La La Land breaks Golden Globe record

The annual Golden Globe Awards were held in Los Angeles yesterday. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been giving awards annually since 1944 to recognise excellence in film and television. La La Land, a film telling the story of a jazz pianist who falls in love with a young actress and exploring the history of musicals in the US, triumphed at the 74th ceremony.

Damien Chazelle’s film was nominated in seven categories and won them all, setting a new record for the number of awards won by a single film. The previous record was shared between One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and Midnight Express (1978) with six Golden Globe awards each.

La La Land won the best musical/comedy nomination, and Damien Chazelle took statuettes for best directing and screenplay. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone received awards as best actor and actress in their genre. Composer Justin Hurwitz won the best score category and shared the best original song award with lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul.

Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight won the award for best motion picture drama, beating out Mel Gibson’s Hacksaw Ridge and Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea.

Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) and Isabelle Huppert (Paul Verhoeven’s Elle) accepted awards for best drama actor and actress respectively. Elle won the best foreign film award.

The Crown, a biographical project about the early reign of Queen Elizabeth II, was awarded as best drama series, beating out such strong competitors as Game of Thrones, Stranger Things and Westworld. Atlanta, the 2016 series about two cousins trying to achieve success in the rap scene, was named best comedy series.

The Golden Globe Awards are bestowed annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Winners are chosen by 93 members of the association. The Golden Globe Awards ceremony is an important part of the movie awards season, which culminates with the Academy Awards.