After a long and controversy-plagued campaign season, director Alejandro González Iñárritu's Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) came out on top as the best picture among the 10 nominees in this year's Academy Awards. Beating out fellow front-runners Boyhood, American Sniper, The Imitation Game, and The Theory of Everything, Birdman marks Iñárritu's first Best Picture win (he was nominated in 2007 for Best Picture and Director for Babel.) He also won the award for Best Director earlier in the evening.

Iñárritu took time at the end of his acceptance speech to dedicate his film to his fellow Mexican nationals and make a general plea for equal treatment of Mexican immigrants.