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Green Book has won the Oscar for best picture at the 91st Academy Awards , defeating strong competition from Roma , The Favourite , Black Panther , BlacKkKlansman , Bohemian Rhapsody , A Star Is Born , and Vice .
Roma was firm favourite to win Best Picture, having won the top award at the Baftas and Critics’ Choice Awards. Heading into the Oscars, Roma led with 10 nominations, including Best Actress for Yalitza Aparicio and Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón.
However, Green Book was also a close contender for the night’s highest honour and managed to beat the Netflix-released film.
Director Farelly said: “The whole story is about love, and loving each other despite our differences, we are all the same.”
He dedicated the Oscar to his sister, saying: “She died a week before we started shooting this but she never left my side.”
The Peter Farrelly-directed comedy drama won three Golden Globes earlier this year, despite causing controversy after the family of Mahershala Ali’s Don Shirley complained that the film inaccurately portrayed the Jazz pianist.
The best pictures from Oscars 2019Show all 65 1 /65The best pictures from Oscars 2019 The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper perform "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born."
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Rami Malek holds his Best Actor Oscar as he reacts after the show concluded
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Spike Lee (left) jumps in the arms of Actor Samuel L Jackson as he accepts the award Best Original Screenplay for "BlacKkKlansman"
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Olivia Colman accepts her Best Actress award
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Melissa McCarthy presents the Best Costume Design award.
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Hannah Beachler celebrates with her Oscar for Best Production
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 US actor and singer Billy Porter arriving
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Rami Malek winner of the Best Actor award for "Bohemian Raphsody" opens a bottle of champagne
Best Actor winner for "Bohemian Rhapsody" Rami Malek
The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Jennifer Lopez checking her make up backstage
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Rami Malek (L) winner Best Actor in a Leading Role award for 'Bohemian Rhapsody, Olivia Colman (2L) winner of Best Actress for 'The Favourite,' Mahershala Ali (R) winner of Best Supporting Actor for 'Green Book,' and Regina King (2R) winner of Best Supporting Actress for 'If Beale Street Could Talk
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Keegan Michael Key drops down to announce the Mary Poppins performance.
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Best Supporting Actress winner for "If Beale Street Could Talk" Regina King
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Actor James McCoy before the start of the 91st Academy Awards show.
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Olivia Colman, winner of Best Actress for 'The Favourite,'
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Best Supporting Actor nominee Sam Rockwell and Leslie Bib arrive
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Comedians Maya Rudolf, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (right) talking backstage
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Miley Cyrus poses at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Becky Neiman-Cobb (left) and Domee Shi (right) winners of the Short Film (Animated) Award for 'Bao'
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Ben Falcone (left to right), Olivia Grant, Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant attending the Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Lady Gaga cries as she wins the award for Best Original Song
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Charlie Wachtel, David Robinowitz, Kevin Willmott, and Spike Lee accept the Best Adapted Screenplay award
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Helen Mirren arrives
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Best Foreign Language Film winner for "Roma" Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron (right) walking with US actress Angela Bassett (centre) and Spanish actor Javier Bardem backstage
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Best Live Action Short Film winners for "Skin" Director Guy Nattiv, and his wife actress Jaime Ray Newman
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper perform "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born."
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt accept the award for Best Original Song
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Adam Lambert (left) performs with Queen's Brian May (right) and Roger Taylor (centre)
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Best Supporting Actress winner for "If Beale Street Could Talk" Regina King and Best Adapted Screenplay winner for "BlacKkKlansman" Spike Lee attend the 91st Annual Academy Awards Governors Ball
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Best Supporting Actress nominee Rachel Weisz arrives.
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper perform "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born."
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Best Actor winner for "Bohemian Rhapsody" Rami Malek
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Director Peter Farrelly, winner of Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for "Green Book," backstage
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Alessandra Ambrosio attending the Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Lady Gaga backstage
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Spike Lee holds a knuckle ring that reads "Love" as he arrives with his wife Tonya Lewis Lee.
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Olivia Colman attends the 91st Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on February 24, 2019 in Hollywood, California.
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Terry Crews poses at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Lady Gaga accepts the Best Original Song award for "Shallow" from "A Star Is Born"
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Chadwick Boseman and Taylor Simone Ledward attend the 91st Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood and Highland on February 24, 2019
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Regina King (R) and Steven James.
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Jennifer Hudson, Tina Fey, Maya Rudolph and Amy Poehler.
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Lady Gaga arrives at the 91st Academy Awards
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart celebrate backstage with their Best Production Design awards for "Black Panther."
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Regina King poses backstage with her Best Supporting Actress award for her role in "If Beale Street Could Talk."
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Spike Lee (L) embraces presenter Samuel L. Jackson as he wins the "Adapted Screenplay" award for "BlacKkKlansman."
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Viggo Mortensen, Linda Cardellini, Mahershala Ali, Octavia Spencer, and Brian Currie accept the Best Picture award for 'Green Book'
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Ludwig Goransson accepts the Music (Original Score) award for 'Black Panther' from Tessa Thompson and Michael B Jordan
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Megan Pormer attends the 27th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Chelsea Hamill (L), Mark Hamill (C) and Marilou York (R) poses at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Sir Elton John and Brandon Flowers of The Killers perform onstage during the 27th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Amy Adams (R) and Darren Le Gallo (L)pose at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Marilyn Manson (L) and Jon Voight attend the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Glenn Close poses at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Billy Porter
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Kobe Bryant (R) and Vanessa Laine Bryant attend at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Brandon Flowers of The Killers performs onstage
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin attend the 27th annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Ben Falcone (2-R) and Melissa McCarthy (R) attend at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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The best pictures from Oscars 2019 Gerard Butler (C) arrives at the 2019 Vanity Fair Oscar Party
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Green Book has also faced widespread criticism for its use of the “white saviour” trope. Its story of a friendship between two real-life figures – Don Shirley and his white driver Tony Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) – has been criticised for depicting the experiences of black Americans in the segregated South almost entirely through a white perspective, ignoring the realities of racism in order to deliver a neat story about Tony’s redemption as a racist man who learns to become a more tolerant person.
The Root’s Monique Judge criticised the film for “spoon-feeding racism to white people” and allowing them to feel comforted under the (false) pretence that racism is merely an artefact of the past and not a fundamental evil of the present.
Shirley’s family have denounced the film as a “symphony of lies”, claiming that they had been entirely left out of the filmmaking process. Particularly concerning was their accusation that the film’s central friendship was a complete fabrication and that Shirley never regarded Vallelonga as anything more than an employee.
Furthermore, there were further controversies regarding an unearthed racist tweet by Nick Vallelonga , Viggo Mortensen’s use of the N-word during a Q&A for the film, and an old article in which Farrelly admitted to flashing his penis on set as a joke . All three have since apologised for their actions.
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