LOS ANGELES: Every­thing Everywhere All at Once won the prestigious best picture trophy at the Academy Awards on Sun­day as Hollywood embrac­ed an offbeat story about a Chinese-American family working out their problems across multiple dimensions.

The movie claimed three of the four acting Oscars for stars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis. Yeoh played the lead role of a stressed-out laundromat owner who finds she has superpowers in alternative universes.

“For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibilities,” the 60-year-old Malay­sian actress said on stage. “

‘‘And ladies, don’t let anybody ever tell you are ever past your prime.”

“Malaysia boleh!” cried Michelle Yeoh’s mother in a video chat with her daughter minutes after her historic Oscars win was announced — citing a popular slogan that loosely translates into “Malaysia can do it!”

“I’m very happy... I’m proud of my daughter. She is very hardworking,” Janet Yeoh told reporters after her daughter became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for best actress.

Quan, a onetime child star who gave up acting for two decades, and Hollywood veteran Curtis won supporting actor and actress for their roles.

A weeping Quan, who was born in Vietnam, kissed his gold Oscar statuette as he held it on stage in front of the biggest names in show business.

“My journey started on a boat,” Quan said. “I spent a year in a refugee camp. Somehow I ended up here on Hollywood’s biggest stage.” As a boy, Quan starred in a 1984 Indiana Jones movie and The Goonies in 1985. The 51-year-old said he had quit acting for years because he saw little opportunity for Asian actors on the big screen.

“They say stories like this only happen in the movies,” he added. “I cannot believe it’s happening to me. This is the American dream.” Quan’s co-star Curtis, who built a career in horror films such as Halloween, won best supporting actress for playing a frumpy tax auditor named Deirdre Beaubeirdre.

Curtis, 64, looked upward and addressed her late parents, Academy award nominees Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. “I just won an Oscar,” she said through tears.

Best Actor for The Whale

The Whale star Brendan Fraser won best actor for playing a severely obese man trying to reconnect with his daughter.

“I’m so grateful to you,” he said to the crowd on the Dolby Theatre stage as he held his award.

Best documentary feature

The film Navalny, about the poisoning that nearly killed Alexei Navalny, Russia’s most prominent opposition leader, and his detention since his 2021 return to Moscow, won the Oscar for best feature documentary.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2023