The black-and-white Polish film "Ida" took best foreign language film, marking the first such win for Poland despite a rich cinema history.
Director Pawel Pawlikowski charmed the audience with a bemused acceptance speech that ran drastically over his allotted time.
Pawlikowski remarked on having made a quiet film of contemplation about withdrawing from the world, "and here we are at the epicenter of noise and attention. It's fantastic. Life is full of surprises."
Set in Poland in the 1960s, Ida is about a young nun about to make her final vows. She discovers that she has an aunt and that her origins are Jewish. She visits her aunt and they begin a journey to discover what happened to her parents.
The film takes us to a war-torn landscape where the buildings were once targets and an eerie silence fills the streets, and where recalling the violence revives aches in the hearts of both the perpetrators and the survivors. Such is the tragedy of war – very few are spared the torment.
Behind the storyline are many philosophical questions. In the background, a thread consistently explored is the relationship between life and spirituality and the meaning of contentment. The imagery is thought provoking, hypnotic and offers much to contemplate.
Watching Ida is like looking through an old album of family portraits, where the smiles are firm and the clothes are identical, a moving journey that leaves the viewer haunted by the rigidity of display and memories of what could have been.
Prior to Oscars, The film won numerous awards, including Best Cinematographer (Ryszard Lenczewski and Lukasz Zal) in the European Film Awards and Best Film in the London Film Festival.
Ida saw its first screening in Egypt during the 7th Panorama of the European Film in November 2014.
Read Ahram Online review of Ida here
The 87th Academy Awards ceremony took place with Neil Patrick Harris as host at the Dolby Theatre, Los Angeles.
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