Jordan Peele, the filmmaker behind the widely celebrated picture Get Out, became the first black screenwriter to win Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.
In the 90th Academy Awards live from Hollywood, the feeling of change was apparent as Peele – who is only the fourth black writer to be nominated in the category at the Oscars – made history with his victory.
While Get Out failed to land the big prize, the film was recognised as Peele was nominated for Best Director and lead actor Daniel Kaluuya was in the running for Best Actor. Speaking on the red carpet, Peele said: “we’re never done with the conversation of race”.
Accepting the award, the filmmaker said: “This means so much to me. I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible. I thought it wasn’t going to work. I thought no one would ever make this movie.
“But I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone let me make this movie, that people would hear it and people would see it. So I want to dedicate this to all the people who raised my voice and let me make this movie.”