--- description: 12 Years a Slave took home the biggest award of the night title: Oscars 2014: 12 Years A Slave Wins Best Picture: VIDEO image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Oscars](/tag/oscars/) ## Oscars Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Oscars 2014: And the Award for Best Picture Goes To...  by [Sam Lansky](/author/sam-lansky/)  ## Sam Lansky Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 3, 2014 5:25 AM CUT  by [Sam Lansky](/author/sam-lansky/)  ## Sam Lansky Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 3, 2014 5:25 AM CUT It didn’t come as a surprise when _12 Years a Slave_ took home Best Picture at the 86th Academy Awards — it was the favored pick for the biggest award of the night — but it was still a delight to see the cast and crew pile up on stage to accept the award. Producer and co-star Brad Pitt took the mic first: “I know I speak for everyone standing behind me that it’s been an absolute privilege to work on Solomon \[Northrup\]’s story,” he said. “And we all get to stand up here tonight because of one man who brought us all together to tell that story, and that is the indomitable Mr. Steve McQueen.” McQueen took over, first returning the gratitude to Pitt — “Without him, this film would not have been made,” he said — then going on to thank his industry cohorts, most of whom were female. “I have all women in my life,” he said. “They’re all the most powerful.” If he seemed flustered, he recovered nicely in his final moments on stage — after a heartfelt message to everyone who has endured or continues to endure slavery, he turned around and quite literally _jumped_ for joy. His jubilance was well-earned. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/11273/oscars-2014-best-picture-12-years-a-slave/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/11273/oscars-2014-best-picture-12-years-a-slave/"},"headline":"Oscars 2014: And the Award for Best Picture Goes To...","datePublished":"2014-03-03T05:25:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:32:11.027Z","description":"12 Years a Slave took home the biggest award of the night","url":"https://time.com/11273/oscars-2014-best-picture-12-years-a-slave/","keywords":["Oscars","12 Years a Slave","Steve McQueen","Brad Pitt"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Lansky","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-lansky/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/oscars/","name":"Oscars"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/11273/oscars-2014-best-picture-12-years-a-slave/","name":"Oscars 2014: And the Award for Best Picture Goes To..."}}]}] ```