Slumdog's Oscar triumph
Slumdog Millionaire won eight Oscars last night, and became the first solely-British financed film to win Best Picture at the American Academy Awards since Hamlet in 1948.
Simon Beaufoy won the prize for Writing (Adapted Screenplay) for his Slumdog script based on the book by Vikas Swarup. In his acceptance speech Beaufoy, who was nominated in 1998 for his original script for The Full Monty, expressed his shock at winning.
There are certain places in the universe you never imagine standing. For me, it's the moon, the South Pole, the Miss World podium and here. It's a tremendous honour, so thank you to the Academy. I certainly wouldn't be standing here tonight without Vikas Swarup, who wrote the book, without which none of Slumdog would ever have happened. So thank you, Vikas.
There's a concise history of the production of Slumdog Millionaire on Wikipedia.
The Oscar for Writing (Original Screenplay) went to Dustin Lance Black for Milk.
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