12 Years A Slave wins best film Oscar

The harrowing historical drama 12 Years A Slave has won the best picture Oscar at the climax of the 86th Academy Awards.

The movie by British director Steve McQueen beat eight fellow nominees - American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

The film tells the story of Solomon Northup, a free black man living in New York state who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South before the US Civil War.

"Everyone - everyone deserves not only to survive, but to live. This is the most important legacy of Solomon Northup," said McQueen, also one of the film's producers.

"I'm dedicating this award to all the people who have suffered slavery and who are still suffering in slavery today."