LOS ANGELES: South Korean social satire "Parasite" won the Oscar for best picture on Sunday, making history as the first film not in the English language to win the movie industry's highest honor.

"Parasite," about the gap between rich and poor in modern Seoul, won a total of four Oscars, including best director and screenplay for Bong Joon Ho and best international feature.

"I never thought I would win," Bong said while accepting his best director Oscar. Paying tribute to his four fellow director nominees he said, "I would like to get a Texas chainsaw and split the Oscar into five and share it all with you."

Joaquin Phoenix won his first Oscar, for best actor, for playing a failing clown who finds fame in violence in the dark comic-book tale "Joker," and gave an impassioned speech about climate change and animal rights.

Renee Zellweger won the best actress Oscar for her performance as an ageing Judy Garland in the musical biopic "Judy."

World War One movie "1917" won three Oscars, for its stunning "one-shot" feel cinematography, for visual effects and for sound editing, while "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" brought the first acting Oscar for Brad Pitt, who played a supporting role as a laid-back stunt man.

Laura Dern took the supporting actress Oscar, her first Academy Award, for playing a ruthless divorce lawyer in "Marriage Story."

Netflix movie "The Irishman" a costly Mafia saga directed by Martin Scorsese that had 10 Oscar nominations, came away empty- handed.