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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Mia O'Hare

Oscars 2023 makes history and breaks boundaries with first Asian win and Irish nomination

The Oscars has once again been an extraordinary event as the world's greatest in film came together, but this year's Academy Awards also set about breaking some long-standing boundaries.

Multiple award winners at last night's ceremony took home historic wins, with Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh snapping up best actress making her the first Asian to win the title.

The Everything Everywhere All at Once star, 60, gave an inspirational speech saying: “For all the little boys and girls who look like me, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities.

"Dream big, dreams do come true. Ladies, never let anyone tell you you are past your prime.

Michelle Yeoh accepts the Best Actress award for Everything Everywhere All at Once (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

“I have to dedicate this to my mum, all the mums in the world because they are really the superhero’s and without them none of us would be here tonight. She’s 84 and I’m taking this home to her.”

Thanking the women of Hong Kong, she said: "Thank you for letting me stand on your shoulders, for giving me a leg up. This is history in the making.”

American costume designer Ruth E. Carter also made history with her win by becoming the first black woman to be awarded two Oscars.

Best known for her work on the Marvel blockbuster Black Panther, Carter won her first Oscar in 2019 for the film and became the first black person to win the costume design category.

At the 95th Academy Awards, she was recognised for her work on the film's sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

US costume designer Ruth E. Carter accepts the Oscar for Best Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (Getty Images)

Carter was up against the likes of Catherine Martin for Baz Luhrmann’s biopic Elvis and Shirley Kurata’s costumes for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

After accepting her award, she said: “I pulled myself up from my bootstraps. I started – single-parent household. I wanted to be a costume designer.

"I studied, I scraped, I dealt with adversity in the industry that sometimes didn’t look like me. I endured.

“So I feel that this win opens the door for other young costume designers may not think that this industry is for them and hopefully they’ll see me and they’ll see my story and they’ll think that they can win an Oscar too.”

Academy Award nominees also managed to break boundaries this year as the first Irish language film was up for an award.

Irish director of An Cailín Ciúin Colm Bairead, Irish actress Catherine Clinch, and producer Cleona Ni Chrualaoi (Getty Images)

Colm Bairéad’s An Cailín Ciúin first premiered at Berlin Film Festival last year and secured a nomination in best international picture.

German film All Quiet on the Western Front scooped up the award but the achievement of the Irish filmmakers didn't go unnoticed.

On the red carpet, Bairéad said: “This is a historic day for Irish film.

“It’s the first time an Irish-language feature film has ever been nominated for the Academy Awards. We are all Irish speakers ourselves. It means a great deal to us that we’re here making history today.”

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