White Helmets, first Muslim, and Iranian film win Oscars

He thanked his fellow cast members -- and his wife, who gave birth to their first child, a baby girl, just days earlier.

Barry Jenkins's "Moonlight" tells the life story of a young African-American struggling to find his place as he grows up in a rough neighborhood of Miami.

Ali, a Muslim convert since 1999 with a Christian minister for a mother, joined the minority Ahmadiyya Community, a movement seen as heretical by other Islamic sects, in 2001.

Muslims have won Oscars in various categories over the years -- including Pakistani documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and feature director Asghar Farhadi -- but none has taken a statuette for acting.

Ellen Burstyn, who won a best actress Oscar in 1975, has practiced a blend of Sufism and other religions since her late 30s but has said she considers herself a "spirit open to the truth" rather than a Muslim.

Ali recently told Britain's Radio Times magazine that he discovered he was on an FBI watchlist after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

"If you convert to Islam after a couple of decades of being a black man in the US, the discrimination you receive as a Muslim doesn't feel like a shock," he said.

"I've been pulled over, asked where my gun is, asked if I'm a pimp, had my car pulled apart. Muslims will feel like there's this new discrimination that they hadn't received before -- but it's not new for us."

A documentary film on Syria's Civil Defence aka White Helmets also won an Oscar in the best documentary short category.

White Helmets - Best Documentary Short

A documentary film on Syria's Civil Defence aka White Helmets also won an Oscar in the best documentary short category.

The film focuses on the rescue workers who risk their lives to save Syrians affected by civil war.

Many of the group's members have been killed by Syrian President Bashar Assad's air forces. The group also was nominated for last year's Nobel Peace Prize.

"The White Helmets" includes emblematic scenes of the deadly 6-year-old conflict: people digging through destroyed homes looking for survivors, at constant risk of "double tap" attacks that target first responders after they've arrived at the scene of a strike.

The award was received by irector Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara, after Khaled Khateeb, a Syrian cinematographer who worked on the film, was denied entry to US. His passport had been revoked by the Syrian regime.

Syrians were briefly banned from entering the US under a now-suspended travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries.

Iranian film “The Salesman” on Sunday won the Oscar for best foreign language film, with director Asghar Farhadi skipping the Hollywood gala in protest at a travel ban by US President Donald Trump.

The Salesman - Iran

Iranian film “The Salesman” on Sunday won the Oscar for best foreign language film, with director Asghar Farhadi skipping the Hollywood gala in protest at a travel ban by US President Donald Trump.

In a statement read in his name, Farhadi said he was staying away in solidarity as people had been “disrespected” by Trump’s policy, which is currently on hold after a decision by a federal appeals court. Farhadi – whose film “A Separation” won the best foreign film Oscar in 2012 – instead organised a free screening of “The Salesman” for thousands of fans in London’s Trafalgar Square.

“Dividing the world into the US and ‘our enemies’ categories creates fear – a deceitful justification for aggression and war,” he said in the statement read at the Hollywood gala by the Iranian-born US engineer and astronaut Anousheh Ansari.

“These wars prevent democracy and human rights in countries which have themselves been victims of aggression. “Filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. They create empathy between us and others – an empathy which we need today more than ever.”

Soon after taking office last month, Trump banned entry to the United States from people of seven Muslim-majority countries including Iran, triggering protests and prompt appeals to the courts.