LOS ANGELES: Steven Spielberg claimed top honors including best drama at the Golden Globes on Tuesday for his deeply personal film “The Fabelmans,” as Hollywood’s A-list stars flocked to the first major awards show of 2023 despite a series of scandals swirling around its organisers.

The other top film award, best comedy or musical, went to “The Banshees of Inisherin” — a tragicomedy about a shattered friendship on a remote Irish island that ended the night with the most movie prizes.

Spielberg, who also took home the award for best director, thanked his family including his late mother, who he said would be “up there kvelling about this right now.” “The Fabelmans” covers the troubled marriage of Spielberg’s parents, anti-Semitic bullying, and the director’s early efforts making zero-budget movies with his teenage friends.

“Everybody sees me as a success story... but nobody really knows who we are until we’re courageous enough to tell everyone who we are,” he told the A-list audience at the Beverly Hilton.

Spielberg said films like “E.T.” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” had used elements from his real life, but he had “never had the courage to hit this story head on” until now.

Despite faring poorly at the box office, the film saw off last year’s two biggest commercial hits — James Cameron’s sci-fi film “Avatar: The Way of Water,” and mega-sequel “Top Gun: Maverick” — to win the night’s final prize.

“Banshees” also earned a win for Colin Farrell for best comedy actor, boosting his Oscar hopes, and for writer-director Martin McDonagh with best screenplay.

The Globes, which kick off the annual film prize-giving season, have not had their usual glitz for the past two years, due to the pandemic and revelations about their organisers’ lack of diversity and allegations of ethical lapses.

In particular, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organises the awards, was criticised for not having a single Black member, although it has recently expanded its ranks.

All eyes were on which A-listers would show up on Tuesday, as NBC — which scrapped its broadcast of the show last year — brought back the 80th Golden Globe Awards on a one-off basis.

As it turned out, many heavy hitters were in attendance, including Spielberg, Rihanna and Brad Pitt, though some skipped questions from journalists on the red carpet — which was in fact gray. Austin Butler, stepping into Elvis Presley’s blue suede shoes for rock-and-roll biopic “Elvis,” won best actor in a drama.

Published in Dawn, January 12th, 2023