Ben Affleck's Argo wins Best Picture Oscar
2013-02-25 07:25
Hollywood - Ben Affleck's Iran hostage drama Argo on Sunday took home the Oscar for Best Picture, in a unique presentation done by Jack Nicholson in Hollywood and First Lady Michelle Obama by videolink.
Argo bested eight rivals for the top prize: Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty.
On Nicholson's cue, Obama - in a glittering silvery gown as stunning as any worn by the stars inside the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood-- opened the envelope at the White House and declared Argo the winner.
2013 Oscars: The full list of winners
"I want to thank Canada. I want to thank our friends in Iran, who live under terrible circumstances," said Affleck, a co-producer of the film, speaking at top speed in the very last minutes of the live prime-time Oscar broadcast.
Argo recounts how a group of US diplomats who took refuge in the Canadian embassy in Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis were spirited out of the Islamic republic as members of a bogus movie crew.
* The 2013 Oscars will be aired on M-Net on Monday at 20:30.