Mahershala Ali Headlines Bay Area Oscar Winners

Oakland-born and Hayward-raised Mahershala Ali took home his second Oscar in three years on Sunday night, one of several winners with Bay Area connections.

Ali won the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of world-class pianist Don Shirley in Best Picture winner “Green Book.” In 2017, Ali became the first Muslim actor to win an Oscar when he won in the same category for his role in “Moonlight.”

“I want to dedicate this to my grandmother who has been in my ear my entire life telling me if at first I don’t succeed, try, try again,” Ali said in his acceptance speech. “That I could do anything I put my mind to, always, always pushing me to think positively, and I know that I would not be here without her.”

Ali beat out two fellow Northern California products to win the award. Sam Rockwell, who was born in Daly City and grew up in San Francisco, was nominated for his role as former President George W. Bush in “Vice,” and Sacramento’s Sam Elliott earned a nomination for his part in “A Star is Born.”

Emeryville-based Pixar failed to follow up last year’s Best Animated Feature winner “Coco” with another win for the superhero film “Incredibles 2,” but it did take home the award for Best Animated Short for “Bao,” a story about a mom, a son and a dumpling that comes to life.

John Ottman called out his experiences as a kid making movies in his parents’ garage in San Jose during his victory speech after winning the Oscar for film editing for “Bohemian Rhapsody.” But some on social media called Ottman out for not using the speech to denounce the film’s director, Bryan Singer, who left the project midway through and has repeatedly been accused of sexual assault.

“Black Panther,” which was directed by Oakland’s Ryan Coogler and included several scenes in The Town, did not win Best Picture, but it still took home three out of the seven awards it was nominated for. Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart won for production design, Ruth Carter won for costume design and Ludwig Göransson won for best original score.

The film’s sound editing and mixing teams — including Bay Area products Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Benjamin A. Burtt — lost out in both categories to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Mark “Sounwave” Spears and Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith failed to upset Lady Gaga’s “Shallow” from “A Star is Born” for Best Original Song.

“Free Solo,” a documentary about Alex Honnold, the Sacramento man who became the first person to successfully scale Yosemite’s El Capitan without ropes or harnesses, won for Best Documentary Feature.

You can see the full list of winners here.

This post has been updated.