12 Years A Slave won best picture at the 86th Academy Awards on Sunday night, a poignant victory for the harrowing look at slavery in the United States. Brad Pitt, one of the producers and stars, accepted the honor and then handed off accepting duties to director and fellow producer Steve McQueen. Everyone deserves not just to survive but to ...

Best Picture Oscar goes to 12 Years A Slave, which also wins Best Supporting Actress for Lupita Nyong'o and Best Adapted Screenplay for John Ridley, whose resume includes Three Kings (1999) and TV shows Third Watch and The Wanda Sykes Show. 12 Years' win in the biggest category shows that Academy voters do not mind a harrowing depiction if it is in ...