Four years after #OscarsSoWhite, the 91st Oscars have moved towards redemption, but have fallen to the last hurdle

SApril Reign, the first woman responsible for the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag, was at the heart of the Sea of ​​Stars last night at the Oscars. Created in 2015, this three-word phrase condensed a crucial and complex conversation about diversity (or lack thereof) into a viral slogan that the Academy could no longer ignore. Last night, Reign had a lot of reasons to celebrate.

Two years after the Academy took steps to rectify its predominantly white male demographics by inviting 774 new members – including 39% women and 30% people of color – to join its ranks, it seems like we're starting to see the progress.

The story was made last night, in fact, when Black PantherCostume designer Ruth Carter and her decorator Hannah Beachler became the first-ever African-American winners in their categories. "Wow, it's been a long time since that," said Carter, who celebrated "the stand-alone way for women to watch and direct on screen." In a tweet that has been promoted almost 30,000 times, The New York TimesKyle Buchanan said, "Only 3 black women have won Oscars for anything other than drama. 2 of them just arrived tonight. "

These historic victories come moments after Regina King's Best Supporting Actress award for her role in If Beale Street could speak. "Regina! Ruth! Hannah! Tweeted Selma's director, Ava DuVernay. "I'm defeated! The sisters are rising!

When King won the Golden Globes last month, she said the film – an adaptation of James Baldwin's novel of the same name Moonlight director Barry Jenkins – it was the first time his son saw himself thinking on the screen. This is a feeling shared by the directors of Spider-man: in the Spider-Verse, who won the award for best animated film: "When we learn that a child watched the movie, he turned to them and said," It looks like me, "have they said referring to the young black protagonist of the film. already won. "

Somewhere else, Period. End of sentence., who discusses the taboo of menstruation in India, won the award for Best Short Documentary. "I can not believe that a movie about menstruation comes from winning an Oscar," film director Rayka Zehtabchi said at the end of her speech: "A period should end a sentence, not to the education of a girl. "

And who could forget Spike Lee? Three years after the director boycotted the ceremony because of the overwhelming whiteness of his candidates, and nearly 30 years after his flagship film Do the right thing was not even nominated (Driving Miss Daisy, considered from now on as a not condescending attitude in the relations interraciales, gained the same year), he went on stage by accepting his first Oscar. And he did not let his platform get lost.

Lee, who won the best adapted screenplay for BlackKklansman, congratulated the women who helped him to get where he is today and drew attention to the fact that this year marks the 400th anniversary of the first forced migration. slaves in America. "The year 2019. The year 1619. History. His story is 1619. 2019. 400 years old, "he said in a typical speaker Spike Lee's style. "Four hundred years. Our ancestors were stolen from Mother Africa and bought in Jamestown, Virginia, in slavery. Our ancestors worked the land of can not see the morning can not see the night. My 100-year-old grandmother graduated from Spelman College while her mother was a slave. My grandmother who saved 50 years of Social Security checks to put her first grandchild – she called me Spikie-poo – through Morehouse College and NYU. "

Rami Malek's win in the Best Actor award was a little bitter-sweet, given that Bohemian Rhapsody is by far the worst of the nominated films in the Best Film category, has been accused of mismanaging Freddie Mercury's baduality and has been spoiled by accusations of badual badault made against his director, Bryan Singer ( allegations that were common knowledge before anyone signed to work with him). Still, it was hard not to be moved by watching Malek proclaim, "We shot a film about a homobadual, an immigrant, who lived his life without any excuse. The fact that I am here tonight is proof that we aspire to such stories. I am a son of immigrants from Egypt and my story is being written. "

Roma Maybe he did not win the Best Film Award, when he was the favorite, but at least Alfonso Cuarón was voted Best Director. In his speech, he thanked the Academy for "recognizing a film centered on an Aboriginal woman: a historically relegated character [to] the background in the cinema. "

This Roma was beaten in the biggest reward of the night by Green paper – a sporadically powerful film, but whose approach to racism follows the same story, centered on the white, as the previous Oscar winners, such as Driving Miss Daisy, L & # 39; s help, and The blind side – was perhaps the most surprising moment of the night. "The referee made a bad call," said Spike Lee at a press conference. "Whenever someone leads someone, I lose." Get Out's director, Jordan Peele, did not even applaud when the win was announced. Olivia Colman's best actress wins, however, for her hilarious and heartbreaking role in Yorgos Lanthimos The favourite. His speech was a few minutes of pure joy.

Four years after April Reign's hashtag, much remains to be done. On the one hand, there was not a single woman nominated for the best director, nor a film directed by a woman for the best film. "Until we do not have those conversations about the first ones in 2019," Reign said before the evening, "until everyone has the opportunity, whether it's the race and ethnicity, badual orientation, disability, the indigenous peoples of this country all have the opportunity to be represented on the screen, not just during the price season, but while at the Throughout the year, I will continue to talk about #OscarsSoWhite. "But if we look at the winners of last night, if that hints at things to come, that's a very promising sign indeed.