Jimmy Kimmel, host
I want to say thank you to President Trump. Remember last year when it seemed like the Oscars were racist? That’s gone, thanks to him … Black people saved Nasa and white people saved jazz – that’s what you call progress.
Barry Jenkins, director and co-writer, Moonlight
All you people out there who feel like there’s no mirror for you, that your life is not reflected, the Academy has your back, the ACLU has your back, we have your back, and for the next four years we will not leave you alone, we will not forget you.
Tarell Alvin McCraney, co-writer, Moonlight
This goes out to all those black and brown boys and girls and non-gender conforming who don’t see themselves. We’re trying to show you you and us. So thank you, thank you, this is for you.
Jimmy Kimmel
The only happy ending this year was the one in the middle of Moonlight.
Damian Chazelle, director, La La Land
This was a movie about love, and I was lucky enough to fall in love while making it.
Jordan Horowitz, producer, La La Land
There’s a lot of love in this room, and let’s use it to create and champion bold and diverse work, work that inspires us towards joy, towards hope and towards empathy.
Marc Platt, producer, La La Land
Repression is the enemy of civilisation, so keep dreaming, because the dreams we dream today will provide the love, the compassion, and the humanity that will narrate the stories of our lives tomorrow.
Emma Stone, addressing her friends after her best actress win for La La Land:
I realise a moment like this is a huge confluence of luck and opportunity ... I’m going to hug the hell out of you when the feeling re-enters my body.
Casey Affleck, actor, Manchester by the Sea
I wish I had something bigger and more meaningful to say – but I’m proud to be part of this community … I’m dumbfounded that I’m included ... [To his brother Ben Affleck] I love you – you ain’t heavy.
Kenneth Lonergan, director and writer, Manchester by the Sea
[Manchester by the Sea is] about people trying to take care of each other in the face of terrible adversity – I’ve been taken care of my whole life by wonderful people who I love and who have loved me.
Samuel L Jackson
The test for me about whether a film is great is whether it leaves you humming.
Benj Pasek, songwriter, La La Land
This is dedicated to all the kids who sing in the rain, and all the mums who let them.
La La Land cinematographer Linus Sandgren, to Damien Chazelle
I’m so glad I met you.
La La Land score composer Justin Hurwitz, to Damien Chazelle
I’m so glad I met you.
Asghar Farhadi
My absence is out of respect for the people of my country, and those of the other six nations who have been disrespected by the inhumane law that bans entry of immigrants to the US. 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. Film-makers 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.
White Helmets founder Raed al-Saleh, quoting the Qu’ran
To save one life is to save the whole of humanity.
Viola Davis, best supporting actress winner, Fences
There’s one place that all the people with the greatest potential are gathered – that’s the graveyard. 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, the stories of the people dream 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 is to live a life. Here’s to August Wilson, who exhumed, and exalted, the ordinary people.
Mark Rylance
Something that women seem to be better at than men: opposing without hatred.
Ezra Edelman, director of best documentary winner OJ: Made in America, dedicated the film to:
The victims of police violence, police brutality, racially motivated violence and criminal injustice.
Gael García Bernal
As a Mexican, as a migrant worker, and as a human being, I am against any form of wall that wants to separate us.
Jimmy Kimmel
I knew I would screw this show up, I really did. I promise I’ll never come back.
