After Oscar presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway announced the wrong movie for Best Picture during Sunday’s Academy Awards, Hollywood and anybody who had ever so much as seen the Oscars on television was confused by why La La Land was announced first instead of the actual winner, Moonlight. The one person you might assume would be privy to the inner workings of the mix-up would be the person most deserving of an explanation and groveling apology, Moonlight’s director and screenwriter Barry Jenkins. After the show, however, Jenkins was just as in-the-dark as the viewers at home. At least Beatty did him a solid and showed him the winner’s card, where Moonlight was clearly typed. Still, Jenkins had nothing but nice things to say about the award’s presumed winner. “The folks from La La Land were so gracious. I can’t imagine being in their position and having to do that,†Jenkins said of the musical favorite, which conceded the stage to Moonlight after the mistake was announced. “I wasn’t speechless because we won, I was speechless because it was so gracious of them to do that.†Class acts all around.
