Sir Kenneth has notched up eight Oscar nominations over four decades of acting, writing and directing, spanning seven different award categories, itself a record, but until this year had always come away empty-handed.
His win for best original screenplay, for the film Belfast, comes 40 years after he made his screen acting debut on BBC television in 1982.
The Oscar for best short film went to The Long Goodbye, a 11-minute feature that was released alongside the album of the same name by British actor and musician Riz Ahmed.
Ahmed stars in the film and also co-wrote the script, which is set in the near-future and depicts a south Asian family in London being terrorised by an all-white militia force.
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