Oscars 2014: '12 Years a Slave' star wins best supporting actress award (photos)

Newcomer Lupita Nyong'o has won the best supporting actress Oscar for her debut film role in 12 Years a Slave.

The Kenyan actress paid tribute to her character, slave worker Patsey, saluting her for her "guidance", BBC News reported.

"So much joy in my life is thanks to so much pain in someone else's," said the 31-year-old, who celebrated her birthday this weekend.

Gravity currently has six awards out of 10 nominations, with best film, actor, actress and director yet to be given.

The 3D space drama leads pack with six Oscars for film editing, sound mixing, sound editing, cinematography, visual effects and score - which was picked up by British composer Steven Price.

Nyong'o's Oscar marked the first award of the night for 12 Years a Slave which is tipped to win best picture.

The film went on to win a second Oscar for best adapted screenplay, which was awarded to John Ridley.

Based on a true story and directed by Briton Steve McQueen, it follows the life of Solomon Northup, a free black man in New York kidnapped and sold into slavery in Louisiana.

"All the praise goes to Northup," said Ridley "these are his words".

Dallas Buyers Club, Frozen and The Great Gatsby also have two awards a piece.

Jared Leto won the first Oscar of the night, picking up best supporting actor for his role in Aids drama Dallas Buyers Club.
 

Leto, who played a transgender woman, dedicated his award to "those who have ever felt injustice because of who they are, or who you love".

In an emotional speech he thanked his mother "for teaching me to dream".

Leto - in his first film for six years - beat fellow nominees Jonah Hill, Bradley Cooper, Michael Fassbender and newcomer Abdi Barkhad, who won a Bafta last month for his role in Captain Phillips.

"This is for the 36 million people out there who have lost the battle to Aids," said Leto.

Dallas Buyers Club also picked up a second award for make up and hairstyling - with the transformation of Leto and his co-star, Matthew McConaughey, rumoured to have been achieved on a budget of $250 (£150).

Frozen, which recently tipped $1bn (£600m) at the global box office, was named best animated feature film with its song, Let It Go, winning best original song.

The 3D film about an icy princess and her sister was directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, with voicing by Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell and Josh Gad. It is loosely based on The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen.

The first British win of the night came for Tim Webber and his team from London-based company Framestore for their visual effects work on Gravity.


 Webber paid tribute to his team, Gravity actors George Clooney and Sandra Bullock and, above all, director Cuaron "for having the vision to create this breath-taking film and the audacity to make it happen".

The second British win of the night went to director Malcolm Clarke, who won an Oscar for his documentary short The Lady in Number Six: Music Saved My Life.

The film follows Alice Herz-Sommer, the oldest known survivor of the Nazi Holocaust and an accomplished pianist. Paying tribute to Herz-Sommer, who died last week at the age of 110, he praised "her extraordinary capacity for joy and amazing capacity for forgiveness".

"She taught everyone on my crew to be a little bit more optimistic," he added, dedicating his award to her.

Her won the best original screenplay for Spike Jonze. Jonze's first film as sole writer and director stars Joaquin Phoenix who falls in love with a computer operating system, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

Italy's The Great Beauty - La Grande Bellezza - won the best foreign language film, beating contenders from Denmark, Belgium, Cambodia and Palestine. It marked Italy's 11th win - the last was 1997's Life is Beautiful, which also won best actor for Roberto Benigni.

Catherine Martin picked up two Oscars, adding to her previous haul of two (for Moulin Rouge) - for costume design and production design on partner Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby adaptation.

It is the second time Ellen DeGeneres has hosted the Oscars

20 Feet from Stardom won the best documentary feature Oscar

Pharrell Williams invited the stars to dance to his chart-topping hit Happy

Best actress nominees Cate Blanchett and Amy Adams proved a hit on the red carpet