscar nomination for her role in Fences got her the win in the Best Supporting Actress category and there wasn’t a dry eye in the theatre during her speech. “People ask me all the time, what

kind of stories do you want to tell, Viola? And I say, exhume those bodies. Exhume those stories,” said Davis in the beginning of her speech. “The stories of the people who dreamed big and never saw those dreams to fruition. People who fell in love and lost. I became an artist—and thank God I did—because we are the only profession that celebrates what it he for the rest of the evening in the speeches of other winners.

1. Best Picture #OscarFail: Moonlight wins after La La Land mistakenly announced

This list wouldn’t be complete without the moment that the evening will be the most remembered for, considering it spawned its own hashtag. Coming into last night’s show, La LaLand was the apparent contender for Best Picture, with Moonlight being the much rooted for underdog. And when Faye Dunaway announced La La Land as the winner after her co-presenter Warren Beatty paused in confusion at the envelope in his hand, it took a whole two and a half minutes until members of PricewaterhouseCoopers were able to inform the film’s producer Jordan Horowitz who announced: “There’s a mistake. Moonlight, you won best picture,” as he held up the card that confirmed it.

Beatty would soon after explain that the card he was given said ‘Emma Stone – La La Land’ which is why he paused and looked a Dunaway. PwC later confirmed that Beatty and Dunaway were given the wrong envelope, as the firm always makes a duplicate envelope for each category of the evening. The presenting pair were given the duplicate for the previous category Best Actress instead of the correct envelope for Best Picture.

Moonlight’s director Barry Jenkins thanked the La La Land cast and crew for the supportive way they handled the mishap, while the latter’s cast and crew had nothing but wonderful things to say after the former film’s contributions to the industry. Commenting on the mix up in her post show interview Emma Stone said “I think everyone is in a state of confusion, but everyone is excited for Moonlight.”