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The Oscars saw a sense of change in the movie business, as Guillermo del Toro’s love story The Shape of Water swam away with the best picture, reports Leanne Cresswell

Sunday March 4 saw the 90th annual Academy Awards celebrate talent in the film industry at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles. Hosted for a second year in a row, by Jimmy Kimmel, the show seemed to reflect a positive way forward for the industry.

Gulliermo del Toro’s monster romance The Shape of Water won best picture, flooding a sense of change for the industry, confronting the sexual-harassment scandals and gender equality issues in Hollywood.

The film about a mute woman that falls in love with a captive fish-man bagged a total of four awards, including best production design, best score, and best director for Del Toro. “The greatest thing that art does, and that our industry does, is erase the lines in the sand” said del Toro, during his acceptance speech.

Frances McDormand was awarded Best actress for her performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, a film regarding an enraged woman out for justice. During her speech, McDormand asked every female nominee to stand up, stating: “Look around, ladies and gentlemen, because we all have stories to tell and projects that need financing. I have two words to leave with you tonight, ladies and gentlemen: Inclusion Rider.”

Jordan Peele became the first African-American to win best original screenplay, for horror script phenomenon Get Out. After doubting his work “20 times,” Peele told the audience, “I kept coming back to it because I knew if someone would let me make this movie, that people would hear it and people would see it.”

Things went as predicted in the acting categories, where three admired actors won their first Oscars. Allison Janney (I, Tonya) took home best supporting actress, whilst Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards) won best supporting actor. Gary Oldman won for his Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour and thanked his almost 99-year-old mother.

Christopher Nolan’s thrilling Dunkirk landed three awards for its technical use: editing, sound editing and sound design and Pixar’s latest film Coco won best animated, as well as best song Remember Me.

Other award winners included James Ivory (Call Me By Your Name) for best adapted screenplay, Roger Deakins (Blade Runner 2049) won best cinematographer, Darkest Hour won for best makeup and “Phantom Thread” won for costume design.