Moonlight Takes Home Top Award for Best Drama at 2017 Golden Globes

The movie was nominated for 6 awards tonight

By Bruna Nessif Jan 09, 2017 4:14 AMTags
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight, 2017 Golden Globes, WinnerPaul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

And the top award of the night goes to Moonlight.

The Barry Jenkins-helmed film starring Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali and Janelle Monáe won Best Motion Picture, Drama tonight at the 2017 Golden Globes.

With a shocked, grateful and stunned cast on stage to accept the award, Jenkins led the thank-you speech by giving praise to the production companies who took on his project, his mother and those who spread the word about the film.

"As someone who went 8 years without making a piece, I gotta give love to these people right here, Plan B and A24, A24, A24. To my mom…Denzel [Washington] says in Fences, ‘I ‘dun gave you everything, I gave you your life.' Mom, you gave me my life, and I hope being on this stage right now is fulfillment of the life that you gave me," he said.

"And to everybody on Twitter and Instagram and back home in Miami and New Orleans, if you have seen this film or you have told a friend, all I ever say is please tell a friend, tell a friend, tell a friend. Much love."

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Golden Globe Awards 2017 Winners: The Complete List

"I was blown away," Ali, who played a local drug dealer turned father figure to a young boy named Chiron in the film, told E! News of reading the script. "I actually cried a couple of times because it was just so beautiful on paper. It was a tough read but you could really connect with the characters. It felt so human."

The movie follows the journey of Chiron (Alex Hibbert) from growing up in impoverished Miami to adulthood as he struggles to accept his sexuality as well as live with a mom who is addicted to crack.

"I think Moonlight reminds me that we need to be supportive of people coming to terms with who they are and in their own time," Ali said. "We need to be supportive of people's journeys of their own self-realization."

Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, Ali stresses that the film reminds us of the need for empathy. "I think that's why the film is resonating with people at this time in our country with so many things going on."

For complete Golden Globes coverage, watch E! News at 7 p.m. and 11 p.m.