Chris Rock scores and Spotlight takes centre stage at the Oscars

Los Angeles

IN A CEREMONY that became a raucous diversity lesson under the guidance of its host, Chris Rock, Spotlight, a newspaper drama about the Roman Catholic Church cover-up of sexual abuse by priests, snatched top honours at the 88th Academy Awards on Sunday. It beat out The Revenant, which had been widely viewed as the favourite, but which nevertheless earned a best actor prize for Leonardo DiCaprio, his first Oscar, and a best director award for Alejandro G. Iñárritu.

Michael Sugar, a Spotlight producer, said he hoped the win would "resonate all the way to the Vatican." The Revenant wound up capturing three Oscars overall, compared with two for Spotlight. Mad Max: Fury Road led all films with six awards, including several in the technical categories.