The British actor and musician won his first Oscar Award 2022 for Aneil Karia’s live-action short film ‘The Long Goodbye’

He was conferred the award at the glittering 94th Academy Awards ceremony held at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles Sunday.

In his acceptance speech, the 39-year-old actor said:

“In such divided times, we believe that the role of story is to remind us there is no ‘us’ and ‘them’. There’s just ‘us’.”

“This is for everyone who feels like they don’t belong. Anyone who feels like they’re stuck in no man’s land.”

“You’re not alone. We’ll meet you there. That’s where the future is. Peace.”

The short film ‘The Long Goodbye’ is directed by Aneil Karia, starring Riz Ahmed and written by both.

The film was meant to be a theatre play with rap but due to the spread of Covid-19, it was turned into an online production. Its story revolves around an immigrant family preparing its home for a wedding celebration in Britain.

Riz Ahmed was the first Muslim to be nominated for Best Actor for Oscar. He was nominated for Best Actor at the 93rd Academy Awards for his role in “Sound of Metal”.

Riz Ahmed was earlier in news for starting a campaign against, what he called, negative portrayals of Muslims in Hollywood films.

Meanwhile, 94th Academy Awards ceremony continues to rule the media space second day running, notably for Will Smith and Chris Rock spat on stage over the joke latter cracked on Jada Smith.