Latinos Make History at Oscars 2014: Alfonso Cuarón Is the First Latino to Win Best Director and Robert Lopez Joins the 'EGOT' Club

By Melissa Castellanos First Posted: Mar 03, 2014 01:38 PM EST

The 86th Annual Academy Awards will go down as a treasured moment in Latino history in Arts & Entertainment.

Gravity's Mexican writer/director Alfonso Cuarón became the first Latino to win an Oscar for Best Director, fellow Gravity collaborator and Mexican filmmaker Emmanuel Lubeski won for cinematography, and multi-faceted Filipino-American Robert Lopez became a member of the prestigious 'EGOT' (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards) club, joining in the ranks of legendary talent, such as the beloved Puerto Rican actress and singer Rita Moreno.

Gravity soared to new heights Sunday night and topped all films with seven Oscars, including, Cuarón's historical win and awards for original score, visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing, cinematography and film editing.

"It was a transformative experience," said Cuarón who spent almost half a decade developing its visual effects. "For a lot of people, that transformation was wisdom. For me, it was the color of my hair," he joked. He praised the film's star, Sandra Bullock, who was nominated for Best Actress but lost out to Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), as the heart and soul of the film and one of the best people he has ever met. "Sandra, you are 'Gravity,'" he said, which immediately bought tears to her eyes.

The innovative 3-D film, starring Bullock and George Clooney, was the brainchild of writer-director Cuarón, who also directed Children of Men, Y Tu Mamá Tambièn and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. His son, Jonás, who is Cuarón's biggest advocate, co-wrote the film, which was a challenging four-and-a-half-year journey.

"We shot space scenes in a sort of virtual-reality box that had the characters' environments projected on the walls. The actors had very little room to change their timing or their positions. But we adapted," Cuarón told Wired in an earlier interview. "Sandra Bullock trained like crazy to be able to be a part of all these technological challenges. It was choreography for her. I think her background as a dancer helped a lot. It was so much by numbers. After all the training and all the rehearsals, she was able to just focus on the emotional aspect of her performance."

In addition to Gravity's arsenal of awards, this was the first win for six-time nominated Mexican filmmaker Emmanuel Lubeski.

"I truly want to share this award with the cast and crew," said Lubeski, the second Mexican ever to win for cinematography. "I want to thank my friend and teacher Alfonso Cuarón -- your creativity and drive is incredible."

Award-winning Filipino songwriter and wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez's heartfelt song, "Let It Go" from Walt Disney Pictures' animated musical, Frozen took the Oscar for Best Original song -- besting strong contenders, U2, Pharrell Williams and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Frozen was the second Disney feature film for the couple, who also helped write the music for 2011's Winnie the Pooh.

To top off an already stellar career, Robert Lopez became the 12th person ever to win an EGOT,(Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards). He won an Emmy for Best Music Direction and Composition, The Wonder Pets, 2008 (Daytime Emmy), a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album - The Book of Mormon, 2012, an Oscar for Best Original Song - "Let It Go" from Frozen, 2014 and a Tony for Best Original Score -- Avenue Q, 2004.

A vision in blue, Mexican-born, Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong'o won best supporting actress in 12 Years a Slave, beating out Jennifer Lawrence and Julia Roberts, for her heart-breaking depiction of a tortured slave named Patsey. It was the first win and first feature film for the humble 31-year-old actress.

"It doesn't escape me for one moment that so much joy in my life is due to so much pain in someone else's, and so I want to salute the spirit of Patsy for her guidance," said Nyong'o. She shared the utmost appreciation and respect for director Steve McQueen," saying "I'm certain that the dead are standing about you and they are watching and they are grateful, and so am I."

She added: "When I look down at this golden statue, may it remind me and every little child that no matter where you're from, your dreams are valid. Thank you."

Nyong'o follows in the footsteps of other outstanding black actresses -- she's the sixth black actress to win in the supporting actress category, following Hattie McDaniel (Gone with the Wind), Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost), Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls), Mo'Nique (Precious) and Octavia Spencer (The Help).

After Nyong'o's touching acceptance speech, the audience patiently waited for the results of the coveted award for Best Picture, which rightfully belonged to 12 Years a Slave, "a modestly budgeted drama produced by Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B, that has made $50 million worldwide -- a far cry from the more than $700 million 'Gravity' has hauled in."

"Steve McQueen's slavery odyssey, based on Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir, has been hailed as a landmark corrective to the movie industry's virtual blindness to slavery, instead creating whiter tales like 1940 best-picture winner Gone With the Wind. 12 Years a Slave is the first best-picture winner directed by a black filmmaker," The Associated Press reports.

"Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live," said McQueen, who dedicated the award to "all of the people who endured slavery and the 21 million people who still suffer slavery today. 'This is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup.'"

Dallas Buyers Club won three awards, including two in acting categories: best actor for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto for best supporting actor. It was a long time coming for McConaughey who gave thanks to God, dedicated the award to his late father, his mother, and wife Brazilian model and designer Camila Alves and their three children.

Leto also gave his support to protesters in Venezuela and the Ukraine. The film also won for makeup and hairstyling, which helped transform Leto into his believeable role as a transvestite.

"It sort of feels like a culmination," he said backstage.

As mentioned, Cate Blanchett won best actress for "her turn as a modern-day Blanche DuBois" in the Woody Allen film Blue Jasmine. Blanchett praised 79-year-old veteran actress, Judi Dench, who was nominated for her performance in Philomena, but couldn't attend -- she's so much in demand that she was filming the sequel to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in India.

The Great Gatsby won two Oscars, for production design and costume design. Italy's The Great Beauty took home the Oscar for foreign-language film.

American Hustle, which had tied Gravity for the most Oscar nominations (10), was snubbed as well as actor Wolf of Wall Street's Leonardo DiCaprio, who has yet to win an Oscar.

John Ridley won best adapted screenplay for 12 Years a Slave and Spike Jonze took best original screenplay for his futuristic romance Her.

Check out the complete list of Oscar winners below:

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave)